Looking through Lu's eyes

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T11:26:00.000-08:00

Lucy wishes all of her fans a very Happy New Year! May your 2012 be full of treats!

Merry Christmas Mom

2011-12-17T22:27:00.000-08:00

This fall I was contacted by hairdresser Anna, I am friends with her mom (our moms are best friends.) She wanted to do a photo shoot for her parents as a Christmas gift with her brother and his daughter. I was so excited to do this shoot, I could not wait till she saw these beautiful images of her family.

Her kids gave her the pictures tonight so I can FINALLY share these amazing images, it has be very hard to keep this secret.

Anna and Matt (Brother and sister)

Alondra Matt's beautiful daughter

Matt

Kim had complained she does not have any good photos of Matt as an adult.

I love this one!

Anna

How fun this?

Alondra's rare smile!

Awwww

A few daddy daughter shots

So precious

Matt is a pretty cool dad!

HI!

Playing with Tia Anna!

A few shots of the 3 of them, I wish I was there to see Kim's face.

I think this one is my favorite!

Having fun

Look it is another smile!

Matt and Anna thank you for asking me to help you with this special Christmas gift. I am so happy the cat is out of the bag and I can share with the world.

Merry Christmas may it be full of many Merry surprises!

Banks Baby Bump

2011-12-12T09:39:00.001-08:00

Norma and Justin are waiting for their first child. Aaron is due in January. We had a great time in the park by Whitney Mesa for a few minutes then headed to their house since it was windy and cold. Lets start with a few belly shots.

Awwww they did this naturally

All ready
Norma is so beautiful and ready to be a mommy.

Proud daddy ready for his little Packers fan to watch games with him.
They are such a beautiful couple!

Such a good man taking care of shoe laces. While we are looking at Norma's feet check out the adorable shoes they were her wedding shoes!

Look at the love between these two!

Aaron we are ready for you to come home.

Opening a special gift.
They have been reading "Oh The Places You Will Go" to Aaron.
How cute is this little bear it was a gift to Norma on their first date.
Norma and Justin thank you for letting me capture this special time in your lives. I can't wait to hear that Aaron has entered the world!

The Rainford's 2011

2011-11-28T17:15:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I had fun out in the park with my parents and their adorable grandkids.

The cutest grandparents in the world.

Sydney the Diva
My ever shrinking hot Dad!
My beautiful mom!
They are so darn cute together!

One of my favorites

A lil' grandparent fun

Thanks for having fun on the other side of the camera!

The Hoods 2011

2011-11-28T16:18:00.001-08:00

My sister and her lovely families annual photo shoot.

I love this one!

and this one...

The beautiful Sydney

The handsome TJ

Sydney put these leaves in her hair and started giggling "I think I have leaves in my hair."

Sibling fun

They are so darn cute.

How cute is Daddy

The entire family

Laura's Father Daughter Shoot

2011-11-20T20:38:00.000-08:00

This weekend I was privileged to play in the park with Laura and her handsome dad Matt. Laura gave her dad his Christmas gift early a family photoshoot. It was so much fun seeing the love and humor they have for each other.

How cute are they?

Laura

Matt

As you can see this shoot was full of laughter.

and love...

The trees were so beautiful at Floyd Lamb State Park

Laura and Matt Thank you for letting me capture your special bond. It was a pleasure!

Mini Photoshoot Day- This Weekend

2011-11-13T18:29:00.001-08:00

You only have 4 days left to book a spot for this special photo shoot. I only have a few spots left!

Look how beautiful the park is, I was there this weekend for a shoot and the leaves are turning beautiful colors (by desert standards.)

Did you knowFloyd Lamb State Park is home to a flock of peacocks. Here are two hanging out and chatting about how much fun it is to have a great family photograph!

There are 5 beautiful lakes for unique pictures.

Call Luann 340-8677 by Thursday to book your families mini photo shoot. If you would like to book a full shoot please book before December 10th for Holiday photos.

Mini Photoshoot Day

2011-11-04T23:47:00.001-07:00

Did you know the holidays are right around the corner. It is time to think about great family photo cards and gifts. Check out this very special event I am hosting to solve that problem in a quick and thrifty manner.

Feel free to share with your family friends they will appreciate that you are helping them solve the holiday photo problem.

The Hoods and beyond

2011-10-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

This past week I was blessed to shoot my new nephew TJ Hood and his extended family. TJ is 8 days old in this shoot. He was so stinking cute and cooperative already.

A precious gift
I love this little old man look, look at his little hand in his waist band.
Sydney, TJ and all of their grandparents
Grandma and Grandpa Harley (Toms Parents) came to visit from Colorado.
Nancy is in love!

Yamma and Yampa Rainford (Chrissy's Parents)

Aww More grandma and big sister love.
3 generations
The Hood's
Aww so much love for this little guy
Feeding time
Daddy (inspired by a shot we saw on the hospital walls)
Mommy I think she is dreaming of sleep, TJ is a serious night owl.
Hard to believe he fit a week ago.
I am so excited Sydney has a baby brother they are just about the same age difference as her mommy and I . She has a great role model in Aunt Lu Lu and will do an amazing job.

*Sydeny loved this picture and was so excited to copy mommy the told me how she wanted the picture edited (hence the rainbow treatment.)
I brought the kids Sunday clothes They were so cute cuddling together.
I love you TJ!
Thank you for letting me capture Team TJ, I can't wait to watch him grow into a little mad but not to quickly please.

The Bames

2011-09-29T21:22:00.001-07:00

Let me introduce you to the Bames. This amazing family came into my life in the 2nd grade. Becky and I have been best friend ever since. It is hard to believe that I when I met the Bames there were only 4 of them. I was part of celebrating 5 new siblings, 2 spouses and one grand child, I am sure there will be many more celebrations to come. I was so excited to take pictures of their amazing family before Aaron heads off on a church mission.

Owling Around

Aaron flying off to a new adventure

Did I mention that this family is full of humor. I struggled with this shoot because I was laughing so hard and enjoying being in their company!
The Kids + 1 Grand Kid

Spencer and his beautiful family

Jeff and his beautiful family
Thank you Keith and Nannette for all of the special moment you and your family have brought to my life and for raising an amazing bunch of kids. I had a great time shooting your family!

Deanna's Baby Bump

2011-09-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

Deanna and I had a great time last Sunday taking picture of her baby bump. We started the session in the park and finished inside as the heat quickly crept to unbearable.

7 month

Barefoot and pregnant

Hello Little One

Waiting for her little monkey.

Hello beautiful baby boy!

Stunning!

Thank you Deanna for choosing me to capture your growing family!

The Birds, Bees, and Beags

2011-09-03T20:26:00.001-07:00

Today we headed up to the Mount Charleston Lodge for lunch on their doggie deck, so Lucy was able to join us on the adventure. We saw many birds, bees and of course the Beags aka Lucy the Beagle.

Beautiful clouds over the mountains

The Birds

There were humming birds all over. I was so glad I brought my zoom lens to catch these fast fliers. We also say another kind of bird but I don't know what it was.

Anyone know what these cute yellow birds are? they are smaller than a dove bigger than a parakeet.

The Bees

Not as cute as the birds or the Beag but still everywhere. They even interrupted lunch a bit. I do love some of these pictures though thanks to the zoom lens I may have a crop a few of these in really tight, but for today I am getting out of the camera and onto the blog.

The Beag

Lucy loved the truck ride in my lap as man drove. She also had a great time walking and sniffing all the new smells.

After a little editing this may be my new favorite picture.

I told you she was happy about our adventure look at that smile!

Tasting the air

Ready to go home after a mountain adventure!

It was a great way to spend a few hours in a a little cooler weather with the family.

The Growing Hood's

2011-08-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

My wonderful sisters family is growing by 1. They are expecting TJ late September. Right before their baby shower we had a quick family shoot.

Chrissy is so beautiful pregnant!

I LOVE THIS PICTURE

Those are Tom's Heart hands

Sydeny has been practicing heart hands for this picture

KISSES

Proud Parents- This is their second they are sneaking in sleep in while they can he he he.

Umm I was in a lil' trouble for this one but I love how it turned out!

The Whole Family

Lot of Kisses

I can't wait to meet TJ!

School Time and a bonus

2011-08-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

While my sister went to change during her baby bump shoot Sydney and I did a super quick school pictures.

Sydney has her crayon and is ready for her first day of preschool. Um How did that happen, she was a baby yesterday?

Now she is 4!

Her teacher is going to love her!

Uncle Billy came to visit for a few minutes and Sydney wanted to take pictures with him and....

Rosco!

Sydney have fun learning and and making new friends at school!

TJ coming soon

2011-08-14T23:24:00.000-07:00

I have not posted any personal posts in a long time, enjoy a few bits and pieces from my summer.

My sister is expecting a little boy in September Thomas Jefferson Hood or TJ for short. Several of us joined the Hoods for a sneak peak of TJ at the 4d Ultrasound place. After the ultrasound we enjoyed brunch at Hash House a Go go.

Aunt Patti Cake, Yamma, Chrissy, Yampa, Tom

Look at those cheeks!

Cookies

2011-08-14T23:16:00.000-07:00

I baked 80 cookies for an event this summer my awesome sister came and helped me decorate.

Thankfully she is a great swirler! She ended up doing a much better job so I became support giving her food, beverage, and frosting.
Thanks Chrissy Lee the help!

Gwen and Ron's Wedding

2011-08-10T15:37:00.001-07:00

July ended with the beautiful Wedding of my friend Gwen and her amazing husband Ron. It was wonderful being part of their ceremony, it brought back fond memories of my own wedding at the same venue The Mt. Charleston Lodge. Thank you for inviting me to be part of your day!

The Dress

Gwen had a late friends rosary embedded into her bouquet. It was such a beautiful touch to remember someone special by.

The Beautiful Gwen

The Handsome Groom Ron

The Beautiful Couple

Just a few favorites I really tried to keep the length of this post down.

Awwww
The Ceremony was a special combination of both of their cultures.

Her Uncle was the officiant

The Coin Ceremony

The Cord Ceremony- During this moment we listened to music and let the couple take in the moment and sharing their lives together.

The Vows

The Kiss

After the beautiful ceremony it was time to party

I love this one of Gwen checking the fine print of the marriage license

A parting shot inspired by Megan Resch Check out her site

Matting 101

2011-05-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

Backstory: On Saturday we went Antiquing at the Charleston Antique mall and Hubby found Lion King laser discs that came with 6 lithographs that were sealed. When we got in the car he opened them up and decided he wanted to frame them. He let me know later in the evening that he saw a matting tool in one of the cases for $20.

We ended up going back for the tool and I learned how to mat this weekend. Man those math skills really came into play perhaps I should have started with something simple with maybe just one hole.

I may have had a few frustrations with the learning curve but once I got it I enjoyed the process.

The final project.

Playing with new camera

2011-05-22T01:56:00.001-07:00

Playing with my new family member "Dee Dee" the camera.

Baby Shower Shoot

2011-05-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was invited to photograph a baby shower. It was so much fun to capture Natalie and her family and friends joy throughout the shower.

The shower was at Sugar's Bakery. Natalie the happy mommy to be!

I love Natalie's expression she was sharing how ready and excited she was.

Awww

Dueling Bellies

The guests each completed a few alphabet pages, to create an alphabet book for Gabrielle to enjoy as she get older.

Mom to be and Mom working together!

Game time

Eww that is in the poopy diaper?

Having fun with the games

How big is Natalie?

I love the Awww look on her face!

The look of pure bliss about bottle is a sign Natalie is ready!

Close up of the cupcakes and the shower logo.

There were many little personalized touches the Dirty Diaper game is just one example. The Picture is of Natalie at 32 weeks. On the bottom is says "Congratulations on all of your future dirty diapers Natalie!

Stephanie Thank you for inviting me to capture Natalie's special shower. You ladies did a great job showering her with love and excitement.

The Amoia's

2011-04-21T23:32:00.000-07:00

I was so lucky to capture the Amoia's growing family. Megan (mom) and I worked together and she was very a very important part of brining me and my hubby together. We headed out to Tule Springs for a fun day in the sunshine.

Megan's parents were visiting from New york it was great to include them into a few of the pictures.

Three Generations of Girls- Look how Megan and her mom are standing the same way.

May they Louie and Felicia always be this close!

Felcia and Mommy

Felicia is so cute and photogenic such a change from where she was one and we gathered the family around every time he cries looked almost like a smile. Now check out the genuine smile!

Mommy and Louie, Megan is such an awesome mommy and the love for her children is palpable.

He loves mommy as much as she loves him.

Look at these two awesome boys.

We really wanted to focus on the newest addition to the family Louie!

He is so stinking cute full of so many cute faces!

Look at that drippy chin.

His tongue is fascinating!

But is it as cool as his toes?

Or a stick?

As you can see Louie fits right into the family!

Thank you Magin and family for letting me capture this moment of your growing family,a nd generations together!

The MIM

2011-04-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

We planned a trip to Phoenix to hear a concert (more about that later) and umm well we had no plan for the rest of the trip or how long it should be, other than lunch with my awesome cousin Heather and her great hubby Brian. For my birthday my hubby surprised me with a PLAN, we were going to the Music Instrument Museum, he figured with a camera in hand I would have a great time as would he. Boy was he right! I took over 700 pictures but don’t worry I edited it down to just a few favorites.

Just a few favorite things

Cool headphones that use blue tooth technology so you can wonder where ever not in order.
Hands on room (go in there after 2 or so when the daily field trips are over)
Instruments from all regions of the world.
High Tech and Low Tech at it’s best
Videos that showed the instruments in action.

Who knew an accordion could be so beautiful
In contrast yes real snakes died for this
Make due with what you've got!
Look at the detail the frets of this lute are made with string.
Question: Can you guess what to moving parts are?
A: Vertebra! Who knew the spine could be so beautiful!

I loved the detail of the rings in this drum

A glimpse of India's display notice the TV there were 4 videos of different instruments in the display. This one one also included native masks.
Beautiful Bells
This is a body suit the grasses shake and make music in the islands
After the au' natural above a bit more manufactured in South America (I want to say Brazil but not sure)
Amazing
Check out the beautiful detail of these drums!
They were rocking out in 80's and 90's in Russia too!
Hey look they have a spot just for me!
American Jazz
Native American Drum Circles
Anything can create beautiful music notice the cans are labeled with their notes.
One of the drums form the Beijing Olympic opening ceremonies. It is HUGE
Hubby Playing in the Target Gallery.
Harmonica anyone!
I guess I never thought about where the bag for the bag pipe came from first.
Playing in the hands on gallery

Check out the detail of this music box.
I will leave you with one of my favorite shots!

The MIM was amazing check if you are in Phoenix check it out http://www.themim.org/ it will not disappoint and don’t forget to grab lunch at the cafeteria it is Top Chef good!

Birthday Fun

2011-04-18T17:59:00.001-07:00

Playing a little catch up. For my birthday we went bowling. One of my favorite things about family birthdays is that we gather together usually it is to go out to dinner but currently there is not a single night of the week that everyone is off work. This lead to our bowling fun this year. It was fun to laugh, cheer, and compete with each other.

The Players of family and friends

I am not sure why Sydney is dressed like a bumble bee other than the fact she is 3.5 years old and is full of personality.

Check out that follow through!

Sydney wanted to buff and shine everyone's ball for good luck.

Hubby inspired by Sydney buffing and shining.

Tom Showing off his skills!

Strike!!!! Terrible picture but full of fun!

Sydney cam of Billy and Loreena

My favorite picture right now I love the pure joy on my face.

Go Play

2011-04-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

After taking these pictures my niece convinced me to race her down the hill so down I went laughing all the way. Go on a dare you be a kid and go play today!

Supplies: Template Heather Landry, Paper and elements Crystal Wilkersons Playground Collection, Fonts: From KevinandAmanda.com Smiley Monster, For the one hundreth time, and Freeze, Photoshop elements

The Bishop Family

2011-03-27T15:50:00.000-07:00

My latest shoot was of of Lisa and her family. We went out to Calico Basin and had a blast.

Mom and Dad

Lisa and the Kids

Connor- He relaxed quite a bit when we got off the boardwalk and hit the rocks.

Connor smiling!

Lauren

Lisa and Connor

Lauren and her beautiful mom Lisa

Lisa's main goal of this session was pictures of her kids together. Lisa I hope you like these!

Lauren and her boyfriend Shaun

The day ended in a little surprise from Shaun to Lauren. A promise was made to wait until Shaun returns from his mission.

While I was taking a picture I hear the boys climbing down a rock, all of a sudden I hear Connor say "Uh I'm not tall enough!" Luckily Shaun was right there and he helped him out.

Thank you choosing me to capture your family in this moment of time!

Bowers Baby Bump

2011-03-18T15:24:00.000-07:00

Tracy and Noah are very excited to be parents very soon! Check out how cute these three are!

Beautiful!

Excited Mommy

Proud Daddy to be

Can you believe she is 35 weeks!

The next few are bump shots

So Beautiful!

Thank you for picking me I can't wait to meet Zoe!

Gwen and Ron

2011-02-25T18:47:00.000-08:00

I had a great time doing an Engagement Shoot (squeaaaaaal) for my friend Gwen her handsome fiance Ron. We headed up to Mt Charleston where they will be married in July. It was such a pleasure to play in the snow with this wonderful couple.

I love the humor between these two!

And the tender sweetness!

Awwwwww

I love this ONE!

Thank you Gwen and Ron for letting me play with you two!

Bountiful Baskets

2011-02-19T13:47:00.000-08:00

Today I picked up my first Bountiful Basket. It is a food co-op I spent $15 and got all of this yummy food. I may need your help with ideas on what something is and how to cook/eat it.

Neatly lined up one fruit and one veggie basket each!

The Veggies

Yellow Squash, I can't wait to grill this up and eat it over couscous! Any other ideas?

Nice small potatoes

I think this is cabbage not ice berg it is a little thicker then iceberg. I don't know if I like cabbage any ideas on how to prepare it in a yummy way?

Spinich, mmm wraps here I come!

Any ideas what this is? I heard someone say a sunchock??? How do I prepare this HELP!!!!!!!

A closer look (I know it is not ginger)

Fruits (no group picture I accidentally deleted it oops!)

Strawberries these will make yummy snacks and maybe go on cottage cheese

Bananas (they need to ripen a bit!)

Mangos besides a smoothies any tips on eating a mango????

Dainty little pears they are so small!

Apples Yum!

Oranges they started it all, last week a friend brought a few to work and gave me one and they were so sweet next thing I know I was joining a co-op of produce yumminess!

Cantaloupe Lucy is excited for this one!

No I do not plan on photographing every piece of produce I buy! I am working on a challenge and these fir the challenge so I was playing with y camera a bit.

Here is the website if you are curious check it out http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/

Finally project 365 printed

2011-02-05T10:10:00.000-08:00

I finally printed the pages from my Photo a Day project 2009. That's right I took a picture everyday (well almost!)

The Cover (I printed this 12x12 album at Shutterfly.com)

Look how small my year is!

A month at a glance. The layout were uploaded into

Shutterfly this is not their template.

As you can see I kept journaling short and sweet.

In review it was an interesting year to choose when I started I can promise I did not think this is the year: DH would stop smoking, our family would get smaller, Health would change our lifestyle, I would change jobs, Lucy would Kayak, and so much more. I did know I would see 3 friends get married, Sydney would grow up, and we would go on a few music adventures.

I would love to say I would do this every year but I am not there yet but I will try to do it every 2-3 years.

Happiness is

2010-12-30T00:02:00.001-08:00

Happiness is....

Chilling out on the couch under my comfy quilt made by a friend as a wedding gift, reading a book on my Christmas gift (love you hubby,) with my warm Lucy curled up between my legs, while listening to a concert. I don't think life gets much better!

Thank you Hubby for snapping this picture of my perfect afternoon today!

The Great Photography Giveaway Video

2010-12-22T01:47:00.000-08:00

Rember back in my when I participated in the Great Photography give away with Holly and her amazing family? click here to refresh your memory. Well I was just one of of 150 photographers to participate, on Becky Higgins blog she has a video of some of the images check 1:07 it may look familiar.

Check it out here

Sydney part 2

2010-12-15T06:53:00.001-08:00

I forgot to add these images. Here is just a little more cuteness

THis is one of my favorite the off shoulder shirt make it so her!

There was a lady watching and she was yelling I am a cute princess, as she should all of her Top Model moves.!

Grrrrr

Sydney

2010-12-14T22:33:00.000-08:00

This weekend I kidnapped for a little photo shoot and an adventure, I can't share the details of our adventure but I will after Christmas. I took her up to Lake Las Vegas armed with 3 changes of clothes, and a 3 year old full of SASSY. We had a great time and Sydney was a great sport.

A quiet moment watching the sun set on part of the lake
Check out the energy
MMMMM and that yummy smile!
While shooting I was telling Sydney to hurry because the sun was going to go away including hurrying to a special spot to watch it disappear. As you can see she was very excited as she amused a couple walking by, as she was yelling "There it Goes, Goodbye Sun"
Playing in the fountain
This shoot also served as her Christmas pictures. I did not know this huge tree would be out there but it was a very happy accident!
Isn't she adorable!

I am a very lucky Aunt to have such a happy niece to spend an afternoon with!

The Hood's 2010

2010-12-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to go hiking at Red Rock with my sister and her family. We had so much fun and I took a million pictures well maybe not a million but more than normal here are just a few of my favorites.

Sydney- Look how big she is getting!

Chrissy and Tom

Family

Smooches

Sydney wants to say hi to all of my blog readers.

Getting silly together

Mommy and Me

Daddy and Me

Daddy keeps me warm

My favorite Big Girl Niece Sydney can you believe she is 3.5

She is full of energy

and smiles

Chrissy my beautiful sister

Tom my handsome brother in law

I snuck this one while we were driving back

The Galey's 2010

2010-12-01T17:08:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I was lucky enough to do a family photo shoot of my friend Holly and her family at Lone Mountain Park. It was quite a challenge to capture their family of 5.

I have followed Holly and Shaun (and so have some of you) as their family has grown.

Just the two of them

Family of 4

and now they are a family of 5.

Holly blogs her adventures of being a mommy to twins and a one year old. Check it out here!

Holly and Shaun

The Challenge get 2 TWO year olds, 1 ONE year old, and 2 parents to stay in one spot and look at the camera.

I gave the older the kids the job of finding pretty rocks to give to mom and dad so they would stay in the frame.

My two favorites

Ace

Dawson

Umm all 3 kids are in the picture. How do Holly and Shaun do it?

I love the look Ace is giving Daddy!

Dawson chilling out!

Mommy and Ky

Daddy and Dawson

Mommy and Dawson

Daddy, Dawson, and Ace chilling out!

Thank you Galey's for letting me capture your morning in the park. I can't wait until next time, and seeing the kids grow up!

Family Craft Night

2010-11-23T00:12:00.000-08:00

Chrissy and I decided to have a Christmas Craft night as an excuse fore craftiness and time to spend with family and friends.

*Warning this is a long but fun post!

Sydney making a necklace with foam hearts and beads. Watch for the hearts you will see them latter.

K helping her son R make his necklace.

R making a snowflake ornament. Look at his expression!

A and her advent calendar

Syd working on her advent calendar. *PROUD AUNT ALERT* Look at that awesome coloring for a 3.5 year old! She is also demonstrating great 1:1 skills with the glue.

Waiting to make ornaments

The Chrissy's AKA Mom's need time to craft to.

K took the camera she thought A was shy until she asked her to pose for a picture. This is just one of her cheese ball poses!

The kids had a great time taking a break playing outside.

And using the craft supplies to cook with, notice the foam hearts on the grill. R showed great imagination and 1:1 skills putting the hearts in the squares of the grills with a spatula. He also wondered out loud why the girls were still talking he was done cooking. Poor guy learning the realities of life so young!

The trio of artists M was there also but she had to go home since she was not feeling well.

Chrissy taking care of Av A's little sister. Chrissy took these awesome close up's after she passed Av back to momma.

Sydney was so excited to hold Av and patiently waited until the end of the night. She was a bit timid at first.

Then she was in love!

Av was getting fussy and I told Syd she needed to hold her head. She took the job VERY seriously, notice the grip! Av's head was going NOWHERE!

Thank you to everyone that joined us and we were sad about those that could not but understand life happens. We look forward to doing it again and playing with more families, and friends! I challenge everyone to get together and have fun together.

Las Vegas Locos and Sydney time

2010-11-22T22:58:00.000-08:00

On November 6 we headed to the last home game of the Las Vegas Locos (local UFL team) season. Locos web page

Earlier in the day I kidnapped Sydney and we ran errands and had fun with a little girl time and shopping she spent some of her money she made at the bake sale earlier in the day during mommies yard sale. Then we took Uncle Max out to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Sydney had fun meeting our friends and loved being spoiled with a balloon. Uncle Max also had fun tickling his little niece. They are so cute together!

Sydney must of had to much fun between the yard sale and play with Aunt LuLu and Uncle Max. She fell asleep at the game. While she was sleeping it started to rain and we had to seek shelter in the concourse.
After the rain Sydney woke up and was excited to get cotton candy.
As you can see she had a great time eating her cotton candy. It seemed that everyone that could see her delighted in watching her ENJOY her treat!

In the 4th quarter it started to rain and we discovered that Sydney could use the cotton candy bag as a poncho.

After the game Chrissy took Sydney to get autographs from all of the Locos. They were about 1/2 way around the stadium when we realized that Dante Culpepper (former Viking) was signing autographs. They ran back over to us and I took Sydney over to try she held out her little Jersey and yelled out "Dante Please!" like a little champ and he quickly signed her jersey before heading to the bus.

He was such a gentleman and friendly to the fans. The whole family was excited for our little fan. It capped off a great night!

4th Anniversary

2010-11-21T22:25:00.000-08:00

I am a little behind but I will be playing catch up this week.

In October we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary but the planning started months ago. I came home from work in May and Max handed me a mini album full of pictures. Each picture was related to a song. All by Jimmy Buffett to be specific the weekend before our Anniversary. It was a wonderful surprise. The morning of the concert I had a shoot when I cam e home Max presented the rest of his plan. We had lunch at Margaritaville and partied at the Street Party next to it.

While at the Street Carnival I loved everyone's crazy hats and bought a shark hat. We came home for a nap and while at home I stuffed my hat and added lights to it.

At the concert!

We had a great time being Parrot Heads for the weekend!

Becky and Emma

2010-11-20T21:52:00.000-08:00

In November I was lucky to shoot an awesome family again. Look how Emma is growing to be a little lady through the years 2009 and 2007. This year it was just Becky, Emma, and their adorable fur babies. We had a blast playing in Calico Basin.

Mommy and Daughter

I love the easy conversation in this one!

As you can see Miss Emma is not a shy kid but she is a sassy one!

Becky

Emma

The sun was setting fast so we headed down the road instead of along the board walk. It was a wonderful change of plans with great results!

Yummy

2010-11-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

I am playing a little catch up!

So cannoli's are my favorite desert, but I only like them fresh. One day back in September I decided it was time to learn how to make them. So I went to the bakery and bought shells. Find a recipe on the internet and gave it a whirl. Not bad for the first time the taste was spot on but the filling was a little runny. Marie any clue what I did wrong?

What makes a fresh cannoli better? A great glass of Chilean wine from a friend!

Travis, Nicole, and Kira

2010-11-04T21:19:00.000-07:00

In October I was lucky enough to have a photo shoot with my co-worker Nicole and her beautiful family. The day of the shoot the adorable Kira turned 6 months old.

I wish I had a camera in the back of my head to get pictures of her Dad standing behind me with puppets encouraging Kira to smile.

Funny note as I was talking to Travis I discovered he teaches at the first school I taught at, small world!

The adorable family in Kira's beautiful nursery. Look at those snuggles!

Love those eyes!

Umm why is everyone kissing on me?

I am in love with this picture! You can tell she loves her mommy almost as much as her mommy loves her!

Daddy making Kira giggle.

Nicole and Travis!

Thank you for sharing the morning with me. It was a pleasure to capture your beautiful family in pictures.

Las Vegas Locos

2010-09-25T18:58:00.000-07:00

Last week we had a great time at the UFL game cheering on the Las Vegas Locos. It is a fun cheep family night out $15 tickets.

Sydney noshing of cotton candy mmmmm

Blowing our train whistles

Sugar Ray played the half time show. It was fun to dance to old 90's favorites!

*sorry the pictures stink I only had my lil' point and shoot with me.

Summer Siblings

2010-08-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

THe Summer brings my siblings birthday's. In June we celebrated Billy's birthday. It was a treat to have him home for his birthday (the first time in 3 years.) Sydney came over and decorated his cake. We had so much fun.

The finished product! What can I say this girl loves her sprinkles!
She also had fun helping mommy (Chrissy) wrap his gift.
Our family tradition is to pick a restaurant for a family dinner. Billy chose to break the mold and have everyone over for a game night. This was right after enjoying pizza, during half time of a fierce boys vs girls trivial pursuit game. GIRLS WIN!!!!

July brought Chrissy's birthday. She chose to go to PF Chang's. Her card that Sydney made.

THe coolest gift ever. Max and I were antique shopping and we saw this bottle we filled it with dishwashing liquid to decorate the Hood's Kitchen. On the side are her initials. It killed us to wait to give her this unique find.
The Hood's
I wonder why Sydney is such an goofball?
Uncle Billy helped Sydney fine tune her chopstick skills.
As you can see she was a master at the end he must be a great teacher.
Happy Birthday to the best brother and sister in the world.

Hybrid Cards

2010-08-08T12:57:00.001-07:00

I took an amazing class Computer Tricks for Cards at Jessicasprague.com not only did I learn a ton of computer tricks I also learned many paper techniques here are my assignments.

This card is made of printed digi papers and accents that were all on one file. I added the guitar Stamping Station, and the vellum quote on the bottom along with a little stitching with my sewing machine.

These are designed for gift cards and to be done quickly. you just print the template on double side patterned paper and embellish as you have time for. Made the little tags on the computer.
This one was so cool it was about typography we made the type on the computer and printed on our twill ribbon AMAZING COOL!
This lesson was all about using your favorite photos to make a card. Super simple.
Another Photo card this one is designed so that the receiver can pop out the photograph which added a little digi frame to. So cute I am thinking Christmas cards on this one. Oh and the photo corners and label were done on the computer.
THe front of this cards is amazing right! I watercolored it and learned a new water color technique, then printed the inside of the card.
How cute is the background paper we made it with digital brushes (sort of computer rubber stamps) the inside is super cool but I am keeping that as my little secret.
How cute is this? Every thing but the buttons are printed inside is a pop-up.
This simple card is all digi but the flowers on the front. We also colored in our lettering using photoshop.
As you can see a great class with fun ideas blending both worlds of scrapbooking. I dare you to give digi a try as you can see you just need to dip a toe into the waters.

The Cooter Sisters

2010-07-31T23:19:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I had the pleasure of photographing an amazing group of friends The Cooter Sisters! They all worked together in collage and have been friend forever since. Unfortunately one Cooter is missing, she was feeling under the weather. Chrissy decided to gift this photo shoot to her fellow sisters as they gathered for a farewell to Natalie who is moving out of state.

We started a little later than planned dinner ran late. There was an added challenge of shooting with very little light but the girls were very flexible and we had fun.

Before dinner the girls met at the tattoo shop to get lasting memories of their friendship.

Showing off their new friendship body art.
Having outside in the setting sun.

Going a little retro with this one

Beautiful Women+Beautiful Souls=Beautiful Friends

Favorite images from SF Avon Walk 2010

2010-07-25T23:30:00.000-07:00

Sadly this is the last post of my Avon Walk 2010 crew experience. These are a few of my favorite shots from the weekend.

Awesome Cheerleaders at the finish line

I Love Love the look on these ladies faces

The Tower that is in each city.

Judy one of my favorite walkers. She is a multi city walker and walks with her DSLR (it was seeing her with hers that inspired me to do the same. Judy thank you for sharing your energy to all of those around you!

Carla our team leader with her mom and my friend Jean who was also a team leader at closing ceremonies in the background is Mike.

Jean and Carla supporting each other during closing ceremonies.

If you have been inspired by my post or just have a few dollars laying around many members of my team are walking in Santa Barbra (used to be Long Beach) please go to the Peggy's Spirit sit and help someone out if you so desire.http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR/Walk/LosAngeles?team_id=78440&pg=team&fr_id=1960

Walkers and Cheer Leaders

2010-07-24T21:14:00.000-07:00

The reason we were crewing was to support the real hero's and fundraisers and sometimes even survivors the walkers. Here are some of my favorite pictures of walkers and cheerleaders. I really did try to just pick my favorites!

Cheer leaders at rest stop 5

This little guy giggled every was hanging out in the park on a play date. Every time I rang my cow bell he came closer and was more curious. I asked (with parent permission) if he wanted to ring the bell. He cheered on walkers for 20 minutes or so. His play date was a cutie in a princess dress.

These girls waited patiently for their friend and cheered on every other walker like family. It was so beautiful to see these rays of sunshine keeping the walkers energy up.

There was a fleet of personal vehicles along the route cheering people on with blow hors blasting high energy music, the walkers needed it for those huge hills. This particular van was full of ladies dressed just like their van advertised.

Walkers coming entering our rest stop 21.6 miles of 26.2.

This was the first walker to get to our stop. Way to go Karen! One question though how do you walk that far and still look so fabulous?

I loved the t-shirt on these two amazing walkers. They are from a city in CA known for garlic, their shirt says (save the bulbs)

Amazing outfits gentlemen

Although this team of angles do compute for the cutest outfit in the walk

Hmm maybe it is this guy in the spiffy gold outfit he walked in several people.

Side not the guy in the pink hart hat is Mike from our team in fact his mom is the Peggy in Peggy's Spirit. Mike walked up the route and cheered people on talking and singing his songs.

Moto Crew they are the awesome men and women who help walkers across busy streets. Check out the whirly gig on the back of his bike. I wonder if Moto Crew decorates their bikes like this for Sturgis?
Sweep Vans

These highly festive vans cruise up and down the route picking up injured or exhausted walkers along the route. I have used their services once in Long Beach and I have to say the high energy and cool decorations help distract you from the frustrating fact that your body gave up before reaching your goal.

Set sail with Sweep

The Finish Line

I was so grateful to get into closing ceremonies to see so many amazing walkers finish. When I walk I tend so see the same walkers over the two days since we all have similar paces, and I usually finish near the end, and them I am worried about my own aching body. It was fun to see so many people cross the emotional finish, and cheer them in.

I love the emotion on the faces of these 3 fantastic ladies

Still smiling beautiful

I loved these fans with a theme "Putting a cork to breast cancer"

Watch what happens in the next picture...

Her friend were so proud and happy for her. Way to go!

Read the pink shirt, the lady in white is an amazing friend to do this. Bonus to the walker in pink at least she could not see the hills looming and extending in front of her.

The power of Pink Diva Friends

Families waiting with proud

A special thanks to the San Jose Police/Fire they had many walker I am not sure of the official number but I would guess 20-30 and most of those had a bike cop cheer leader who rode the route, and helped keep the walkers and their co workers safe. San Jose ROCKS!!!

The emotion on this gentleman's face and the picture on his shirt choked me up and most around me.

Mendocino Cancer Resource Center does not just give you care they help fund raise and raise awareness for their patients. Way to go! You can see how hard this route was on their faces. the second lady in makes my shins hurt just looking at her.

Thank you to every walker I and the rest of my team know that you have not only committed to a weekend of walking but also fundraising $1,800+ each walker, training, etc. thank you for raising along with crew 5.5 million dollars this weekend!

Day 2 Crew and Closing

2010-07-21T20:34:00.001-07:00

Day 2 started with our crew duty of tearing down the Wellness Village. We tore down hundres of tables and chairs, scanned the area for garbage and tent stakes, and had fun doing it in record time.

each stack has 50 chairs (that is me in blue in the center)

As you can see the energy in the bus ride to closing cermonies was a little more muted than leaving opening. Who knew crewing was so much work, but fun work!

Chrissy on the bus ride

When we got to closing cermoines I went to the med tent for a little love and care on my back. How often can you get a massage/adjustment with a perfect view of the golden gate bridge?

View from the table AMAZING!!!

After I was relaxed I pushed my struggling voice and cheered on the walkers who were finishing see MORE the next post for pictures from that.

Chrissy before closing ceremonies

Finally it was time for closing ceremonies

Crew marching in

The view behind us

Chrissy and I crewing ro end it together! Notice our cool hats! Thank you do everyone that helped us fundraise we had to raise $500 each for the hats.

My team at closing ceremonies during the stories and emotional parts, I take pictures to keep crying and love their faces.

Laura and Jerry

Liz

Chrissy

Patty

Mike, Jean, Cheryl

Me and Pinky at Closing ceremonies

Rais your hand if you are a survivor of breast cancer, Lost someone to breast cancer, know someone who has had breast cancer, are in it to end it raise your hand.

Rest Stop 5 and Day 1

2010-07-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

Months ago our team captain for Peggy’s Spirit Long Beach Jean e-mailed the team and asked who wanted to crew the San Francisco Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Chrissy called me and asked if I wanted to crew with her, and celebrate her birthday in San Francisco. How awesome is my little sister for wanting to donate her time for her birthday! From there our awesome girls weekend began. We have both walked in the Long Beach event and looked forward to experiencing the walk from a different perspective.

Signing the tower

We had an amazing time crewing together at rest stop 5 mile 21.6, with a Rosie the Riveter theme.

Our team posing by our life sized Rosie that walkers could take their picture with.

Our team met at Opening ceremonies to cheer walkers as they started their day walking 26.2 miles

When we arrived at our rest stop we found a dog park fully of happy puppies. We quickly reconfigured our set up so they dogs could have most of their park.

Set Up empty park

We unloaded the truck and set up, the food and water stations.

Food table ready for walkers

Chrissy and I brought signs to decorate the port-a-potties with bits of inspiration (quotes Chrissy, design Lu)

Chrissy’s primary job throughout the day was to prepare gatorade and water.

My jobs included counting walkers as they came through...

I also served as the welcoming committee and cheered for walkers as I saw them come down the hill, and directed into our park with promises of “Welcome to rest stop 5 less than 5 left we have water, potties, snacks, and puppies.”

Mike would walk up the route and then walk back with single walkers.

The caboose is a special crew member who makes sure the last walker is safe. She also lead the most awesome stretch to start the day.

I opened my sleeping bag and noticed that there was a big bulge. Inside a found a surprise from Max and Lucy. Meet Pinky she also had a note in her little pink blinged backpack.

Posing with Pinky with the "moto crew"

We ended the night in our home for the evening.

In the next few days

Day 2/closing ceremonies

Favorite photos

Cheer leaders and walkers

Alcatraz

2010-07-19T21:49:00.000-07:00

We were both excited to go to Alcatraz for the first time.

We had to take a boat to the Rock, and my tummy is not always fond of boats I am not paddling so I munched on a little ginger to start the trip.

Views from the boat trip

The Bay Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge

The Rock from afar

I have always thought of Alcatraz as a prison but we learned about it’s other uses also. Did you know that is was a base in the civil war? Who tried to take over Alcatraz in the 60’s after it closed?

That’s right the Native Americans

I never expected Alcatraz to be so beautiful. There are gardens created by a prisoner, there is even a group of volunteers that maintain the gardens.

Alcatraz is also an aviary for birds who knew?

There are also amazing views of San Francisco from The Rock

Ooops I almost forgot to share to pictures of the actual prison it is old and falling into disrepair which leads to the creepiness.

A cell

notice the pink yarn

Chrissy locked up

Chrissy listening tot he tour in the old cafeteria.

Old Family section where the guards, and their families lived it was destroyed by a fire.

San Francisco

2010-07-18T21:24:00.000-07:00

Chrissy and I set off July 8th to celebrate her birthday with a weekend of girl time, giving (we crewed the SF Avon Walk for Breast Cancer,) and fun!

We arrived at the airport and were told our flight would be delayed by 30 minutes or so. Then we heard another announcement that “A special visitor from Washington” was landing and airspace was being closed. Our plane made it into the gate. The plane was quickly off loaded and we left with only a 15 minute delay, so I thank you Mr. President for closing the airport and making my flight more on time (I am still confused about how that happened.)

Air Force one landed right outside of our gate!

My awesome friend Becky picked us up at the airport THANK YOU BECKY! We had asked Becky to pick a great place to have dinner. We wanted something unique and ethnic and Becky found a perfect place “B Star” a Burmese restaurant.

One of my favorite items was the green tea fermented salad AMAZING FLAVOR!

We also enjoyed a yummy pork pumpkin soup and more. Next time I am in San Francisco I know where I will eat again!

We walked off dinner by checking out a very cool book store.

After dinner we walked down the street to a Korean Market that sold crepes. Again AMAZING! Good Food Good Friends

Me, Chrissy, Becky

Michele, Russ, and Michael

2010-07-16T20:33:00.001-07:00

The last weekend in June I met with Michele, Russ, and Michael at Spring Mountain park. Funny thing Michele and I both teach at the same school and did not know it. She found me through a referral (thanks Suzanne) and it was through conversation with Suzanne we realized we both taught at the same place (she is half time and it is one of my 4 schools.)

We met early in the morning but the summer heat came on quick and made it a bit of a challenge. Michael had a great time exploring the great outdoors, talking to ducks, finding sticks and more!
Love those long eyelashes, and curly hair!
Michael so serious at the pond.
Being a typical boy running and playing!
Thank you Michele, Russ, and Michael for choosing me to capture your family in pictures.

Holly, Cody, and Sierra

2010-06-17T23:07:00.000-07:00

I started off June with a very special photo shoot. Holly’s family was my Big Photography Give Away winner.

Holly's and her family were nominated by her awesome sister Amanda. We met at Calico Basin, NV and had fun hiking, climbing on the rocks, and sharing talents. It was a pleasure to meet a wonderful family full of life and energy!

Can you guess Cody can be very serious at times!

Holly must be a great mom for her pre teens to want to be close and cuddle with with mom.
Sierra was tired and her awesome brother offered to give her a piggy back ride. They are so adorable I could not decide which I liked better color or black and white?

Holly and Sierra
Holly and Cody goofing around I love to see 12 year olds and moms that are not afraid to be silly.
Holly is an amazing mom who just radiates beauty and energy, her beauty is rubbing off on her amazing children.
Cody the next maestro. He was very timid about playing for real until i told him I have only playing the guitar for 2 years and can play a mean Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, he loosened up and played beautiful music.

Sierra the basketball diva

Thank you Becky Higgins for hosting this amazing gathering of worldwide talents. It was a pleasure to be part of this huge adventure. Keep your eye on Becky's blog to see update of my photo shoot and others from around the world, I can't wait to see everyones talents, and special families.