The Big 5-0…

My Mom turned 50!! Woohoo! And thanks to my father and one of her best friends, we managed to surprise her at her favorite restaurant with about 30 of her friends!! IT WAS SO GREAT! Why is it that when people are surprised they jump backward? Hmm. Anyway, my mom jumped back about a foot upon entering the room where we were all waiting at Casalinga. We ate, we roasted her, my dad gave her a simply beautiful 17 minute slideshow of their 30 years of marriage, and we ate some more. Seriously, if you live near Raleigh, you should try Casalinga. It is amazing Italian food, and even more amazing is the cheesecake. I don’t like cheesecake. But I could marry this one. Seriously.

This is actually where we had my after wedding lunch with the out-of-town- family before we flew out to St. Lucia. We ate leftover eggplant and cabernet for breakfast before jumping on the plane to the Caribbean. Oh good times.

Anyway. I also made my mom a slideshow for her birthday. Well, I made one of her Ethiopia trip. I managed to snatch the jump drive with all her pics thanks to my cousin George, who was the video/photographer, as I mentioned in this post and here it is:

http://tesoro-photo.com/Slideshows/Ethiopia2009/

Too bad I can’t embed it. Anyway, we also framed this picture for her hallway. This was the last family photo taken with my Grandpa. Oh, how cute is he??

The Bailey Family!

You may remember last fall I had the pleasure of taking pictures of Baby Grace. So when her mom contacted me to shoot the whole family I was thrilled! I didn’t think it was possible for Grace to get any cuter, but I was wrong. The Baileys are a wonderful family and oh-so-patient waiting to see these!! Check out their slideshow here.

Pray for Shepherd

My dear friend Stephanie and her husband Noah have been spending the last several weeks at UNC Children’s Hospital with their sweet little boy, Shepherd. Steph went to her typical doctor’s appointment on March 27 and was told that the ultrasound revealed it was time to deliver Shep ( she was being monitored more closely for a two vessel cord and a smallish baby).  On March 28 he was born and oh-so-precious to see! By God’s sovereign hand, a doc on call noticed a herat murmur and suggested they check it out, and if they hadn’t, the Joyners would have brought Shep home… and he would have died. Several weeks and a couple of surgeries later, Shepherd is still fighting, but he needs prayer. Check out their blog here for more info.

And here are a few precious pics I snapped when visiting them last week.

The Knox Family

A couple of weeks ago (thanks for your patience!) we got to shoot the wonderful Knox Family. I can’t believe it’s already been a year since we last took photos of Jeremy & Miranda! This year, Mom and Dad got in on the action, too! We braved a blustery, very chilly day here at SEBTS and got some pretty good stuff. I like that you can’t tell it was soo cold. Everyone put coats on in between shots.

Now isn’t this a fine idea?

My long time friend and fellow photographer, Crickett asked if I would be interested in a photo session swap-a-roo, and I said, Heck yeah! So last week we bundled up our families and got to taking some photos.

Here are a few…

The Haven Family

The Havens are such a wonderful, kind, warm family, and I loved the chance to capture their family photographs! I cannot think of enough words to express how dear this family is to me and my family. They have such big hearts, and they are good-looking to boot!! Check out a few of my favorites from their session and their slideshow HERE.

Family: The Mestases

Phew! What a shoot!

Here are a few of the newest Mestas additions! I can’t believe it’s been a year since they joined the family!

Ring around the rosies…

Family: The Kranz Krew.

The Kranz Family is an amazing family I have known for years now. Jerry & Cindy met in the Marines years ago, and are still just as in love as when they met, and I might even venture to say, they love each other more now. When I met them, I was in middle school and they had three kids,  Jeffrey, Timmy, and Joey. Now, I guess it’s been over a decade, and Timmy is now Tim, and Joey, Joe. And they have added to that number: Melanie, Tommy, Sammy, Andy, Jesse, and Julie. This family has a wonderful air about them. They are compassionate, they are giving, they help each other out. And they are chock full of talent! Jeffrey, a sophomore at  Tennessee Temple, is not only an incredible artist, he loves to do improv! Randy & I went to see him perform Saturday night at Comedy Worx in Raleigh. Tim as you will see, plays the drums, and Joey, the guitar. Melanie plays the piano and Tommy the clarinet. The rest, I am sure will find their own niches as they grow into their unique personality. We had a blast shooting this crowd (thanks for coming along Amber!) and can’t wait to post a few from the shoot!

***Updated to add: Click HERE for a slideshow***

Family: the Wimberleys

Renee was one of my former drama teachers. She fell in love with the Latin teacher. They got hitched on a beautiful Saturday morning. I remember the brunch with lovely wildflowers in mason jars on every table. It was five years ago now that Max joined their family as an adorable little boy with a healthy appreciation for all things sportsy. Two years later came Cana, a strong combination of girly girl and daredevil. Stella Jane is the new baby at 15 months old, a darling and a half. We had a blast at the park hanging out and snapping some classic photos!

Farrell Family

So Thursday was my Grandpa’s 75th birthday! My mom’s two sisters and brother drove up to surprise him and celebrate with him, and he was so surprised.

Yesterday, while we had a chance, I snapped some family photos of my grandparents and their four children: Linda, Debbie, Eileen, and Chuck.

The gang had a fun time reliving a certain dental incident involving my Aunt Debbie….