My Nephew's Wedding Day!

Wai Wai getting ready...

Steven doing his job... Ushering. Steven and I getting ready...

Anthony & Wai Wai

Anthony & Wai Wai

Wai Wai and her bridesmaid walking away...

The Valle Family with a few missing...

Mom & Dad (His Nana & Tata)... Steve & I & Aunt Julie & Uncle Gilbert... Allen & Steven... Generation Shot, My Dad, Anthony, My Brother... MY husband & Kids & Me... Anthony and I...

My brothers family, Gus Sr (his Dad), Janice (his Mom), Gus Jr (Brother), Rachelle (Sister)

Steve and Wai Wai, Rachelle and Steven dancing, Emmy (my niece) & Allen

My brothers and I, Mom & Dad dancing, Rachelle and I, Anthony and I.

Anthony & Wai Wai dancing the night away...

What a wonderful experience I had recently. My nephew got married on Jan 9th, 2009. I was a guest and the proud Auntie, but I was very much involved in the whole process. My nephew Anthony and I are very close. Anthony and his sister Rachelle and his older brother Gus Jr were pretty much my first kids. They grew up with me being in the front row in every stage of their life. For me this was a very special event. His wife Wai Wai and I grew close and I just love her so much. This really has shed a new light on photographing weddings. My good friend Chrys Poes photographed the wedding for me. That was a treat because I knew my nephew's memories were in good hands and I was going to be able to relax knowing she was going take care of it. As always she delivered and the pictures are beautiful. Looking back on the images were so much fun and brought back all the emotions of that special day. Chrys captured moments I don't remember seeing or perhaps it was because I was to busy at the time to notice. How wonderful it is to have such wonderful memories to continue to look back on. I've always known how valuable preserving these type of memories were, but more so now than ever. The little things and the little details matter so much. I love every single image Chrys took.

Special Thanks to..............

Chrys Poes at http://www.poesforthecamera.com/ Your an awesome friend!

Make up by Christy Fantastic! Christy is a friend and a talented makeup artist who I got to know and work with through out the years. Thanks for coming all that way to do this for me Christy. You did a wonderful job on both my niece's makeup.

"Bride Wars"

Well today I got a chance to relax and catch a movie with my two BBF's Mary and Tracy. We went to go see Bride Wars. It was a funny girl movie for sure! I enjoyed this comedy. It made me laugh a lot and had a few touching moments. What a perfect combination. I loved it! I defiantly recommend this movie to everyone. Go see it!

On a personal note... It was so nice to see this movie with my two girlfriends. I recommend you do the same. Catching a movie with a friend now and then is good for the soul. ;)

Strode Wedding

The Carr/Strode wedding... what can I say? One word comes to mind FUN!! This wedding party was excited and willing to get their dancing shoes on and have fun and relax... which made for a ton of great images full of laughter and smiles. The dancing shots above were photographed by my 15 year old son. He seems to have some interest in photography and sometimes I like to bring him along so he can get some practice in. As you can see, he's got an eye for it. Great shots!

Allen's Wrestling

Well Winter is here and along with that comes a new adventure in Allen's high school sports. Allen has done wrestling before when he was in 7th grade. He was with a wrestling club called Peoria Scramblers. Tried it for a while but baseball was his main focus at the time. Now in high school he really wants to try it again, and seems to have picked up where he left off. He did amazing in his first tournament. He wrestled three times. First time he won off points, second one he got pinned, third one he won by pinning. So proud! He's 2 in 1 not bad.

The Gappinger wedding was a true delight. They got married at Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort. This place has my five star rating. The staff was very professional, and accommodating. Stacey Turner made sure everything went off without a hitch. Fantastic! And as you can tell Mr. & Mrs. Gappinger looked absolutely wonderful. And both had such kind friends and family. My good friend Tracy Kreck came with me to shoot for fun. It was nice having a buddy come along to talk to and get ideas from.

Halloween

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween. Steven dressed up as a MOBSTER... Mafia guy! He looked so good! He kept saying the whole night "You talkin to me" as he scratched his chin. ha! And got a ton of candy.... ugh!

Stephen & Miriam

Stephen and Miriam will be getting married at the Scottsdale Renaissance Resort. They are such a great couple and I truly look forward to photographing them on their wedding day.

Vangie...

Everyday when I wake up I get my cup of coffee and kiss my kids good bye as they head off to school. I move along with my day, and before I know it the day is gone. I take for granted that everyone and everything is good. Then someone or something comes along and reminds you of what’s important. For me that someone was Vangie. I am so honored in meeting her recently. Vanige is a strong woman who is fighting for her life. I was asked to photograph her and her daughter and grand daughter. I didn’t even need to think about it, I just wanted to do it. Because I know what it means to have that one photo with your loved one. That one photo that you can look at with a smile. That one photo means everything.

Thank you Vangie and to her amazing family for this opportunity.

Ana

Michelle & Lawrence

Michelle & Lawrence are a sweet couple who has been referred to me by a past bride of mine. I look forward to their big day. They plan to be married at Community Church of Joy. A fantastic church with a wonderful staff.

Crystal & Vicente

I'm so excited to be photographing a wedding in Tucson, AZ this weekend. Crystal & Vicente are getting married at The Oasis at Wild Horse Ranch. It's such a beautiful location, and a perfect time of year. They are such a sweet and kind couple with an adorable little boy who is always smiling. It's gonna be a wonderful day!

Baby Jacob

Our new addition to the family. I had so much fun photographing my new little cousin. He already has a very distinct personality. Absolutely adorable! hehe... ;)

Steven's Game 1

OK Steven #30 (his dad's number) just had his first game also about two weeks ago. I know, I know... I'm a little busy right now and I have been slow at posting. But I take allot of picture of everything! So keeping up gets a bit hard sometimes. Steven plays for ACYFL PANTHERS. He played awesome in his first game! He tries so hard and hangs in there with all these big kids. I'm so proud of his courage. They lost... bummer. It was a great game and the Panthers played hard. Go PeeWee Panthers!!

Allen's RSK Game 1

Allen #21 just had his first high school football game last week on Wednesday. Allen plays for Raymond S. Kellis High School. He played amazing! He scored a 45 yard touch down. And had five tackles and four asst. The thing I'm proud of most was he pointed at me as said this is for you mom! Made me tear up! ha! RSK won 14-12. GO RSK!

Barack Obama

Yes We Can!

Allen's RSK Football Pictures

Well I just got my son's football pictures in on Friday. They came out so good! The company who did the team pictures did a great job! Varsity Studios. Of course I love the subject they photographed but as a fellow photographer I appreciate the quality also of what I received. I can't believe my Allen is playing high school football now. His first game is next week on Wednesday. Stay tuned for his actions shots!   

Sheri & Joey

Sheri and Joey just got married this past weekend in Anthem AZ. They had a beautiful ceremony over looking the mountains. I loved having the opportunity to have worked with them, they are such a fun couple. The wedding was filled with allot of laughter and everyone had such a good time. Congratulations to them both! Stay tuned for the wedding pictures...

Ana ;)

Chrys Poes!

I would like to introduce you to another one of my good friends. Her Name is Chrys Poes with Poese For The Camera. She is an amazing friend!! Has always been loyal and helpful, and just a blessing to have in my life. Chrys and I have known each other for about 10 years and to this day our friendship has remained strong. Her photography is outstanding, very artistic. I just love her. She mite hate this picture I posted... (I know her well! ha!) but I love this shot of us. We took in a photo booth one year at her son's birthday party.  Classic!