Katie + Tony= Married

You know the Hillary line, "It takes a village...", well after seeing how fabulous Katie and Tony's wedding turned out last month and seeing everything that went into making it so, I think I can say the same for their Wedding Day. Who was involved? In addition to Katie and Tony taking center stage:  Two wonderful families (Katie's family alone makes up a small village!), Aunt Bonnie who runs the Flower Basket up in Provo did the flowers, combined with beautiful garden flowers from family friend, Janet. Dinner, chicken tostadas and ceviche(new word for me) were done by family owned restaurant, Mi Amigos Mexican Grill, ShellyAnn's did the fingerfoods, wedding cake and groom's cake by Virginia Higginbotham, colorful funky cakes from Tammy Coe Cakes in Phoenix and a great Salsa band called Jaleo Band that kept the dance floor full the whole night. "Family" takes in a LOT of people on both sides of the family. Katie's siblings provided music for the ceremony and her sister wrote the most beautiful poem that embraced their new family. To top it all off, friends and family poured in all evening to congratulate the newly married couple. Can you say L-O-V-E?! The whole afternoon/evening exuded joy and happiness. So happy and honored to be present to take it all in. I know it's a little long...but, this is for you, Katie and Tony...Congratulations! 

I loved that they had their parent's wedding pictures displayed with their own. A legacy of love. I heard Tony's mom comment about her own photo that they looked like Sonny and Cher.

It felt good to know that Dr. Will was on hand should the need arise.

Katie's beautiful dress.

Can't you just smell the Sweet Peas and Roses? Mmm.

Katie had a glow about her the entire day.

This is what happy looks like.

The garden theme looked beautiful and felt so welcoming.

Toasts were made and valuable advice given. For instance, Katie's brother warned Tony that he might not want to jump out and scare Katie. If he does, she may not speak to him for days. :-)

Katie's mom, Wendy, is one of the most gracious and kind people I know. I would welcome advice from her any day.

Aren't these amazing to look at? I loved the chocolate and lemon one. (Yes, I had a small sample from all of them! I was standing right there next to them when they were being cut...how could I NOT??)

The kids warmed up the dance floor. (I also used this photo for a hand tinting project at school)

The reception edibles. Pretty to look at and in keeping with the rest of the food earlier in the day, delicious. I never did have time to try one of the stuffed mushrooms.

Here's part of that village I was telling you about earlier.

Tony and Katie knew how to Salsa! After watching them, I've decided that dancing could be a key to a happy marriage.

A great day is drawing to a close. 

Happy Wedding Day! See you in a year! :-)

Bond 005

I recently had the opportunity to photograph The Bond's before Eric leaves on his mission to Switzerland in April. I've always loved the affection they show in their family. With two boys and a girl, it reminds me of my own family that I grew up with. I can tell that Andrea loves her brothers as much as I love mine.

Peggy has the bluest eyes. They remind me of a 1940's movie star's eyes.

Eric clearly got his mother's blue eyes. Aside from his missionary tag, he'll blend right in in Switzerland. I wish him the best two years. I know his mom won't think so, but time will fly. :-)

Elton John & Billy Joel

It started with a birthday wish. My dad turned 70 this month and in honor of his birthday he took his three kids and my mom to the Elton John & Billy Joel concert this past week. First of all "Happy Birthday, Dad! I love you a lot." AND "Thank you so much for such a fun concert!" Am I a lucky girl or what?!?

I met my parents and brothers in down town. We all took the Light Rail down from our respective ends of town. It almost made me feel like I was in New York again. I highly recommend it.

It was like getting 2 concerts in one. They played for 3 1/2 hours...first together, then Elton alone, then Billy alone and then they finally ended the concert together with "Piano Man".

You can't even imagine the roar of the crowd when these two music legends walked out on stage. It was deafening. They were each incredible on the piano. Each song brought back memories of my growing up years. Billy Joel dedicated the song, "Zanzibar" to one of his heros who happened to be there that night, Mohammed Ali.

I brought my camera, unsure if they would let it in. They checked my bag and told me I couldn't bring in a water bottle...said nothing about my camera. Yeah! I hurried and drank my water and went in before they changed their mind.

Here are some photos from the concert:

As you can see, the concert was sold out.

Our seats were about 2/3 back on stage left side of the Center, about 1/2 way up the bottom section. All of these photos were taken from our seats with my 18-200mm lens and then cropped. I sat there wondering if I could get a little closer. Finally I decided to go for it. I walked with purpose to the first entrance and marched right down the stairs as if I belonged down there. I found myself on the floor very close to the sound boards to the right of the stage. I balanced my elbows on the rail and snapped about 8 quick photos before the security guard told me I couldn't do that. It was worth it. On the way back, 3 more security guards stopped me and asked me which entrance I came in from. They had their eye on me now. This was one of my shots from down front.

Can't wait until my dad turns 75! :-)

Miyuki + Kawana= TLA

We had a dog in our home for a short time while I was growing up. I say "in our home" because it was more of a co-existence rather than a relationship. It didn't work out and my mom had the painful task of taking him to the Humane Society. She didn't know what else to do. She cried all the way home. I must not have been too attached because I don't remember crying at all.  Now I know why my mom cried. She was the one who took care of this little dog and so I can only imagine how attached she got even though he wasn't quite what we had expected. 

Our youngest, Emma, 8, is a complete animal lover. She cried and cried when our little hamster, Henry, died. He "mysteriously" disappeared from his Postmortem Crayola Box Home in the freezer to some undisclosed location in an attempt to give him a proper burial (which translates to: we needed to get him out of the freezer). Emma made him a little headstone and R.I.P. out of mud and put it symbolically in our flower bed. I happened upon it a couple of weeks ago. She was still thinking of him.

A few years ago, out of the blue, I got puppy hungry. I could count on Emma to be on the same page. I investigated different breeds to find the right fit for our family and finally settled on a Shih Tzu. They're small, they don't shed, they don't bark, they're mellow and pretty low maintenance. I found a local breeder who called us when our little dog was old enough to leave home. That was nearly 4 years ago. We named her Annie and she has exceeded our expectations. She loves us and it's humbling to think how little she asks of us and how much she gives  in return. Annie was the beginning of my journey to becoming a dog person. I believe in the power of a pooch. Because of that I was so touched by Miyuki and Kawana.

Miyuki & Kawana

Miyuki is my neighbor and she has been training Kawana, a beautiful Golden Retriever, to be an Assistance Dog through the Power Paws organization. They have been together for 18 months. When I learned a couple of weeks ago that it was time for Kawana to go to his new home and new owner, I could feel how sad Miyuki was to see him go. She had done a good job training him and their bond was strong. Kawana will be placed with a person who's life will be greatly blessed by having him around.He is lovable and smart. He can go to the refrigerator and get a water bottle, he can push the handicap button to open doors among other things. I wanted Miyuki to have more than a snapshot to remember him by, so we did a little photo shoot with the two of them the afternoon of his departure. Here are some of my faves:

I know Miyuki will always remember what it felt like to love Kawana, now she can remember what it looks like.