[preude]: gabby

[prelude]: nick

[prelude]: jiana

[prelude]: jessica - desert vista high school

 

she's got a pretty cool twin brother too :)

[prelude]: artino's

aaaand since I'm past the baby phase...this picture absolutely captured my heart (not that it wasn't already - she's normally all sunshine around me!)...but her 'I love you' fingers and real tears make me even all the more smitten with her!
moral of the story?
do. not. take. the. birthday. cake. away. :)

[prelude]: the four :)

THIS was a fun session for me...seriously, seriously fun...can't wait to tell you about it. :)

[prelude]: michelle

black and white

this session has been six years in waiting for me.
now granted her session had the unexpected giant bug on the wild cows nose, and the national geographic sound effect noises, and two s.e.r.i.o.u.s.l.y. crazy old men in the middle of nowhere!
but somehow these funny memories of your session only add to the six years I have of memories of watching you grow up...

six years of watching you grow from a beautiful young girl into a most fashionable lady.
and quite the lady this girl is...
I always tell her that my favorite character trait of hers is her ability to look at life in black and white.
she's never been afraid to tell things as she see's them, she's strong...independent and clever...almost TOO clever. ;)
oddly enough, the other thing that makes me smile most about her is one of the only things about her that doesn't match up to her black and white take on life...it just doesn't match the classy fashionista she is to me...
she has the weirdest obsession with justin beiber. (oh yeah, I said that.) ;)
to each their own, I suppose?  but it still makes me smile, nonetheless. :)

love you, lex...I really, really do.
up, down, high, low...I wouldn't trade these six years for anything.
you challenge me to look deeper, to love much more and to never quit.
yup, I love you and thank you for letting me spend this afternoon with you...
...you're simply stunning. :)

lemonade

ahhhhhhhhhhh, the lemonade session.
what. a. session. it. was.

this session set out as a dream of mine that got unbelievably enhanced by:
an incredible photographer,
an interior designer/vintage rental company owner,
a wedding boutique owner,
a beautiful florist,
a modern vintage stylist,
a crafty seamstress,
a creative nail technician,
a meticulous makeup artist,
a unique hair stylist,
an aspiring videographer,
and eight absolutely gorgeous, hardworking ladies.

this sessions story starts with a three month old beautiful dream of mine.
I got to see this beautiful dream come to fruition.
unfortunately, I also had to watch as it was made to get torn down minutes before it was to begin.
talk about a "cinderella before the ball" moment.
the happy part of this sad story is that much like cinderella,
I had a fairy godmother that day.  in fact, that day I had over a dozen of them!
when, in my cinderella moment, I simply couldn't see a "plan b" to my original dream, these beautiful people could.
in all honesty,
elizabeth, kate, lindsey, josh, mireille (and her two beautiful girls), cassandra, priscilla, eli, lauren, lauren, emily & ashley
YOU. MADE. THIS. BEAUTIFUL. SESSION. HAPPEN.
serious fairy godmother status. :)
at the end of the day I have never been more proud to have the family & friends that I do.
the kind of friends that literally picked up the pieces of my dreams, my "lemons" if you will...
and turned them into lemonade.