We celebrated my niece, Savannah’s 4th birthday on Sunday at my Mom’s house. Nothing too fancy schmansey. I forgot how much of a monster…er…I mean a princess 4 year olds can be.
We will end up back there this Sunday for Braden’s family celebration. Here are some quick shots!

Where does the time go really? It seems like just yesterday that I was being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance because God decided Braden should enter this world sooner than expected and in an unforgettable manner. Little did I know, we both were on the brink of not making it. Today, our little miracle is 3! That is still unbelievable to me. I know people say that when your get older, the years go by so quickly. But Holy Cow!
I look at Braden a little bit differently, knowing he might not have been here. I hug him tighter, kiss and love him more. He is truly a Godsend. He has his typical moments like every 3 year old does. He pull every game out of the closet and finds the ones with the little pieces just to make a bigger mess. He throws a fit when his brother won’t play with him. He knows every word to Wonder Pets and Yo Gabba Gabba and sings them loudly. He is constantly in the cabinet searching for another snack. His favorite, “heepops” (lollipops) and M and M’s. He came up to me this morning and said ” I want three”…I thought, Ok, he wants to make a 3 with his fingers because we were practicing for when he shows people how old he is. I showed him with his fingers and he said “no, right here” “I want 3 M and M’s” I giggled and happily gave them to him. For today is his birthday and I want him to know how special he is. Our lives would be so different had Braden not been here. I thank God everyday for him and his brother. Happy Birthday my sweet boy!

Saturday, was our first wedding of 2008! I was so excited to be shooting again, especially having it right after a convention and being so pumped up! I was seeing so much more than I used to! I almost couldn’t shoot it fast enough!
Katie and I met Tara and her girls at Riverdale Manor while they got ready. We were taken upstairs to this cute little room. I could hear the girls giggling they came up the steps. They were so funny, always shooting pictures of themselves and playing it up for the camera. We had a little bit of time before the guys were ready, so I took them up the little street away from the manor for some fun shots. We had to avoid the mud since it did rain the night before. I kept saying ” ooh, come here” every time I saw something else to shoot. They played along.
Later, Chris and the guys were ready and we could do much more with them since their heels wouldn’t sink. But, we did have to dodge some goose droppings…fun fun!
The ceremony was held in the ball room and was so elegantly decorated. As soon as Tara walked in, she shot Chris the hugest, giggly smile I have ever seen!
In order to use the rest of the daylight we had, we opted to hold off on family pics and have Tara and Chris alone for a little. It was so nice to not have tons of people around and they could relax and be themselves.
Once all the family shots were done, dinner was served and Matthew from Occasions DJ’s got the party moving! I did manage to sneak Tara and Chris out for more alone time.
We stayed until the very end for the sparkler exit. I always love these and the beautiful light it creates.
Congratulations guys! Here is your slideshow and a few of my favs!

I thought I would post this here so you could see one of the photographers point of view at this “wedding” and how he made the best of the most ridiculous circumstances… Here is Greg Gibson’s take on it all…
The Show.

I am finally back for a while! Right after the new year, I headed down to Tampa for the Digital Wedding Forum convention. What an amazing trip! I got to reconnect with old friends and meet some new amazing ones that will be in my life forever! This trip I learned so much about myself. This was not like other conventions and I know we all feel the same way. We had a ton of fun too. Each night we went out to karaoke, dancing, the Aquarium for a party, and each night, I stayed up to at least 5:30 am and learned more than I did in class. We even put on a mock wedding “The Wedding From Hell” as a teaching tool for what to do in any situation. Yours truly was the Maid of Honor! Just imagine the most extreme things happening at a wedding. Dresses too short, crazy Mother’s, drunk groomsman. everything…. The 3 photographers were awesome and handled everything we threw at them! Here are some from Susan Stripling
I also was able to spend a few days talking to Tony Hewitt. He is a photographer and motivational speaker. He would sit up with us at night and really get us thinking about who we are and what path we should be on. I am a different person because of him.
I had a mentoring session with Jen and Steve Bebb who really gave me a swift kick in the butt. Because of them…you will be seeing something a little different around here…
Thank you to all my friends new and old who made this trip what it was!!
And now on to the pics……Me and RitaHumza and DesireeDanny. (Desiree shot this……)Bridget at the aquariumDesiree, Tony and MeMe and JoeJason and meMelissa and Austin SchmidDesiree, Chelsea and me at the aquarium.

I will be out of the office Thursday, Jan. 3 – Monday Jan. 7th.
I will check email periodically. Sorry for the inconvenience!

I can’t believe another year has come and gone. I guess it is true, that the older you get, the faster the years go by.
We have had such a wonderful year, for our family and business. Thank you to all of you who have been there both personally and professionally!

I wanted to share some of our Christmas celebrations with you. We have to break it up every year between our families because it gets to be too long of a day for the kids.
I didn’t get to help decorate my Mother’s tree this year because of our trip to Tennessee, but it was ok. It wasn’t my turn for the
cross-eyed angel
anyway. Speaking of angels…I finally got one to grace our tree! Quick funny story… I was on the phone with my sister one day and I asked what she was doing. She said she was trying to win an auction on EBay. I asked what she was buying. She quick said “a pair of Minolo Blahnik shoes.” I totally freaked out on her because there was no reason for her to be buying designer shoes for herself at Christmas… turns out she had to cover quick because she was getting my angel!
We always start at Tony’s families house on Christmas eve where the grandkids are overly spoiled! There are 7 of them now and holding….I think. But not by me!
Christmas morning the boys come downstairs one by one so I can get a shot of their faces as they see what Santa has left. Usually it is a squinting face because the lights blind them as they hit the bottom of the steps. Then complete chaos! This was the first year Braden actually was able understand what was going on and react to his gifts.
Later we head up to my Mom’s house for dinner and more gift exchanging. Again…chaos! Here are a few collages of each place. You will see my angel in the last and the best
T- shirt ever that I got for my nephew!!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a blessed New Year!!!
Leslie

Today was my last shoot before Christmas and I wanted to get these up for Tara and Chris before Chris had to go on leave again.
I met Tara and Chris at Long’s Park despite the rain. I told them we would shoot no matter what since the wedding is in a few weeks. Then they take off for California. We were very lucky with the weather. The rain stopped for the short time we were out and it wasn’t too cold. Here a just a few from today. Stay tuned for their wedding in January!

We will be out of the office Dec. 24 – January 2nd. If you have something scheduled with us, don’t panic. But, otherwise, we will answer emails and calls once we are back. Thanks so much for a wonderful year! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! Stay tuned for exciting news and HUGE announcements!!

We are a little late on her 2 year pics…only a few months. Here is my favorite from Monday
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