Waiting for Day 55

July 22, 2008 was Day 55. The day B would be reunited with his beautiful family. The day B would return home safely from his deployment to Afghanistan. For him -- and his family -- there was nothing like Day 55. And it was finally here.

I was absolutely honored and privileged to be witness to the homecoming of these Channel Islands Air National Guard deployers. The energy and excitement in the air could be felt by everyone. And it was truly an amazing experience for me, catching the first glimpse of the plane as it headed home and seeing all the families on the base waiting with heightened anticipation for their loved ones to step off that plane...

Thank you, M, for trusting me to document B's homecoming and for allowing me to take part in this special event. Below are a few highlights from our day:






I LOVE this moment. B is flying the plane pictured here and on the ground are his son and mother, waving them home.








And one more that deserves a little caption. M&B are enjoying their first kiss here. I just love this shot with M on her little tippy-toes while she enjoys smooching her hubby. :-)

The Windblown Look

All of the hairwashing, blowdrying and hairbrushing this mom did for her girls went out the window the minute we stepped foot out of her car. We had no idea our little photo adventure was going to take place in the midst of all this crazy wind. But it did. As we stood there in the parking lot with the wind whipping through our own hair, the mom and I exchanged knowing glances. It was clear we were both thinking, "Are we crazy to go through with this? Should we just reschedule? Will the kids have fun?" But we cast aside our brief moment of hesitation and decided to give it a shot. I'm glad we did.

P: Despite the crazy winds we encountered yesterday, I have to say that our time at the beach was definitely well spent. Not only did the girls (and I!!) have a fantastic time, but it appears that we did manage to eke out a few great shots as well. Especially if you're into the windblown look ...

Just a few photos for you until your gallery goes up. I'll let you know when it's ready.












Aren't you glad you spent all that time brushing K's hair??

Pets Need Portraits, Too

H, check out your little baby. He's definitely very deserving of some prime wall real estate, if you ask me. :-)

Great Hike

J: Our hike this morning was completely refreshing and so much fun. And it was clear K and J had a blast as well! I am still in disbelief that the girls managed to hike somewhere between three to four miles with us, determined to get to the waterfall and back. (Yes, we did technically make it to the waterfall but it was not quite as impressive as the girls' staying power on the trail to find said waterfall, was it??)

I have so many great photos of the girls and I'm realizing now that one of the most difficult parts of my job is editing the gallery down to just the best of the best. Your girls are so photogenic, it's a double edged sword ... it's too easy for me to take great photos of K and J but on the flip side, it's really difficult for me to edit any photos out!! :-) As a result, it will take me some time to get your gallery ready for viewing. So in the meantime, I'll leave you with a few gorgeous images that jumped out at me from the files.

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Babies!

I've been remiss in blogging recent sessions so I thought I'd post a few images of some gorgeous babes I photographed not too long ago. Proud mommies, you know who you are!!

Baby N at one week young, looking so content and peaceful:


Doesn't he like such a wise old soul?

M, I love the photos you picked out for your birth announcements and will have the final draft for you to review tomorrow!

Baby A at four months old ... beautiful!


I couldn't believe how much A had changed and grown just since our last session two months earlier. Here she is already holding herself up. She'll be sitting up and crawling in no time.

Neither Rain Nor Snow ...

... would get in the way of us getting beautiful family portraits taken today!!

I have to admit I was a bit nervous when I woke up to an inch of snow on the ground this morning but the cloudy skies and wet wood bridges resulting from the crazy weather actually made for great backdrops. S: I am so glad we powered through the uncooperative -- and cold -- weather as our time together resulted in some fabulous portraits. I think and hope you will love them. I had a great time and loved that I got a chance to see a different side of K today. So silly, funny and chatty! Best of all, I could really see how much love and sweetness there is in your little family.

As I previously mentioned, I won't be able to proof and process your photos until I return to CA. But I just had to post a couple of fun pics for you to see and get an idea of what you have in store for you.


I love this little moment in time. I can totally hear you guys laughing and giggling with each other.

Not Enough Time

W: It was so great to see you and all sides of your immediate and extended family (both your side and C's) last week. I really loved spending time with you. The only downfall to this visit is that I now yearn for more time with you to do more of what we did - play at the park, cook delicious meals, drink wine, talk, laugh, reminisce. Thanks for sharing part of your precious vacation with us.