lee & sabrina

i will start this post by saying two things...one, this is going to be a really long post because i had too many favorites, and two, i absolutely love lee & sabrina. ever since i have known them they have been together, which isn't saying much because they've been dating for five years! but what makes lee and sabrina so awesome aside from their phenomenal personalities is that their story is something you would see in an old movie. needless to say after dating for such a long time, everyone who knew them rejoiced when they finally got engaged, and they obviously are really excited about getting married too...jumping for joy you might say!



for anyone who knows them, this is a very typical lee and sabrina photo. i think it really sums up their relationship...sabrina looking nice and normal and lee cheesin' it up for the camera. and for anyone who is wondering, he isn't making that face because sabrina weighs a lot. she probably only weighs two pounds. she's a very small person.



they really love each other. although i think many couples face struggles throughout their dating relationship, i really admire lee and sabrina because of what they have been through together, even though i'm sure i only know the tip of the iceberg. sabrina had three goals she wanted accomplish before she got married-- learning how to swing dance, learning sign language, and spending a year in another country doing mission work. in the spring of 2006 sabrina traveled to india to do mission work. during the year that she was gone, lee really missed her, and spent a lot of time talking about her.

i really liked this one for some reason. i love that sabrina's hand and engagement ring are in focus but you can still clearly see lee and all the joy on his face at his bride-to-be.

lee and sabrina are quirky and i love that about them, probably because i'm told often that i'm pretty quirky myself. lee said he really wanted a picture of himself coming out of sabrina's side, and we decided that maybe we should make a set so we took photos of sabrina coming out of lee's side too. sadly, there wasn't a good one of lee coming out of sabrina's side. there's always hope for a re-take on the wedding day...

i really liked all the light and shadows in this alleyway.

thank you guys for the most entertaining photo shoot i've ever had! :)

katelyn & stephen

i have known katelyn since the day she was born. when we were younger and my family still lived in virginia, our families saw each other twice a week at church and most weeks we ended up getting together to play too. needless to say, when she asked me to do her wedding, i was completely honored.

this is the church that we went to when we lived in virginia, where katelyn and her family still attend. it was kind of like going back in time because nothing has changed in even the tiniest way... in some ways, i really love that. it was really cool to see all the people who i had been in sunday school class and dance class and awanas with and all of their families.

katelyn is so beautiful.

this is one of my favorite photos from the day...i love the way katelyn's dad looks so happy and proud after just giving away his oldest daughter.

gorgeous girls!

as a photographer, the moments when you really know in your heart that you got the perfect shot are few and far between, and when they happen it's like time stops and you want to cry because you just know that you got it. when katelyn and stephen were leaving their reception, i had one of those moments. i think this photo really captured the joy of them and their friends and family.

thank you so much for letting me be a part of your day, katelyn & stephen (and your families too)!

tara and thane

i've been really behind on the blogging aspect of life lately... i have been spending every spare moment and ounce of energy into getting everything ready for my first wedding on my own. the business cards are done and printed, the website is live, but not quite finished, and i survived the wedding even though there were some technical difficulties! if i can survive the editing i'll be good to go! now that i'm back, i'm attempting to catch up on blogging, although i can already tell i'm going to do this post and then probably skip some. i'm trying though! so here are some of my favorites from one of the most beautiful weddings we've done all season...

getting ready.

this is one of my all-time favorite photos. i love everything about it, especially tara's face. she looks like the perfect bride...she looks like she is so happy that it's her wedding day.

this is them seeing each other for the first time.

for some reason i just liked this photo of thane before he got dressed. i think it really reflects who he is...he was one of the nicest grooms.

rene

rene has been a good friend since we first met in high school. she is joyful and real and is one of very few people who seem to be at home in themselves. recently some people in her office nominated her for a kc magazine 'hottest singles' special that's supposed to be published in december, and rene needed a photo to give to them. since the last time she really had photos of herself taken were her senior portraits, we thought this would be a good excuse to wander around downtown for an afternoon of picture taking. here are some of my favorites...

once we were in a group that was called the 'succulent wild women' group because of sark's book that we were reading through with the same title. rene is definitely a succulent wild woman. she's got a lot of spunk.

her eyes are so stunning to me.

summer's cowgirl extravaganza

my five year-old friend, summer, and i have the same birthday, the same wild, curly hair, and the same craziness about us. so every year we give each other cards and gifts and sing happy birthday to us. this year though, summer turned five, so her mom pulled out all the stops and threw her a cowgirl birthday party. she even arranged for a pony named mr. whitey to visit for a little while...

have you seen this outlaw? summer's big brother, william and his friend jonathan dressed up as outlaws, and all the party guests had to capture them to get their loot.

summer and mr. whitey say, 'howdy!'

throughout the party summer kept coming up to me, and taking my face in her hands would say, "can you believe that mr. whitey came all this way to my party? i just can't believe it..." as if somehow mr. whitey knew that it was summer's birthday. i like that she is still so young and trusting and innocent and is fully convinced that a small pony knew it was her birthday and made a point of coming.

william really wanted some photos of himself with his guns.

william and summer's little brother, henry, is two. he was much more interested in sneaking mints out of the cowboy hat filled with candy than anything else at the party.

william, summer, and henry's dad... cowboy steve.

kristin & taylor

if i could use one word to describe kristin and taylor's wedding, it would be...genuine. even though their wedding wasn't the most extravagant or over the top cutting edge, the family and friends who gathered to celebrate their day were so excited for them and the next part of their journey as husband and wife that it just radiated throughout the day. the day was packed with intimate moments, here are some of my favorites...

kristin and her mom, bridesmaids, soon to be mother-in-law, and other close friends and family got together to pray before the ceremony. i think becca said it right when she mentioned that kristin and taylor's family and friends really treasure them.

a quiet moment between kristin and her dad right before they walked down the aisle.

even though this isn't my best photo of the day, i really love the emotion on taylor's face. his dad was praying before kristin's dad gave her away. i love that he looks overwhelmed with the feeling of being so blessed.

you know you make me wanna SHOUT!! the little boy in this picture was our favorite. during the reception he showed off some pretty cool dance moves.

vacation

Spending time with lots of family and on the beach are probably the best kind of therapy there is. Every year I look forward to going home to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and a few days later I look forward to escaping them with my immediate family to recharge at a beach cottage in North Carolina.

Ry and I nearly missed our 5a.m. flight, only to hang out for a few hours in the Atlanta airport for our layover... the third photo is how he really felt.

While we were in Virginia, we spent a day at Busch Gardens, where we have been going every summer since I can remember. My grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all came with us too, which is part of the tradition, and a large part of the chaos that I love so much.

All the cousins loved the teacups, especially Parker Grace...

Jack Jack is almost two, and quite a handful, but he is one of my favorites.

At dinnertime we went to a German-themed restaurant at the park called the Festhaus, complete with dancers and a polka band. We were halfway through our dinner when it started pouring and lightning was spotted, so we got stuck in the Festhaus for over an hour! While we were there, my brother got really into the show...

eine...

zwei...

drei...

zufa!!

They kept doing the show continuously since more and more people were packing in because of the storm. It took days to get the 'Oy!Oy!Oy!'s out of our heads. The beach sounds definitely helped. In Corolla, NC days are spent at the beach eating snacks, getting sun, taking walks, and reading books. Nights are reserved for seafood and rummy, with few exceptions.

Jesse was much more interested in feeding the birds, (or maybe trying to be a bird? we're not sure which...) than snacking and hanging out with the fam.

Late afternoon and early evenings on the beach have this great feeling of renewal about them, that's contagious. I watched the sunset every night and was left with contentment and a quiet kind of peace.




Each night at the beach the 'big people' (our family minus my two youngest siblings) played rummy, as is customary when we're at the beach. On our last night my dad decided that we needed to change up the generations old rummy championship and play some hearts. I didn't do so well this hand...