Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from us to you! This is our little Java or Gidget (depending on who you ask :) )
We adopted her from a shelter Halloween 2 years ago in Texas. She's playful, sweet, loves water and hates being picked up. She's brought a lot of joy to our family. Her favorite is by far Kyle. She hangs out in his office and waits for him by the shower.
Makena loves kitties so much, she decided to be one this Halloween.
I'm also posting a couple of family snap shots, including a rare picture of all 4 of us-since usually I'm always behind the camera.

Dana Point Photo Work Shop

Here are some shots from the awesome weekend workshop in Dana Point I attended earlier this month. Kyle booked me an ocean view room right across from Doheny Beach. The work shop was taught by a very well known children's photographer. There were about 22 of us. Lots of information, lots of cool ideas, and hands on training. We got to shoot these models in the old part of San Juan Capistrano, boy, it looked like we were a bunch of papparazzi swarming these kids. They LOVED it. I made a bunch of new friends, made some great professional connections, and had a wonderful time. It felt like a semester of info all in one weekend. Can't wait to implement everything I've learned. Really liked Dana Point, too. A local photographer was our awesome host and filled us in on where to go and what to do. Loved the bagel shop on the beach. Didn't get to surf the local hot spots, no time, we'll have to go back and check them out!

Glorious golden Day

I'm a little behind on blogging, I was in Dana Point all last weekend for a photo workshop (I'll be posting on that later), and then "squeezed in" this family on Monday. Wow, am I glad we did the shoot on Monday, according to Lifeguard Tim it was a "spectacular day", and he knows, he is there every day :) The light was so golden, just perfect for this beautiful family. Totally brought out all the natural golden highlights in the kids' hair and skin. I LOVED the Strasburg dresses mom got for the shoot, just can't go wrong with that. And to totally spoil me, the kids were really into the shoot, future models in the making! I'm posting a lot of close ups of the kids, because I couldn't decide which ones.

Very Thankful! And proud.

We went to the beach today. The kids and I went to a State Parks Museum across the street and left Kyle napping on the beach. When we came back, we thought we saw him on the jetty, because the blanket was empty. We were playing with some cute dogs, when we noticed fire trucks and paramedics pulling up. We also saw a boy being brought in by a surfer and a girl with bleeding scrapes all over her body. A lady told us that the boy had been caught in a rip, and that a man sleeping on the beach went in to rescue him. That's when we noticed that the man on the jetty was NOT Kyle. We couldn't see him anywhere. I started panicking, thinking that he was still out there. But there was no one left in the water. For a second I thought he had drowned. Right then harbor patrol came around the jetty, pulling Kyle on a surf board. He was safe!
He told us the boy and his sister were caught in a rip, the mom yelled for help. Kyle went in to help. The girl made it to the jetty. A surfer saw Kyle going out and followed. They both got to the boy and the surfer towed the boy back to the beach on his board. Everyone was so thankful that nobody got hurt. The fireman told us that a harbor patrol guy drowned there 10 years ago when he tried to make a rescue. I'm just so thankful that Kyle was ok, and that everybody made it back to shore. And I'm proud of Kyle, the mom called him her hero.
It's amazing how quickly your life could change, makes me very thankful I get to be with my family.