A Touch of Hope

Farewell.

2011-06-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

These are pictures that I took of my niece and her family.
Chuck is leaving for his 3rd deployment with the National Guard.
He will be going to Iraq this time.
They left on Saturday and I had the opportunity to get some shots of them in the
natural beauty that southern Utah has to offer.
I love Chuck so much and I am going to miss him like crazy.
We will be praying for the "Triple Deuce" and the 213th.

4 year old Odin and daddy.

Yes, Chuck IS this tough!!!!

Baby Liam was born in the middle of February. Chuck will miss his 1st birthday.

He might be a strong man, but he's still Cort's daddy.

My beautiful niece. She will sacrifice so much this deployment.

Worth a thousand words. This is how this sweet family felt all week, trying to get Odin to understand that daddy has to go to "work". So hard.

FAREWELL Chuck.
I love you and I'll see you next year!!!
Be safe and we'll take care of Brittney and the boys for you!!!!

Daniel and Danielle's Wedding!!!

2010-09-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

On August 21st, I got to go up for my cousin, Danielle's wedding!!! She married the coolest guy, Daniel. Yes, their names are Danielle and Daniel, also known as D & D because most of us can't spit out their names together!!!! I felt so honored when they asked me to be the wedding photographer!!!! Here is just some of the fun shots I got while with these 2 love birds on their special day!!!!

Danielle, the picture of perfection!!!

You know I LOVE silhouette shots of brides!!!!

WOOHOO!!!! Look how stinking handsome Daniel is!!! He is one of
the nicest guys I know and an absolute PERFECT match for Danielle!!!!

What a beautiful bride!!!! She is so happy!!!!

This picture is extra special. This is Danielle's Grandpa Long. He has been suffering from some health problems for a while and about 10 days after this picture was taken, he passed away. I am glad that my aunt was able to get a copy of this picture to him right after the wedding and see the joy it brought him. This picture is PRICELESS!!!

When we were at the park doing Danielle's bridals,
there was a little girl that was following us around,
calling Danielle a "Princess".
Can you tell why? I think this is what REAL princesses look like!!!!

I love her personality!!!!!

Here's my Uncle Bear saying, "no more money, honey!!!!"

Ohhhh, if we knew what she was whispering in Daniel's ear,
I think it would even make me blush!!!!

Think he can get away?????

I don't think he really wanted to!!!!!
I think he likes her a little bit!!!!

I just have to say THANK YOU to Daniel and Danielle for trusting me to do your wedding. I love you guys to pieces!!!!

Kissy kissy!!!!

2010-07-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted any pictures, I've been a little busy ;) I did this photo shoot with my niece and her sweet family a few months ago. I love how the colors turned these photos almost into works of art!!!!

I also love all the kisses that were shared during this shoot!!!!! ENJOY!!!!!

Brittney and Cort sharing some smooches!!!!

Odin can't even escape the kisses!!!

And one to seal the deal!!!!

I had a blast!!! Thank you TAYLOR FAMILY for letting me do these!!!!

Christmas time is coming!!!

2009-12-06T09:04:00.001-08:00

With Christmas time approaching, I've been busy doing family photo shoots. I will be posting them on here as I get done with them. These are from a shoot I did with my neighbors, the Rindlisbacher family. It was so fun and hard to narrow down which ones I liked the best!!!

Reagan was the PERFECT model. She had this "smile and look cute" thing down pat!!!

Look how yummy Koufax is with that little grin!!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this photo... how cute is she?

Hahahahahahaha!!!

I had such a fun time taking their photos. I'm glad they asked me to and I look forward to doing it again in the future!!! THANKS GUYS!!!

Precious baby

2009-10-20T00:56:00.001-07:00

I was going through some old pictures and found these from when my friend, Angie, had her baby. I forgot how absolutely priceless these are. I remember taking these photos and how I was overtaken by how much our Heavenly Father must love us to send His wonderful spirits to us to raise. Mya was just a few days old, she even had her umbilical clamp still on.

A tiny, little hand....

Itty, bitty feet....

With features of an angel.....

A precious one we couldn't wait to meet!

The look in Angie's eyes is the love only a mother can have for her newborn child. This is one of my favorite pictures.

After playing photographer with Mya, I got to take some shots of Wyatt!!! This picture says it all!!! He keeps us all going!!! Man, I love this kid!!!

Pete and Angie!!!

2009-10-20T00:36:00.001-07:00

This is the Anderson family. They are some of my favorite neighbors I have ever had. I was so excited when Angie called me and wanted me to do their family pictures.

Pete and Angie make the CUTEST babies.... wouldn't you agree?

This is Wyatt, he is such a cool little dude. YES, he is as full of it as this picture shows!!!
And look at this precious little thing. Mya's eyes are just to DIE for!!!

I love how daddy was showing Wyatt how to be a tough guy!!!

Thanks, Pete and Angie for all the fun!!!

My Bohne

2009-08-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

Randy's cousins were making the big move from Las Vegas to Maryland and wanted a family photo before they left. I love the Bohne family so much and felt privileged to be able to take their pictures!!!

The Zoo

2009-08-27T10:24:00.001-07:00

My friend, Holly and her family just moved "home" from Oregon and wanted to get some new family pictures done. She wanted to capture what Southern Utah is all about, what better way to do that then the red hill? I think her friends around the country will have a good idea of what this area looks like by looking at these pictures!!!Yep, count them, she has 5 children!!! What a fun family!!!

I love this shot of daddy looking at the temple with his little baby girl. That is definitely the focus of this family, the temple.
Thanks to "The Zoo" for letting me take some pictures of them!!!!

One pretty family

2009-07-25T16:07:00.000-07:00

This is the Vuki family. My friend gave them my number (thank Betsy) and I am so glad. They are such a beautiful family. It was possibly my fastest photo shoot EVER!!! They were just gems and I feel so lucky to have been able to do their family photos.

More of the Salter's

2009-07-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

Here are more pictures of the Salter family. I had a blast with them. They let me drag them around to some locations that I've been wanting to try. They were great sports!!!

Thanks for a great time, guys!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

2009-07-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

I have been busy for a couple of weeks (my husband was in a bad motorcycle crash and broke his pelvis), but I wanted to post this picture of the Salter family. It's so.... American!!! I had a great time shooting this beautiful family. I will post more of the pictures after they come over to get their disc!!! Thanks Katie and John!!!
Happy 4th of July!!!

More Family Pics That I love!!!

2009-06-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

As I said in the previous post, family photos can be some of the most challenging, but I love capturing a moment in time for families.

These are the Reynold's. Suzanne is my cousin (that I didn't find out wasn't my cousin till I was 17). Her family is so adorable and her and Jeremy are too bad either ;)

This is my neighbor, Emily's family. She gets her stunning looks from her mom. This was a fun shoot.

And Randy's cousin, Jason and his family. I like this shot a lot. They are all just pretty people!!!
I like this one of Pete's family. Shaydee is so cute like that and doesn't even know what's happening behind her!!!
I learned new things on every one of these shoots. I am so grateful to the families that let me take their family pictures!!!

Family pictures.....

2009-06-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

Family pictures can be quite a challenge, you have to schedule around meal time, nap time, happy time, ect...

but even when I have to deal with this.......
they can end up looking like this......

Thanks Hansen family (especially Corey for letting me take that first picture). You weren't as bad as you thought you were!!! Let's do it again sometime!!!

The miracle of birth

2009-06-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

If any of you know me well, you know I'm a sucker for birth stories. I think it's such a blessing that our Heavenly Father has made our bodies to carry babies and that he trusts us to do it. This is my neighbor, Brittney and her husband Grant. Last year they had their first baby and they let me take some photos of them before she was born.

I love the look of this picture. The love for their daughter oozes out of them even before she's born.
Again, not photo shopped. I like how the sun represents life and look where it's shining.

Thanks Brittney and Grant for letting me take these shots!!!

Ivy and Tanner

2009-06-10T22:52:00.001-07:00

I got the opportunity to spend time with Randy's cousin, Ivy and her now husband, Tanner just weeks before their wedding to do some bridal shots. Ivy is such a breathtaking beautiful bride. They have such fun personalities and were game for whatever I wanted to try. These are some of my favorite bridals to date!!

That last shot is NOT photo-shopped!!! We were at the right place at the right time. They enlarged this one to display on their wedding day, it is stunning how cool it looks as a large print!!!

My latest favorite location

2009-06-10T22:36:00.000-07:00

I found this cute place in Hurricane that looks like it's in the middle of nowhere and really, it's in the center of town!!! I've done a few family shoots there lately and they've all turned out great!!! There's something fun about the old and the pretty in one picture. The contrast of the old barn wood and pretty family members that love each other so much!!!

This is Randy's brother, Steven and his cute family. They were the first of mine to try out this old house. I loved the way they looked!!!

Here's Pete and Tyra. Pete's my nephew and I just love his family. I don't think they were too put out when I told them they have to kiss!!! I laugh every time I see the looks on the kids faces!!!

Then we have Randy's cousin, Jason and his family. They are such pretty people. That makes taking pictures REALLY EASY!!!

Look at this little angel. She is my great-niece, Brooklyn. She just looks like she's in a different place. Heavenly.

Robert and Rachel's wedding

2009-06-10T15:31:00.000-07:00

This is my nephew, Robert and his (now) wife, Rachel. I got to photograph their wedding last summer. It was such a simple wedding, just like them. It was casual and fun.

Here is one of my favorite shots of the day. I loved her bouquet. So colorful!

Here is Rachel and her mom. I love the look of love in her mom's eyes. Her eyes tell how much love she holds for her sweet daughter.

And here's Robert's belt buckle. A Fox buckle, only Robert!!!

I loved doing this wedding. There were some shots that are just priceless. It was a great day!

A woman's hands

2009-06-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

This is my best friend, Anna and her mom, Marsha. Anna and I have been best friends since we were in-utero. Growing up, I got to hear Marsha teaching her kids and others how to play the piano. The last few years, my kids have been blessed to have Anna teach them piano. I could listen to Anna play all day. It's one of my favorite things in the world. Last year after a piano recital, I couldn't pass up taking these pictures of Anna and Marsha playing together. I love looking at their hands and thinking of the good and bad times that those hands have been through. When they play together, it is like magic. These are some of my favorite pictures, but probably because of what those hands mean to me. I am so lucky to have people like Anna and Marsha in my life.

Mr. and Mrs. Lang!!!

2009-05-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

This is a wedding I got to do last June. Rick and Jessica Lang. Bridals are always fun because the bride values good photos and the groom values making his bride happy!!! They are the easiest and funnest shoots to do!!! I love this picture. I love southern Utah, though. I'm a sucker for the red rocks all around!!!

LOVE this picture of their rings!!!

And check out these SHOES!!! So fabulous!!!

Angie's bouquet

2009-05-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

I took this picture at my nephew, Jake's wedding. This is his bride, Angie's bouquet. This photo captures the mood of the day.... simple. They got married at a park with just family and a handful of friends. It was the perfect day for a wedding and the perfect picture to remember that day by.

The Feet

2009-05-30T09:07:00.001-07:00

This is a picture I got to take of our neighbors. At first look you may wonder what's so special about this photo. The cool part is that their last name is Foote. We call them the Feet. So when I got to do their family photos, I couldn't resist taking a picture of just their feet!!! I love this family. Maybe one day when I grow up, I can be like them!!!