heather + ryan (the wedding)

I'm still recovering.

STILL.

And I won't go into all the gory details about my toe, or the stress level, (not at all client driven, strictly caused by myself), and mainly because none of it matters. None of it matters one bit, because Heather and Ryan are enjoying their honeymoon, I'm sure. MOB, Candy (and good friend) is resting, I hope, and all the wonderful images are safe and happy on my hard drive (and dvd, external, and alternate location) and just begging to be played with!

life is good

It was a beautiful day! HOT, but beautiful! Emily Alexander from Dallas, 2nd shot this wedding with me and I always enjoy spending time with her! Someday, if you run into us, sit down, have a drink and we will fill you in on our weekend! Oh, my gosh! It was reality TV at it's best.

Enjoy the sneak peek and as always, more on their gallery! CLICK HERE.

heather + ryan (the rehearsal)

What a weekend! I started the day off by dropping my ponds cold cream jar on my toe and bruised my right foot. Add a waiter, a few groomsmen moshing it at the reception, and me stubbing in on a table, I've got a foot that is ready for some major tender care. So, I'm at my new house downloading cards from the wedding and posting this with my foot up. Let the TLC begin!

I wanted to have the rehearsal up yesterday before I left to cover the wedding, but I simply ran out of time. So, here you go! THE REHEARSAL! It was a great way to kick off the wedding weekend and get everyone in the mood to celebrate!

Come back for the wedding sneak peek, I'm working on it next and you have to see Heather in her dress! JAW DROPPING!

Lunch @ La Diosa (yum)

WARNING: For the next few days, Kristin will blog sporadically, in desperate hopes to get her office moved, her life in order, AND get caught up!!!

I've been looking forward to Heather and Ryan's wedding for a year. I photographed her sister's wedding in 2007 and last summer Heather's mom called to reserve her date. Her wedding date happens to be my youngest daughter's 13th BIRTHDAY!

WE LOVE YOU SUMMER ZOE!

At first I wasn't going to photograph the wedding, but then I remembered in the month of June Summer plays basketball every weekend, so we talked about it and given the history I have with this wonderful family, and given the history of Summer Zoe's birthday being celebrated AFTER her basketball games, it made sense to go ahead and agree to work her birthday.

******** just got word that they tied her first game up with a 3 pointer made at 1/2 court!!! OMG!

Onto the sneak peek!

I'm heading out to meet the bride, jammin' to MJ tunes (so sad...) and wanted to share her fab bridesmaid lunch we had yesterday. OM GOSH! The cake was so AWESOME! I think it was made by a Miss Molly Brown? Is this right, Candy? (leave a comment to let me know) But it was a toffee chocolate cake of some sort. All I know is it was total yum!

The girls all spent some fun time visiting, catching up and sharing fun stories. You'll see a fun series below of Heather and Ginger together both talking at the same time about the same story! Too fun!

Gotta run!

leslie + keith (the wedding)

Lulu's.

That's where this AMAZING dress came from! A Maggie Sottero!

Fabulous gown means FAB wedding! And this one so did not disappoint! I first met Leslie and her mom, Ava, way back when. We talked about the wedding then, but gosh! It turned out way more than that little conversation way back at Ruby Tequila's. LOL

Wonderful fun with wonderful people! And a minister that cried! I almost forgot about that. It's a shame I couldn't get a close up of that, but FUMC doesn't allow photography inside the sanctuary.

Enjoy the photos! As always, more on their gallery.

CLICK HERE

Kirsten + Ben (the wedding)

It was the wedding that almost didn't happen. Speaking to the coordinator just a few days before, they were thinking of having to reschedule the wedding... again. It would be heartbreaking, yes, but even more heartbreaking would be if Kirsten and Ben had to live apart again.

She's from California and he's from Dalhart, but now Wichita Falls. They fell in love through their families and have dealt with health issues, scheduling issues, not to mention, distance issues. Cell phones keep people together, I tell you!

But Love always PREVAILS. It's the greatest thing. And we had a GREAT day! To see more of their wedding, CLICK HERE.

At First Church

cheer camp

My baby girl was at Cheer Camp while I was in CA and I so missed her! It's always hard leaving your family, but during emotional times such as broken bones and sick Granny's, it's especially hard! Kalyn and I went and visited her on Wednesday when I got back and took her a cheery slushie from Sonic. LOL

She had a wonderful time and Cooper ROCKED! They were one of 3 Junior High teams and they had 3 of our girls make All - American! WOW!

Congrats to Katie, Megan and Morgan! Way to go!

Here's a few pictures of their dorms and final day of awards. LOVE YOU MISS ZOE!

my granny

I went to visit my Granny in CA last week. It's been a year since I had seen her and I needed to go. She's lost her sight now and is needing total care. My family is deciding what is best and how just to provide that care. It was a quick trip but it was good to sit and visit with my mom and my sister. So hard to live apart, but we sure appreciate the time together.

confirmation

Sunday, June 7th, Kalyn celebrated her confirmation at St. Joseph Church. It's a pretty BIG deal and I was so thankful I could be there and take part, not only as a parent, being proud of her progress, but also as a sponsor to Rebekah, Kalyn's very best friend.

In the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, Confirmation, known also as Chrismation,^[6] is one of the seven sacraments instituted by Christ for the conferral of sanctifying grace and the strengthening of the union between individual souls and God.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church in its paragraphs 1302–1303 states:

It is evident from its celebration that the effect of the sacrament of Confirmation is the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost.

From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace:

• it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry, "Abba! Father!" (Romans 8:15);
• it unites us more firmly to Christ;
• it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us;
• it renders our bond with the Church more perfect;
• it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross:

Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in God's presence. Guard what you have received. God the Father has marked you with his sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed his pledge, the Spirit, in your hearts.

Of course the Bishop was on hand for the celebration. AND the Knights of Columbus were there "falling out" as they call it. Very cool, since Devin is a 4th degree. I actually got photos of him with his feathers!

During the mass, Rebekah and many others (including Kalyn) got up and shared how going through the process of confirmation has blessed the in their life. Very cool and very moving to hear your child speak from the heart in front of our body of Christ.

It was difficult for me to remain in my seat and just be a part of the celebration instead of PHOTOGRAPHING the event. I loved it! But a part of me so wishes I had better photos. I'm going to try and remember this event in my head and heart in hopes that I won't forget the feeling that day!

Of course photos afterwards! Kalyn, Rebekah and Danielle.

This is Lillie, Kalyn's sponsor. We've known Lillie for over 20 years. She's been on family vacations with us, babysat my girls since birth and just a wonderful person to share this time with Kalyn.

Here's me and Rebekah with some heavy editing done on all my wrinkles. :)

Devin in all his glory!!! I love this series of photos. TOO CUTE!

Kalyn's saint.

Danielle and her sponsor, Claricye Andrews.

The entire group squinting into the sun. Yep. I told you "I took the day off". LOL

Summer Zoe and me just capturing the moment.

It's not legit without a personal photo with the Bishop.

Twyla + Patrick

Yes, those are the shoes from Sex and the City that BIG proposed to Carrie with.  And YES!  My new assistant, Sally, (more on that later) taught me how to properly pronounce the designer's name, and YES!  We all quickly fell in love with them and really wanted to try them on, dance around and go drink cosmopolitans.  Didn't happen of course, but hey, we had a wedding to photograph!

I've known Twyla (the bride) for oh, umpteen years, as our daughters play soccer together.  And when she called me to say she was getting married, I was so very happy for her.  You see, Twyla is an unconditional lover.  She sees people for what they are not what they do and just loves unconditionally.  That and her unusual accent are my favorite things about her.  At lest they were, until the shoes showed up on the scene.  HELLO!  Are they not beautiful?!?  

On to the photos!

I had the chance to play around with the rings for a bit and really liked this one.  If you go to their sneak peek on their gallery you will see the opening shot with Patrick's ring.  CLICK HERE FOR THE SNEAK PEEK.

 
Tina Bland at Taylor Davidison's did Twyla's hair and makeup.  She did a fantastic job!  Those that know Twyla know that the girl doesn't have hair.  Seriously, she will tell you that a million times over, but Tina's knows hair and knows it well.  Plus, these two are very good friends, and after being in "hair mode" all day, it was great to get this shot of the two of them together. 

The penguin's ready for their close-ups!  LOL  Patrick is surrounded by his boys, Twyla's boys, and a few extra's thrown in.  

Twyla wore her Mom's necklace and I thought it was perfect!  Here is her sister putting it on the bride. 

STUNNING!  Loved her pink gown with the Texas roses!

Emotional moment.

Twyla's bro walked her down the aisle.  The wink was priceless!  :)

Another emotional moment.  

The Legacy in Lubbock is a beautiful place.  Gorgeous place!  Wonderful lighting and thanks to the First Friday Art Trail, wicked cool art on the walls.  BONUS!
I love this shot of the two of them definitely excited and enjoying the moment!  

Carrlyn sang the first dance song.  

Only these two in pastels can look this good doing the YMCA.  LOL

Twyla's grandma and several of her relatives had taken their first plane ride EVER.  EVER.  This was at the end of the night, Twyla saying goodnight to her exhausted Grandma.  Such a great moment!

Thanks, Patrick and Twyla for choosing me to photograph your wonderful day!  I had such a great time getting to know your family and friends even better.