Senior 2009

Air Academy high school is in the house!!!! Charaia is my senior rep for Air Academy this 2008-2009 school year. Last sunday Charaia and I took some time and went to the west side of town for her photoshoot, we had alot of fun. Here, for Charaia, is a taste of what's to come...a few of my favorites....

You can't tell, but there were grasshoppers all in this field. Every time you took one step about 30 grasshoppers jumped in 30 different directions. It was pretty crazy. I just want to thank Charaia for braving the field with me, and showing off her glorious smile.




Girl, I think you are a beautifully blessed. I wish nothing but the best for you in your senior year. Have fun and enjoy, because college will be here all too soon. ; )

Love, Peace and Hair grease...

j

Family

Last week I got back in touch with my older sister after 8 years of not talking. Let me explain. Natalie's mom dated my dad for like 10 years, they never got married, but we were family. I always remember thinking how cool Natalie was. She was way older than me, had her own apartment, was married and had her own money. She was always there to give sisterly advice and treat us girls when she could. I am not sure if I ever expressed it to her, but she meant the world to me. You see in my mom's house I am the oldest child, so I always had a lot more responsibility and had to help take care of my younger sisters. So when I was at dad's I wasn't the oldest anymore, and I could look up to someone else, and ask her those things I couldn't ask anyone else. It's different being some one's little sister. And to be NATALIE's little sister...well that's off the chain. Anyhoo, back to my story, to make a long one short, my dad and Nat's mom did not work out. The last time I saw them was in 2000 when they were at my wedding, after that we lost all contact. But then, earlier this year my dad ran into Natalie while getting a pedicure at his favorite nail shop (yes, dad loves getting his feet done... I am just glad I'm not the one that has to do it), he gave her my number, she called, and family was made new. Now, I am definitely not that 20 year old, freshly married girl she used to know. I have surely been around the block a few times. However, I am so excited to have my big sister back, someone this old married, mother of 3 can still look up to and call on for that lovingly sister advice. Cause no matter how old I get, Natalie will still be older. Or should I say wiser. ; )

I love you Natalie, and I can not wait to get wiser under your wing.

Love ,

j

Here is a picture of all of us this past weekend...

Me and Nat are on the right. Jussie and Tyler are on the left. Tyler, my niece, was in my wedding, and she was a cute little girl back then. Now she is a beautiful, smart, basketball star playing young lady. I could not believe my eyes! Look at those Cali girls. I am so in love with my "new" extended family. I could not stop smiling.

Cool it now, Ooh watch out....

Alright now big girl!
Cool it now

You've got to cool it now

Ooh, watch out

You're gonna lose control

Cool it now

You've got to slow it down

Slow it down

You're gonna fall in love

Happy Monday!

; ) j

Happiness

n. The quality or state of being happy.

I found a few other definitions. I like this one the best~

n. The state of being blessed; felicity; bliss; heavenly joys; the favor of God.

The other day Olivia went to her first slumber party, it was a big girl sleep over which meant Sid had to stay home. The man and I took that opportunity to take Sid out on a "date". We took her to Lil Biggs (Chuck-e-Cheese on steroids) and she had a blast! You see, when you have more than one kid and they are close to the same age, it's hard to have one on one time. Everything is always done together. So it was fun for me and Joe to treat Sidney to her own night. We ate pizza, and played until the place closed down. For her... it was the true definition of happiness. Selah.

~ j

ANTM

Sometimes you just have to funk things up. Yesterday I got out my seamless paper backdrop (for the first time), and I decided to take some pictures of my big girl. Well she decided to model it up for me, and for the next 30 minutes America's Next Top Model was definitely in the building! I mean she worked it. She worked it from the top to the bottom, from this side to that...the girl has skill (as much skill as 6 yr old can have). Unfortunately I only have a couple of shots to post, because then came real life...mini me...the baby...the dog...dinner...you all know how it goes. But I promise you this, we will have many more ANTM sessions in the future. : ) Here are a couple of my favorites.

I like the processing on this one

The same picture, but in bw, I could not decide which one I liked better... What do you think??

I love the missing tooth.

I would say for sure I need more practice with the seamless paper, however I do think I am off to a good start.

Much love,

j

The 4th

I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July. To me, this holiday is the epitome of summer-good food, lots of sun and family fun (hey that rhymed!). We sure had a good time, the man bar-b-qued and we has some friends over. The kids played outside all.day.long. It really was lovely. I hope yours was as blessed as ours. Happy Monday.

j

A Beautiful Life...

A couple of weekends ago I had the pleasure of shooting Jenn and Bill's family pics. We spent the time in Manitou Springs (Manitou is a cute little town, if you have never been you should definitely take the time to visit).

Chloe, their middle child, was such a free spirit. She reminded me that sometimes we simply must enjoy the finer things.

Ginger, the baby, was such a blessing. I did not hear a peep out of her the whole time. Isn't she just the cutest?!

Kenna, the big sister, was also a big help. Whenever I needed it, she corralled her sisters and held them still so I could get their photos taken. Big props to the Big sister.

Anyhoo, I had a such a good time with you all, I hope you had as much fun as me. God Bless!

Also, I did want to give a shout out to my lovely assistant. She was probably the biggest blessing of all. Thanks Juss.

j