I was on TV Monday!

I had the wonderful opportunity to do an interview with Michelle Edmonds from KIVI Channel 6 news.

Michelle founded "Community Baby Shower" a year ago after she saw the need for baby items for new Moms. In order to prepare for the drive, Michelle airs a few stories on different baby-related subjects.

A few weeks ago, she and her videographer came with me to a maternity shoot. After the shoot, Michelle interviewed both Monica and me. It was so great to have this opportunity. Monica did such a fantastic job on her interview! She is a natural :). To view the segment, click HERE.

And here are some resulting photographs from that news story.

O'Dell Wedding Sneak-Peek!

If you are stopping by to see Tara & Ben's Sneak Peek, please leave a comment for the couple at the end of this post.

I had such a blast with this wonderful family. I seriously have been so blessed by my brides, grooms and their families. You all have been so stinkin' sweet :).

Tara and Ben got married in Fruitland, ID. We began the day photographing Tara getting ready in her mother's master bedroom. I spied a beautiful photo of Tara's Mom and Dad at their own wedding several years before. Tara's father sadly passed away about a year ago, and I knew this was a perfect opportunity to have him in one of her wedding photographs...





Then I headed over to visit the boys getting ready - or...playing cards, really. They all looked so handsome in their tuxes and green ties!!! I love green!




Tara and Ben met at Sally's house for their time to connect before the wedding. Ben waited patiently as Tara drove up to the home with her mom. When he turned around to see her for the first time that day, I could tell that he was enamored by her beauty! He held out his hand to help her up to the porch and they embraced! It was really wonderful to see. I have the best job in the world!!!





We headed back to The O'Dell Ranch, where Tara and Ben would exchange vows. There was amazing scenery all around. It was sooo gorgeous. We couldn't finish our bride and groom session without getting a shot of Tara's first baby in the background :). For us city folks, that's a horse.





I don't do a lot of processing like this, but I had to play with this shot. I am sooo excited about how this turned out. Tara and Ben - I hope you order this as a HUGE canvas - it would be absolutely stunning :).



I saw more blue eyes at this wedding than I have ever seen before. And - they weren't just blue. The Junior Bridesmaids had eyes that were crystal blue - almost transparent. ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!! Then - at the wedding, I kept seeing people with just gorgeous eyes. What kind of water do y'all drink in Fruitland ;)?



We took the bridal party out to the field. Look how the sun flare was going right to the couple. It was almost as if Daddy was looking down on his baby girl...he was there with her.



The bridesmaids came to the wedding in a horse and carriage. It was so cool! I loved how these men totally fit the scene, too. Okay - maybe it's normal in Fruitland to see cowboys runnin' around, but not in the city :).



The wedding was short and sweet. This officiator had married Tara's parents and sister and brother. Ben had crafted the arbor for the wedding. It's sentimental touches like these that make a wedding so personal.



Tara loves color (so do I!) and it turned out fabulously to have that much color!!! I just loved it!






A few dancing photos...the two of you danced beautifully!




I hope you've enjoyed your Sneak-Peek, Tara & Ben! I had such a blast not only at your wedding, but getting to know you through these last few months. Happy Marriage and consider yourselves loved...

It's been too long...

Hey, People! It has been far too long since my last post! Well, can I tell you a little bit of what I've been doing?

We've been busy looking for a new car. Not because we hated our Saturn Vue. Not because we needed something bigger, smaller, roomier, cuter...nope. We are looking for a new car because of the 4th of July. Okay - not because of the holiday, but because we got in a pretty major wreck on that day. With Lumuli, Julius and I all in the car, we are extremely thankful that all of us are fine. Lumuli has a gash straight from a horror flick and I've got some bruises that would make hockey players jealous, but nothing serious enough to warrant a trip the hospital.

We were only about four blocks from home - we had just come from visiting my cousin Kristi in Star (it's a town in Idaho, Silly!) and were driving into our subdivision at about 20 mph. We ended up jumping the curb, running into a 700 lb boulder, striking two trees and knocking down two fences. It was sooo scary and we were in shock for awhile, but like I said before, we are so very thankful and really have nothing to complain about.

Sorry I didn't have any cool 4th of July photos to share :(. However, I'll upload some of the wreck tomorrow (or maybe on Sunday since I have the beautiful O'Dell wedding tomorrow).

***ETA: I'm posting these photographs a couple of days after I wrote this post. These photographs do not do the severity of the crash justice!!! I promise...our car was TOTALED. The insurance company told us so ;). Anywho - here's a little bit of what we went through on the fourth***

This is where we initially hit the 700 lb stone...yes...700 POUNDS!!! We hit the tree next to it and in front of it I believe


Then, Lumuli overcorrected and we ended up on the other side of the road.

Mr. & Ms. "R" Sneak-Peek!

Oh my gosh!!! I had the amazing opportunity to photograph twins last weekend. What bundles of joy!!! They had such different personalities and looks, yet you could tell that they had an amazing bond! Mr. R wasn't having as much fun as Ms. R, but in the end, the photographs of both turned out just precious!!!

Thank you, "L", for letting me photograph your beauties!!! You are an amazing woman with incredible endurance - may you be blessed throughout the growth of these little ones. Consider yourselves loved...

St. Al's Models!!!

Well - what a huge support I had in the "model search" for St. Alphonsus' Family Center! There were some amazing applications with such beautiful families! It was a joy to see your photos and to read your stories.

Here a couple of my favorite responses to my question "How would your family be able to communicate diversity in photographs?":

"Our Family represents all the Army National Guard Families. My husband is an Apache helicopter pilot and served in the war for a year and a half from 2005-2007. We represent the dedication and commitment to each other as a family as well as our country."

"Our Family is the 'new' and upcoming American Family as we have an adopted daughter from China. We also reflect diversity in that we gave Josiah [son who has down-syndrome] life and legitimacy as a person who has value."

"We are a brand new family built through the miracle of adoption. Our inter-racial family doesn't match, but we definitely fit perfectly together."

What are y'all trying to do to me??? You know, I sit here again, bawling as I'm typing your responses. :).

Thank you to everyone who applied :).

Here are the people who were chosen to represent "diversity" in the model search. I will be getting hold of each of you within the next week to set up a date and time for your "mini-session".

Kingston
Gydesen
Ellis
Price
Burket
Turner
Gibbons
Kinsman
McKenna
Churchwell
Kwader
Seely
Wiseman

By the way - in case you missed it the first time, we have a little bit of diversity in our family as well :).

Here's Grandpa Art and his "Guide Kid", Julius. Art has lost his sight and it is pure joy for both of them to share in this activity! The Handsome Guy on the left is Julius' Great Grandpa.



The Hunka-Hunka-Burnin'-Love is My Guy on the left. My Sweet Little One is on the right.



This is me and one of my favorite boys :).

Miss "J" Sneak-Peek

Miss "J" and Mom met me at the "Train Depot" a few evenings ago. We were greeted with beautiful light and great weather! As you can tell, Miss "J" is a complete doll! Not only is she beautiful and fun, but she has an equally beautiful and fun personality! We got to talk about choir (which - if you know ANYTHING about me, you know that I was a complete choir freak in High School) and the fact that in her choir room at Meridian High School, my name is engraved in a plaque FOREVER - that's right folks. I rocked the choir scene in High School :). How fun are our commonalities???

Anyway, this is Mom's third Senior and she was a pro at handling the reflector and fetching things for me! Great job, Mom! I had such a blast with these two - we had such fun trespassing (oops - did I just say that out loud?) for fun areas.

Enjoy your Sneak-Peek, Love! Thanks, Miss "J" for helping me break the rules!