I spent the evening at the beach with this beautiful family from Las Vegas. I love the shots we got, but the session was not without its challenges. First of all it seemed like everyone and their mother, grandmother, and cousin was at the beach that night. It made navigating through the crowds a little tough. The sun was out, but it was chilly. It was so chilly I felt like I needed my coat… in July. Finally, our session was cut short when little baby Dean started to turn bright red. He may have had an allergic reaction to some sun block. Luckily he was OK, and no harm was done.

You guys look amazing. Have fun on the rest of your vacation!

…and finally, the last shot of the night.

Ben turned 8 years old last weekend. We celebrated all day long with trips to his favorite places (Target, Subway, Game Stop, and Yo Frutti). Then we had some family over for for pizza and swimming. I’m so proud of this kid who is kind and loving, funny, and joyful. I couldn’t ask for more.

Four generations, and both sides of the family were on hand last weekend at Mika’s house. Even though it was one of the hottest days of the year, and their air conditioner wasn’t working Mika’s eyes would light up like nothing else when she smiled.

Her proud parents.

Her great grandmother, and her grandmother

Her uncle

Her cousin, and another uncle. You have to love the t-shirt. When I saw it I told him I needed one of those for my kids. (I did get one with his face, don’t worry).

Mika’s aunt, uncle, and 2 cousins

One year ago I was honored to meet Claire, and take her newborn pictures. It was so fun to go back and see her a year later along with her big brother. She’s just on the brink of walking, and stays very busy. Happy birthday Claire!

I was so excited to be able to do a maternity session at the beach. I love everything about this session. These photos just make me happy inside, and I hope they do the same for Kady. She looks amazing, and with only 2 more weeks until her due date.

For some reason I’ve been able to meet a lot of Natalie’s this year. This was my 3rd session with a Natalie in 5 months, and I’ve loved them all, so hopefully I’ll get more.

Natalie’s senior portrait session was so much fun. She was like a breath of fresh air. We went all over the Ventura Pier, and had a great time even though it was really windy and cold. As you can see she is a dancer, and we wanted to highlight that part of her life. She and I are both huge fans of So You Think You Can Dance? I know I will be watching next year to hopefully see her auditioning.

Her brother jumped in a few photos at the lifeguard stand.

It’s really hard to choose, but I think the photo on the left is my favorite of the night.

Natalie changed into the tutu she made herself, and we went for a stroll along the pier, and on the sand. I’m sure you can imagine that people took notice. One man even stopped us and asked us, “Is that a tutu?”

Patty emailed me about a session for her family. Her husband was being deployed very soon to Afghanistan, and she wanted pictures of the three of them he left. It was an honor for me to spend the morning with them capturing their sweet little family. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for everything.

Without a doubt this next one is my favorite.

This is the reaction I always get when I say Tim will do a little dance for them.  Of course he never actually does dance, but the thought of it is enough to make my clients laugh.

Noah is already 10 months old, and I haven’t posted his 9 month photos yet. Now that it’s summer he’s surrounded all day by kids wanting to play with him, and naturally we think that every little thing he does, and every expression on his face is the cutest thing ever.

He crawls around all day pushing himself forward with his toes and knees that quickly become worn and dirty.

Laura wrote me back in November about her friend Maria and her family. She wanted to nominate her friend’s family for my annual Giving is Awesome session. I’m so glad she did. This family has been through so much in such a short period of time. Here is an exerpt from Laura’s letter to me.

“…. a typical family really, only tragedy keeps landing on this families plate. Tragedy struck only a few months after Ryan and Hailey were born. Hailey began feeling sick with a fever in which doctors passed off as the flu, October 4th 2006. She was in critical condition & was not expected to make it through the night. She was diagnosed with a rare aggressive form of Leukemia ( Infant ALL with the MLL gene) Her twin brother Ryan was not a bone marrow match and in 2007 they had to go with a not positive match to save Hailey’s life. Hailey is now 3 years old but has been on basically isolation her whole life. She is at home with her family and we are grateful everyday for that.

Maria goes through so much everyday taking care of Hailey who can be a little bit crazy due to the medications she is on and also taking care of Ryan who is just as full of energy. The twins hardly get much sleep so Maria hardly gets any sleep and work has been rough.

This family has touched my heart since knowing them in 2006 when the twins were a mere 6 months old. They have become a second family to me and my heart aches everyday when they are going through a rough time. She is a great mom she is like a second mom to me, no matter how tired she is, how stressed out she can get, she is the most strong woman I know. I don’t know how she does it. But she does it. I have never in my life met or respected someone as much as I do her and her family and I hope that if you do choose this family you get to experience the awesomeness of the family that I get to everyday.”

We were able to do our photo session this past week at the beach. It was the twins very first time there, and they were incredibly excited. It was so fun for me to see them experience the water, sea life, and everything the beach offers for the very first time. I’m honored to share this sweet family with you.

We had a fantastic 4th of July weekend despite a sick baby. Hopefully yours was wonderful and relaxing. I have a beautiful session to blog, but right now I’m busy getting orders out. Stay tuned.