Well, it has been quite a busy couple of weeks to say the least! My grandfather is doing alright ... he is not out of the woods yet ... but hangin' in there. Like I mentioned before, my grandfather is not a man of many words ... so when my brother Scott and I walked into his room and after a couple of minutes tears came to his eyes and he said "you just never know how much time you've got" it really really hit me. I've never seen my grandfather cry and I've never had to hold back the tears so hard before in my life to be strong for the situation at hand. I cry at everything, let me tell you ... but this situation called for rock solid support ... somehow I was able to hold it together. My grandma is doing great ... she is a strong strong woman and I hope when I'm 80 I'm as fiestey as she is! She is awesome!

On a lighter note, I've been rockin' and rolling on getting my clients proofs together ... here are a couple of my favorites from the last week or so ... Both Miss. Zoey and Mr. Jake turned 1 ... check out these cuties
Well, it has been quite a busy couple of weeks to say the least! My grandfather is doing alright ... he is not out of the woods yet ... but hangin' in there. Like I mentioned before, my grandfather is not a man of many words ... so when my brother Scott and I walked into his room and after a couple of minutes tears came to his eyes and he said "you just never know how much time you've got" it really really hit me. I've never seen my grandfather cry and I've never had to hold back the tears so hard before in my life to be strong for the situation at hand. I cry at everything, let me tell you ... but this situation called for rock solid support ... somehow I was able to hold it together. My grandma is doing great ... she is a strong strong woman and I hope when I'm 80 I'm as fiestey as she is! She is awesome!

On a lighter note, I've been rockin' and rolling on getting my clients proofs together ... here are a couple of my favorites from the last week or so ... Both Miss. Zoey and Mr. Jake turned 1 ... check out these cuties









You'd smile like he is too if your dad just handed you the Lexus keys!!!

Miss. Ella also turned 1 ....


This one really warms my heart because Ella is looking at a picture of herself that I took when she was just a week old! I love it so very much!
Then these two little guys crack me up ... two years ago we had such a good time taking pictures that Eli cried when I left ... this time there were no tears ... just lots of laughs!

They sure love their mommy ....
At the end of the shoot they got to swim in the bath tub! Literally! It was great fun and we got some totally fun pictures!

This evening I was driving home from a session in traffic ... I end up pondering lots of things during this time ... its strange this evening because I have so much to think about ... this week my grandfather had a massive heart attack ... my brother and I are going to visit him this Friday in Oregon. As I await heading up to Oregon all kinds of images and smells and feelings come into my mind. My Grandpa John is the strong silent type. Many a morning my brother and I would wake up and sit at the kitchen table and watch Grandpa make us hot coco, he makes the best by the way, and if you didn't know marshmellows grow on bushes on the side of the highway ... especially over the Grapevine pass ... at least thats what we grew up thinking! He would put the three cups at the table and we would savor it together and chat...sometimes or just sit and enjoy the silence and the great coco. I can close my eyes and be there. I can see the pictures that I wish I had of those times ... our hands holding the cups of coco, my brother laughing at the occasional joke, me snuggling to grandma as he takes a sip ... the steam from the cup ......

Warm and Fuzzy

I get to do the best thing ... I get to do what I love and get money for doing it ... sometimes I lay in bed and wonder ... is this really my life? Tonight I couldn't sleep so I got up and starting catching up on some work which also means catching up on emails and I came across this email from Allie who I photographed a couple of weeks ago, later today I get to meet their new little girl Ava (I'm so super excited!)

Here is a slice of her email:

"I also wanted to thank you again for all of your patience and creativity during the maternity session. I was a little nervous beforehand, but after the first few shots, I was completely comfortable and having fun with it....what a fantastic experience! You really thought of everything and it was fun to do so many different poses, and also to know that you were catching so much that was NOT "posed". (The real moments :-) I appreciate that you were open to also trying the suggestions I had and that you never made me feel like I was imposing on your style or time. Haven't even seen the proofs, but I'm already trying to get my friends to book sessions with you, too! (Several are either expecting or have just delivered)

I cannot forget to mention possibly my favorite thing....that Lauren really, really liked you. She doesn't like photographers. Ever. (Remember that she flatly refused to take her school photos earlier that week!) So, I figured if we managed to get her in a couple of shots I'd call it a lucky day. I was thrilled that she wanted to be such a ham for you, and she's STILL talking about taking "pictures with Penny", and asking "when is Penny coming back?" She was so sad when you left!"

AWESOME!! Truly makes me feel honored to get to do what I do! Makes me all warm and fuzzy! Here are some of the fun images ...




We also did some really awesome shots that are for their eyes only ... but as you can see Allie is totally beautiful.

John and Gina

John and Gina are a BLAST! We had such fun laughing and snapping pictures during their engagement session ... I can't wait for the wedding! Here are a few pics from their session and a slideshow! Enjoy!

I met with Bob and Ester the other day for their engagement session and we had such a great time ... I can't wait for the wedding this December! Take a sneak peak at their session in the slide show below.

Gai Family ... I love photographing families ... each one has its personality and each little one has their own personalities ... recently I photographed the Gai family. In a former life I used to work with Brian ... so it was fun to get to meet his family ... here are some fun ones from the session.





I always love to win my little friends over with photographing something that they love ... here is one of those shoots ... i LOVE it!!

"50 years from now, don't you want to look back and say that you had the guts to get in the car?"

WOW ... what a quote from the Transformers movie! I love this quote! It's totally is that defining moment question, weather you leap or don't leap. Whether you have faith or don't. The last few days I've had some conversations with friends that want to follow their passion and have said "I wish I could do what you did Penny" ... I tell them ... you can ... you just got to do it!! Believe in yourself and you can do anything! You've got to have guts!!

Here are a few pics from Miss. Macys recent session ... she is just so cute ... I love photographing her!










Sweet Miss. Macy! Isn't she so so so cute!

Man! I can't believe that it's been a month since I've been home from Cabo! The schedule has been crazy ... a few great weddings since returning along with lots of portrait sessions, it's been a wild month! I haven't blogged in a while so I wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive!! I'll be posting images soon ... I promise, along with updating the portrait site ... I have a years worth of sessions to get up there! Stay tuned. Also, Monday I'm having a mini class on Lightroom for some of my photographer friends ... if it's a success ... I think I'll have more. It's full now ... just two photo buddies, we want to keep it personal and learn and share lots ... but stay tuned perhaps I'll be brave and do more!

I got to see little Miss. Isabella again this past week ... she is 6 months old now and she is just a doll. She loved the flowers outside ... the poor flowers didn't stand a chance, but Isabella just loved them ...


She is so so cute ...

I had to run out to Goores right away to get one of these skirts ... isn't it just the cutest!!!


See you soon Miss. Isabella ... I can't wait to continue to watch you grow! :-)

Wow, what an awesome two weeks it has been! Chris and Jennifers wedding was just absolutely awesome, the were so so so fun ... I even danced at the wedding!! Truth be told my new friend Bill from the famous Fox and Goose would not let me say no ... but I'm so glad that he did not ... because it was truly great to cut into the Cabo rug!!! The dj was awesome ... what is it about dance music in Mexico ... always great!!!

When I got home I was greeted by my beautiful family and it was the best feeling! Giant hugs ... knocked me right down ... AWESOME! Just exactly what I needed after a long trip :-)

I wanted to pass on a great read that I picked up recently. I love business books and I'm currently reading The Speed of Trust by Stephen M. R. Covey and it rocks!! The line under the title is "The one thing that changes everything" ... and isn't that so the truth. I'm really enjoying this book and wanted to pass it on to those of you who might be interested.

Well, dinner is almost ready and Tony is hollering to me ... so I much finish this post ... but before I do ... I just yelled ... in a minute ... I wanted to share one more thing ... I wanted to share a friend of mine recently told me that "Penny, you live such a blessed life." I smiled when he told me that ... but it didn't truly sink in ... today, as I worked on the couch with the kids playing on the floor in front of me ... and the rain sprinkling outside ... I have to say .. it hit me ... it was so so cool!!!!

Chris and Jennifer Engagements in Cabo

See, we really are working! Just got back from the beach shooting Chris and Jennifer's engagements and we had a great time! Here is a sneak peak ...


The wedding is Friday on the beach ... it's going to be BEAUTIFUL! Stay tuned...

Cabo San Lucas

Wow, I'm here in Cabo San Lucas to shoot Jennifer and Chris's wedding and it is wonderful here!! No pictures to post just yet, but we are shooting on the beach this morning and I'm so excited! Yesterday we arrived and their friends and family were just absolutely welcoming ... we spent the day hanging out at the pool and catching up. Tonight we'll have some more fun at the rehersal dinner and the wedding is Friday...we are here until Sunday ... so stay tuned...photos to come!!!

Hank is Awesome!

And so is his mom and dad Sara and Scott!! We had fun shooting their engagement session Friday! I especially feel in love with Hank! He reminded me so much of my old buddy Maxwell House ... again I began longing for a dogie! It was so fun photographing them with Hank because every time the shutter clicked Hank decided he wanted to head my way ... it was so funny!!

When we were scouting out locations I saw this great area and asked if they would be hip to going over there and Sara just happened to mention that that is where Scott proposed!! How cool was that?!!!

So we had some fun shooting and then we happened upon this great restaurant Bali Wine Bar and Grill on 18th Street, check it out ... the food was so great!!!

I can't wait for the wedding, it is going to be great! Rumor has it Hank might be the ring barrier ... and I got a sneak peak at Sara's shoes and they are totally awesome!! I'm a fan of awesome shoes!!!

The First Day of School

Wow! Today was a big day. Today was Miss. Isabel's first day of school ... doesn't she look so pretty here ... where does the time go?

Look at these cuties!!! I had to share ... they were too sweet not too!