happy halloween.

i hope you all have a happy halloween! i tried to take some pictures of the girls and their "punkins" and well, one just loves the camera, and one thinks its the "debil".... see if you can figure out "witch" is "witch"...

pop.

lemme tell you a little something about my dad. my dad is a pretty awesome dad. sure, growing up there were moments of embarrassment. like riding in the buick, while my dad was singing & doing "the buffalo stance" when he should have been driving... it cracked my friends up, and I rolled my eyes. even though he did the typical embarrassing "dad" stuff, I still knew that my dad was the coolest around. and as cool as a dad as he is, he is an UBER cool papa. i don't know many other papa's who will have a tea party, dress their granddaughters in every princess "costanume" that they own, make tents out of blankets and play "mashed motato head" every time they are asked... but my dad does. my dad lives for it. my dad lights up when my girls bat their big eyes at him and say "papa is my best friend". those girls have him wrapped around their little fingers, and truth be told, he likes it there. i love that my girls have such a special place in their hearts for their papa.

i tell you all of this because today is my pop's birthday. it was a perfect day dedicated to an awesome dad. aubrey colored him a card, and actually wrote her name for the very first time, ALL BY HERSELF on the bottom of the card. and when papa got that card, he was beaming from ear to ear with pride. that is why he is an UBER cool papa.

i thought i would post two of my favorite pics of my pop and the girls. the first pic is the very first time my dad held aubrey. she was 23 days old. the second pic is of him and the baby ava. they had a very similar hair line in that pic, but you can tell which one is ava by her being the 1 year old!!! HA!

i love you pop, and i hope you had an awesome birthday!!

2nd shooting. jess & kelly

i was able to second shoot with my partner in crime charise once again. this time it was for the amazing couple, jess & kelly. oh my gawsh do these two have a dramatic flair. he rode up on his harley, she looked like a fairytale princess. they are the perfect match.


i tried a little something different this time around. the couples love was so powerful, i wanted to try and make my images a bit more powerful too... i think there is an amazing power in black and white photos.


jess & kelly, i hope you live happily ever after.

a sneak peek. matt & melissa.

here is a little sneak peek of the e-session i am working on. stay tuned for a MUCH bigger post later this week!

remember. fight back. celebrate.

those were the words that described the 2008 american cancer society Relay for Life. i can't begin to explain that spirit that was on that field. the sea of purple was overwhelming. everyone who was wearing purple, was a survivor of cancer. we met so many friends. so many amazing people helped out "team gavin" as it was our first time doing this walk.

team gavin raised over $3000 for the american cancer society.

we even had one crazy team member and his two children (who each raised over $100 themselves) stay the entire 24 hours!!!

my legs ached. but it was a good ache. when i would start to complain, one of my "loving" team members would kindly remind me that at least I am aching, there were people there walking going through chemo, there were people there walking with only one leg, and there were people (like our team) who were walking for those who were no longer with us. so, i carried on.

I walked a total of 17.29 miles. They may not seem like a lot, but to me, that wasn't the point. we were there, to celebrate Gavin's short but precious life. we were there to bring awareness to the rare form of cancer that he had. we were there, walking the walk in support of his two wonderful parents and show them that they are not alone. they have us to walk beside them.

team gavin, i am SO proud of you!

there is no finish line, until we find a cure

the amazing group of gals that took "team gavin" under their wings!

a friend, who happens to be a survivor, his mom & his daughters. he was also my gentle reminder to keep going. thanks chris!

my amazing friend kelley, who walked the entire day with me on saturday. over 14 miles on saturday alone!!

gavin's loving parents. i caught this picture of them, as they were walking the track, hand in hand, reading the luminaries. they are two amazing people whom i love dearly.

two of the luminaries that were made in loving memory of gavin. these were lit, right in front of our tent. (yes the picture is very blurry. by the end of the night, my legs were shaking pretty bad)

in loving memory of Gavin Patrick Roark. you will never be forgotten.

what i love about fall.

basically, it involves everything pumpkin. from pumpkin coffee, to pumpkin candles, pumpkin lotion to pumpkin pie. pumpkin is the best thing ever! so, i was so excited when it was time to take the girls to the pumpkin patch. problem was, both were getting over colds, Aubrey has horrible chapped lips from a fever and Ava had decided to bust her lip wide open the day before. so, when you see her picture and notice she looks like howard the duck, that is the reason...both are still as sweet as pumpkin pie though!!!

2nd shooting: nissa & chris

so, im a little late with posting these, but as the second shooter, i don't have all the pressure of getting these out :) i once again was lucky enough to be able to second shoot for my yoda, charise. everytime i step out with her, i learn so much!!!

this wedding was for the ultra fab nissa & chris. everything about this wedding was rad. the girls dresses, rad. the purple jessica simpson shoes, ultra rad. the ed hardy shoes the guys wore, totally rad. nissa, your taste rocks.

here are a few of my takes from the wedding. to see the rest of the amazing pics, take a look at charise's blog.

wah.

i have two sick kiddos at home. enough said.

sneak peek "b" family...

here is a little sneak peek "b" family...

i got the opportunity to take pics of my friend and his family yesterday. we were very lucky, not a cloud in the sky, after a very rainy and gloomy day before.

stay tuned for a bigger blog post later this week...