7 years old.

This past weekend I spent some time with my family in Little Italy in San Diego. We found a yummy coffee shop, grabbed some brunch and spent some time walking around to take photos of my favorite boy on the planet. Ryver is 7 years old. I still can't believe it, even though I keep repeating it over and over. I am happy to share with you all photos of the most wonderful kid I know. At 7 years old he is charming, intelligent and unbelievably kind. He is handsome and full of energy, He loves Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, his little sisters, football, dancing and Star Wars. He taught me what unconditional love is and turned me into a mother. 

Happy 7th Birthday, Ryver Michael. 

The Safari Park - San Diego.

Back in November the Naval Hospital here in San Diego put together an amazing event for the ill, injured and wounded warriors along with their families. I was in the thick of terrible morning sickness but knew that this was not something I wanted to miss. So, we packed up our kiddos and headed to the Safari Park for an incredible day. Sadly, the photos I took that day stayed hidden away on my memory card for many months afterwards since looking at a computer screen only made my morning sickness worse. I am finally getting around to sharing them with you. Please pay close attention to the lion about halfway through the post. I was mesmerized by this guy while we were at the park and while I was editing. He's just magnificent.

I must say, as someone that usually finds zoos pretty sad I absolutely LOVED the Safari Park. I couldn't believe the space that the animals had and the treatment they received. Simply wonderful. Enjoy!

 

 

Last photo date with Jamie. LDS Temple in San Diego.

Jamie and I had our last photo date in December. Since Jamie was leaving San Diego I thought it only right that she get to pick the spot.She decided on the LDS Temple which isn't a surprise since she has tended to choose churches for most of our outings. The temple was beautifully lit up and decorated for Christmas. It was also one of the coldest nights we've had since I arrived in San Diego coming in at a frigid 55 degrees. Brr. So, after a quick stop for apple cider we were on our way to walk the grounds and capture the beautiful building. 

 

Family of four. {Mini session in San Diego}

I have had the honor of capturing the lives of these two sweet little girls that just happen to be my nieces. This is especially wonderful since we currently live over 1,000 miles away from them. Last year I was able to squeeze in a maternity shoot while I was visiting Colorado in July. You can see those photos here. Then, after the girls were born my family and I made the trip from California to Colorado once again and I was able to kiss, squeeze, love on and photograph them at less than two months old. Those photos can be viewed here. 

We have not seen this sweet family in many months now and we were thrilled that they were able to come visit us this past week. What a joy to get to know these little ladies that are now almost 6 months old. We squeezed in three different photo shoots while they were in town, including a Valentines day shoot...

and a beach session...

 but my very favorite was the last minute photo shoot we had just an hour before they left to make their flight. 

Already counting down the weeks till we get to see them again.