Remember Jesse and Kelly’s engagement session from last September? This awesome couple got married in November and I’m just now getting around to posting their images … yes, that’s how behind I am on my blogging. I’m going to blame it on being pregnant and sick for the past 4 months. *wink. Jesse and Kelly’s wedding was so incredibly sweet and beautiful … definitely one of my favorites ever. These two are like family to me and I feel so blessed to have them in my life. Here’s to a life full of happiness and love! (Side note: this is a very image heavy post … I had too many favorites!)

Aren’t these flowers gorgeous???

This is what happens when the photographer says “Ok guys, up against the wall” … such the comedians!

This jumping shot cracks me up every time I look at it … I’ve never seen such enthusiasm. hahaha.

This is one of my favorite images from the ceremony. I love the look on Jesse’s face … so sweet!

And they lived happily ever after …

I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.
~Mother Teresa

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to photograph some absolutely adorable kids AND raise money for an awesome charity at the same time. I teamed up with a local children’s boutique, So Childish Inc., (who by the way has the most generous, kind hearted owner in the whole wide world … and they have the cutest children’s gear  I have ever seen) and put on a charity Valentine’s Day photoshoot. Together we raised hundreds of dollars for Save the Children’s Haiti Earthquake Relief fund. What better way is there to celebrate Valentine’s Day than to spread the love to those in need? Here are a few images from the photoshoot … be forewarned though … these are some seriously cute kids!

I had the best time EVER with some of my very best friends a couple weeks ago. Brenda and Chris are parents to the adorable Miss Maysie. She’s spunky. And fun. And had us all laughing the entire time we were together. I really can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. She gave kisses (she’s very good at this by the way), she blew bubbles out of her mouth, she ran laps around the building, and she had moves like a rock star. Brenda and Chris, I love your family. Here’s your sneak peek!

Are they adorable or what? Chris and Brenda are expecting baby #2 early next year … I can’t wait!

This is my new favorite image. Maysie was listening at the door hoping someone would open it … such timeless innocence.

Here come the rock star moves!

I LOVE this dress!

Sweet Maysie, thank you for making my day a whole lot brighter. You are one VERY loved little girl!

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to photograph the GORGEOUS wedding of Chuck and Susan.  I loved everything about this wedding, but the one thing I loved the most was the color!!!!! The wedding itself took place on a ranch and everywhere you looked it was so peaceful and serene. Add stunning colors to the mix and you have a recipe for a perfect wedding. I had a really hard time narrowing down my favorites for this post, so I just decided to post ALL my favorites. Enjoy!

There were so many interesting traditions in this wedding. One of my favorites was the entrance of the groom. Two men stood in front of Chuck and two men stood behind him. As they walked, the four men swayed from side to side. This symbolizes life and the “good times and bad times” that come along with it. Through it all, your brothers stand beside you and walk with you. So awesome!

Here comes the bride!

This is Chuck and Susan’s dog … definitely part of the family

Chuck has served in the military for many years and is an award winning photojournalist (when I googled his name, the first thing that popped up was the Encyclopedia Britannica with a pageful of his combat images … ummmm yeah, I was a little terrified about photographing his wedding, lol.) He has received multiple purple hearts for his service to our country and is a true hero (although he is so humble and will never admit that.) He enlisted the help of several military guys who had been injured while serving our country to park guest’s cars before the ceremony. I can’t even tell you how many times I heard the phrase “hooah.” I might add it to my vocabulary.

This is my husband … I think he has a future in beer modeling

Did I mention the wedding took place on a ranch? Well, along with the ranch comes COWS!!!! This photo cracks me up every time I look at it. These were some seriously friendly cows.

Congratulations Chuck and Susan! I wish you a lifetime of love and happiness!

I’m a little behind on my blog posting … part of it is because my photoshop has been down, part of it is because I have an almost 3 year old son who refuses to let me anywhere near the computer when he’s awake. lol. I had such an awesome time with these families a couple weeks ago. The weather was perfect, the location was awesome, and I had the opportunity to take advantage of (er, I mean work with) my good friend, Rachel Khoury, an awesome photographer from Austin, Texas. If you live in Austin and you need a great photographer you should definitely look her up. She ROCKS! It was so much fun shooting with her and I think you will agree with me when I say this … we captured some awesome images! I apologize for the wonky copyright watermarking … I wanted to get these images up but didn’t want to wait for my photoshop to be back up and running. Ack!

So, without further ado … here’s the sneak peek.

I was soooooo excited when the G. Family showed up and I saw what they were wearing. I think I need to photograph them and create a “What to Wear Guide”

I love this one!

This is the G. Family too … just a different G. HA! I absolutely adore them. I’m still trying to convince them to adopt me.

We got so many cute photos of this cutie pie, but I couldn’t resist posting her “crinkle nose” face

Next up is the S. Family! Such handsome brothers …

How sweet is this?!?!

I have some really cool shots of these awesome guys jumping off these steps and they are just too fun not to share … BUT, since I have no photoshop at the moment I can’t create the storyboard that I was envisioning in my head … so you will just have to be patient and wait for that in a later post.

Next up is S. Family number two! (It’s so weird that I would have two G’s and two S’s all in one day!)

Ok, seriously … I want to just eat him up.

I absolutely LOVED watching these two interact … they were so sweet with each other. I captured a ton of great father/son images, but here are a few of my favorites:

While I was capturing the boys, the fabulous Ms. Khoury was capturing these two gorgeous ladies

LOVE this!

Holiday Sessions Round Three will be posted soon! What do you think we will be up to by the time the holidays get here? Round 87?

The one thing I love most about this time of year is that I get to see most of my clients for holiday portraits. It’s so cool to see the same kids year after year and to be able to watch them grow. A few weeks ago I had round one of my holiday mini-sessions. The three families I photographed are the first three families seen in this post from last year. I had such a blast with everyone and love love love kids with BIG personalities! Here’s a quick little sneak peek …

Weddings always get to me. Whenever I attend a wedding or photograph a wedding I always find myself getting caught up in the excitement and raw awesome emotion of the day. I remember my wedding like it was just yesterday. I remember the feelings, the joy, the nervousness, and most of all I remember the hope. Starting a new chapter in your life brings so much hope and promise. That’s why I was so excited when Jesse and Kelly asked me to photograph their upcoming nuptials. Jesse and my husband have been friends for several years and a couple years ago I told Jesse that if Ryan ever died he would have to marry me because he’s the only other guy I know who is as classy and awesome as Ryan. It looks like that plan won’t work anymore now that Jesse has found the love of his life, Kelly. lol. I’m ok with that though because Kelly is just as classy and awesome as Jesse. They are perfect together. They belong together. And they will be together forever.

Jesse and Kelly, I love you both and I can’t wait for your big day. I hope you like your sneak peek!

I LOVE this one!

Jesse is a pilot and he knew a perfect spot where we could photograph the two of them with an airplane flying overhead. How cool is this? AND how stinkin’ awesome is that sky?? I was so excited the day of our shoot when we had awesome clouds mixed with a beautiful blue sky. We don’t see that very often in San Diego.

Ok the secret is out. I have some serious baby fever! How can you resist the squishy goodness of a newborn? I’m convinced that it’s next to impossible. I was so excited to have the opportunity to photograph sweet baby Josiah. He is the son of an old high school friend of mine and I think it’s so cool to see all of us “kids” grown up and having kids of our own. Josiah is one very blessed little guy who has awesome parents and two big sisters to love on him. (Maybe they will let me borrow him from time to time until I get over my baby fever. lol.)

“C” Family I hope you enjoy your sneak peek. God has blessed your family in amazing ways!

I have been friends with Amy for a couple years now and believe me when I tell you this … she is the sweetest lady you will ever meet in your whole entire life.  She has a HUGE heart and everyone who meets her instantly falls in love with her. I’m sure this is exactly what happened when Dave met her. I’m sure it was all over for him once he realized Amy was not only beautiful, but was also so genuine and … well …. just plain awesome. I was so stoked when they asked me to photograph their wedding last weekend. They are so much fun and their wedding was so perfectly them.

Amy and Dave … I’m so lucky to call you my friends and I’m excited for this new chapter that is starting in your life. I wish you, and your sweet girls, a lifetime of love and many blessings. Love you guys!

I know I have said this before, but I really love my job … especially on the days I get to work with children. There is just something so pure and captivating about kids and I always try to capture that in my images. This past weekend I photographed some of the.cutest.kids.ever. I am usually pretty good at getting kids to feel comfortable around me and my camera but the kids I photographed on Saturday made my job so stinkin’ easy. Every single one of them was SO happy. There were no tears, no tantrums, no meltdowns … it was nothing but smiles and nothing but fun. This is going to go down as one of my favorite days ever.

Meet Jacob. This little guy just melts my heart. He is so full of life and his big blue eyes just make him irresistable. There was a family having a birthday party at the park during our session and they were kind enough to let us borrow a few balloons for a couple shots.

I was so excited when I got this shot … but THEN …

Oh my goodness … he had to go and curl his lip and give me the “elvis” look. Ok, I officially can’t resist him now.
Yep, I’m done for.

And then there’s Logan. We became fast friends … even though he made me chase him half way around the park. hahaha.

He was cracking me up because he wouldn’t sit still in my chair. I got some great shots of him next to the chair …

… and then he REALLY cracked me up when he did this:

Logan just became a big brother! This is his sweet baby sister, Cassidy. She just turned 4 weeks old. He was sooooooo sweet with her.

Speaking of sweet baby girls … meet Lizzie!

She was so fascinated with the train tracks!

Seriously people, can you get any happier than this?

Thank you to all the families who came out on Saturday. I’m sure there will be a TON more photos to share from these sessions. I’m having a really hard time deciding on my favorites. I hope you all enjoy your sneak peeks. Your galleries will be ready soon!