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Team Ashley Auction – Lil Blue Boo and her fight with cancer….

You’ve probably heard of Ashley, a.k.a. Lil Blue Boo, and her awesome shop and blog. She is a beautiful wife, mother, businesswoman, daughter, friend who is in the fight of her life right now against cancer.

There is so much that is incredible about Ashley, but what really touched me was her strength, courage and humor in her approach to fighting her cancer. I read her posts about chemo, the love she has for her daughter, husband, mother… and I’m in awe of her LOVE of life in the face of such hardship.

Her mantra is “CHOOSE JOY”. Simple, right? But if you really embrace that mantra, it’s telling you that JOY IS A CHOICE. It’s telling you that it’s time to stop waiting for joy to catch up to you, to surprise you, to happen TO you. What it means is choose it TODAY. Because as Ashley has shown, today is a gift… tomorrow is unknown. Life is precious. Embrace what you have, live it, feel it, and CHOOSE to find joy in it. It really is such a beautiful concept isn’t it?

To help Ashley in her fight, her friends created Team Ashley to lend her their support. And one of the things that came out of it was the Team Ashley auction. I’m one of the vendors who donated to this worthy cause.

So can you help?

Go to the Team Ashley auction today…. look at the tons of awesome items being offered… and place a bid. Anything you can do will go directly towards helping Ashley.

Here are the links:

Team Ashley Auction

My Auction Page

Lil Blue Boo Website (click specifically on the “cancer chronicles” for more information about Ashley’s condition).

 

And don’t forget…. CHOOSE JOY!

Nielsen Family Portraits – Orange County Photographer

This was one of those family portrait shoots that almost didn’t happen! Traci had booked me back in December for her family session, but it was one of the few days we had where the weather was horrible — not just gloomy and overcast, but threatening, dark skies and lots of rain. We rescheduled it for January, which resulted in another cancellation due to Santa Ana winds. Thankfully, on the third try the weather cooperated and we got a little sun and no winds.

Traci’s main reason for wanting a family shoot was to get a picture of her family that she could blow up really large to hang above her fireplace. And I have to say, she and her husband, Brad, were awesome clients. They told me exactly what they didn’t want  (too much sun flare, sitting on grass, etc.) so I could understand their vision, but left the rest up to me. We ended up getting a lot of posed shots for them to choose from, but I was also able to sneak in a few candids which I really ended up liking, too. And I loved shooting their beautiful daughters who were adorable and so fun!

Thanks so much Traci! I loved shooting your beautiful family!

…Here’s your slideshow!

 

 

 

Lewis Family Session – Orange County Photographer

(click here to go right to the slideshow…)

If you live in Orange County and you don’t know Kelly, you are most definitely missing out. For starters, she writes two awesome blogs – According2Kelly (her personal blog with fun ideas, crafts and great writing about motherhood, running and TONS of other unique things) and Just-Spotted.com (which is THE definitive source on everything you need to know about living in, exploring and experiencing Orange County). She is a crazy-smart businesswoman, an amazing wife and mother, an incredible athlete… and she does it all while being SO DARN NICE!

Kelly contacted me back in early January wanting to do a Valentine’s-themed photo shoot. I, of course, jumped at the chance to shoot her beautiful family! It was also a good excuse for me to let my “crafty” side out to create some fun Valentine’s props. And thanks to Pinterest (which if you haven’t already joined you should), I was able to create some really fun props to give the shoot the Valentine’s-inspiration I was looking for.

I had SO much fun on this shoot! The whole family came relaxed, smiling and ready to have fun… I mean, what’s better than that?

And have you seen a more beautiful family? Every one of them with the most gorgeous blue eyes!

 

And look at this little one… can she get any cuter? And her personality is so darn ADORABLE!

And these two were SO funny! See how Owen (on the left) has his hand clenched? That’s because every time we wanted to get him to smile, we would talk about Star Wars and light sabers… and he’s pretending hold his own light saber in that clenched fist!

This is one of my favorite shots….

These three were so sweet together. The boys so clearly adore their little sister….

Sometimes, don’t you just wish you could get up and DANCE!!!?? Love it!!

She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do….:)

She was trying to smile like “Punzy” which stands for Rapunzel. Because she IS in fact, Rapunzel!!

Isn’t she gorgeous?

Even the dog was in on the fun!!

Thanks so much Lewis Family!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swanson Family Portraits — Orange County Photographer

(To see all the images from the shoot, you can watch the slideshow here).

 

This is a shoot that I look forward to every year – that’s because the Swanson family are great friends of ours, and Nicki is one of my closest friends. They are, in short — really awesome people!

First of all, they are California peeps (Aaron was born in Minnesota), but they are totally like Midwesterners…. they are so laid back and down-to-earth, they are really, really nice people, AND they love hockey! (Even though their team is the Anaheim Ducks, and NOT the much better, more talented Detroit Red Wings).:-)

I always have such a good time when I shoot these guys… I always know that Aaron is going to pretend he doesn’t want to be there… Shane is going to make me work as hard as possible to get any shots of him, Kylie is going to be adorable, and Nicki and I are going to laugh through all of it.

Aren’t they a gorgeous family?

 

There is so much love in this family….

 

 

These two have an awesome marriage… so much love and respect towards each other.

 

And these two… they absolutely crack me up! Shane can be such a goof-ball, and it’s only a matter of time until Kylie joins in. It is so cool to see a brother and sister who get along like they do!

 

Shane is an AWESOME hockey player… he has some mad skills on the ice, and is one of those kids you look at and think you’ll end up seeing in the NHL someday (hopefully for a team like the RED WINGS, but I digress…).:-)He plays for the Jr. Anaheim Ducks Squirt team, and I was lucky enough to take some shots of the future Hall-Of-Famer!

 

And Kylie is a dancer at South Coast Performing Arts. She will probably be on Broadway one day and I’ll be able to say I knew her when!:-)Isn’t she the cutest?

 

These are two exceptional kids… from one exceptional family!

 

I am so lucky that I get to take pictures of people that I truly love! It’s the best job in the world!!!

Thanks Swanson Family! xoxoxo!

Here’s your slideshow!

 

 

 

Saint-Onge Family Portraits – Orange County Photographer

(To see all images, go to the slideshow here).

I LOVE when I get to see families year-after-year and I can see how the kids are growing. You will probably remember this family from last year. Remember this little munchkin?

 

Well, I couldn’t believe how much she has grown in one year! Not only is she bigger, but her personality has just blossomed! Last year, it took a while for her to warm up to me and it was much harder to get her to laugh. This year, she was so fun! She talked to me about Minnie Mouse and her best friend, Lamby… She held my hand while we were walking… She was an absolute joy!

This is her now… all smiles!

She loves to dress up and get her picture taken!

Oh, and she found some pine cones that she loved. She kept smelling them and said they smell like chocolate (even though her mom said she’s never even had chocolate!):-)

I took more shots on this shoot than I have in a long time – this family is just so darn beautiful!

 

 

 

She loved decorating the mini Christmas tree! She especially liked the little gingerbread man ornament I had. Of course, it’s hers now… how can you say no to that face!!:-)

 

 

You can their love for each other and for this precious little girl!

Thanks Saint-Onge Family! Here’s your slideshow!