Vacation Time!

I'm getting ready to go on vacation for a week and cannot wait! My mom and her brothers have planned a surprise family reunion/50th Wedding Anniversary celebration cruise for my grandparents. We leave this evening for New Orleans, from where the ship departs, and then will head down to Cozumel and Costa Maya... and hopefully into warm sunshine!

It has been really rainy and cold here in Phoenix the past few days, so it will be nice to see sunshine again soon and just relax with my family. I'll post some pictures when we get back.

Also, it should be interesting to see New Orleans post Katrina. We are staying in the French Quarter for one night, and I've heard that part is pretty much back to normal, but should be interesting regardless.

Since I'll be out of the country for several days, I may be unreachable via phone and email, but I'll try and check whenever we have connections. Yeah vacation!

Michelle and Craig's Engagement Session

I had the chance to hang out with Michelle and Craig a few weeks ago to capture some engagement pictures of them. Michelle is from Phoenix, but she and Craig recently moved to New York City after college to work, live and play. They are getting married this summer at Desert Mountain Country Club in Cave Creek, so I know their wedding will be absolutely beautiful. I think that is one of most beautiful golf communities I have ever seen (and trust me, there are a lot of beautiful golf communities in Arizona!)

I can't think of a word to better describe them than adorable. They are both so unbelievably nice and they simply adore each other, so our shoot was really a lot of fun. As Michelle told me when we met, they love to laugh and spend most of their time cracking each other up. How true this was. Hopefully these pictures capture that about their personalities as well of their love of each other.

Thank you for a truly fun and special day Michelle and Craig! You can view the full slideshow here.

Sherri and Scott

Here are a few pictures from Sherri and Scott's wedding at The Desert Botanical Garden in Tempe, Arizona. They are such an incredibly nice couple who have many very loving friends and family. They wrote their own vows, which were absolutely beautiful (and funny and sweet), and they had everyone crying!

Congratulations Sherri and Scott! And thank you for letting me part of your very special day.

View their slideshow here.

I love this shot of them dancing.



Here is a shot of Sherri right after she put her dress on. I absolutely love photographing the "getting ready/preparations" becauuse there is such an innate beauty in all brides as they anticipate the coming ceremony and day, and seeing their groom.




The happy couple after their very moving ceremony.



The adorable ring bearer, Sherri's nephew.





I love capturing all the small details that couples put a great deal of thought into.
They really help tell the story of the day.



I think this speaks for itself!

Family and friends (guests) of the wedding may view all of their wedding pictures at www.Pictage.com

The Biggest Moments

Today my daughter and I went on a walk and stumbled across a bunch of fallen leaves on our way to the park. (In Arizona, we don't fully experience "autumn" until Dec-Jan typically since its so warm.) Needless to say, we never made it to the park. Instead we spent a good 45 minutes just playing in the leaves, laying under the big tree looking up the sky and playing peek-a-boo. I loved being the one to share that experience with her and I loved that when I asked her about 30 minutes after we started if she wanted to go the park she said "No" because our time together there was just as much fun.

It is these small moments that make up our lives. I know those 45 minutes will be burned into my memory forever and I hope hers too, if even in her subconscious since she is too little to remember. But I'm also glad that I thought to grab my good camera as we walked out the door so that I was able to capture the joy on her face as she threw about the leaves for the first time.





It truly is the small moments that we remember as the big moments.

Hanging with Megan and Ben in Sedona

I travelled up to Sedona with Megan and Benjamin a couple months ago for their engagement session, and realized in going back through my sessions that I didnt post this one yet. Megan and Ben are such a great pair and we had so much fun up there that day! I really look forward to their wedding in February at Pebble Creek.

Here are a few pictures from our time in the Red Rocks...


We found this great old red truck of someone's at Telaqapaque and just had to sneak a few pictures in front of it! Completely classic 1950's version.













You can see all the ducks behind them making their way in to get a closer look...



Thanks for such a fun day Megan and Ben!