Summer Days, spending time with family

Last week I spent time with some of my nieces and nephews, since school is out and they live in the Bay Area, they will spend a few weeks throughout the summer here visiting and it's always fun to see how much they've grown since we last got together and what they're up to :)

Friday was there last full day visiting and I decided to photograph them as they are, full of life, free-spirits who love to play and they have plenty of energy to go around!  My nieces, Leilane and Naomi, were so excited to have their pictures taken and they just had a ball, running around and being kids, it made my job so much easier to capture the sweet moments (the girls talking on their "cell phones", hugging each other, racing and what not). My nephews, Ethan and Abraham, are sprinkled in the blog with a few pictures, they were more into playing with my husbands old action figures, hahaha!

Kids grow up so fast, I remember when they were all little babies and it's always wonderful to look back on what they did and looked like as they were younger, so here are my favorites, enjoy! 

E-session: Chad + Danielle

Danielle and Chad are such a funny and loving couple! They met 7 years ago and have been inseparable, it is so sweet to see them together, they compliment each other so well and what is even more special is that Danielle and Chad are getting married on their 8th anniversary in September and I'm so excited to be a part of their special day!

I have known Danielle since we were kiddos back in elementary school, we grew up in a tight-knit, farming and dairy community in California and I got to know Chad during our session. They have such a lovely engagement story, Chad took Danielle to Catalina Island a couple of months back and proposed at the top of mountain during the sunset!!

We had so much fun during our session, laughed a ton, Chad brought his guitar to include in the session (which was my favorite part!) and he was also our background music guy. Below are my faves from the session, looking forward to your wedding Chad and Danielle!

College Days: James Graduates!

I am so excited to share this blog post with you!  A few weeks back I took a trip to Southern California to attend James' graduation from Whittier College and it was such a fun-filled weekend! James is dating my lovely sister Andy and he invited us to join him for his graduation. We went to Downtown Disney, since we were so close, spent time with James and his family, met his wonderful grandparents who flew in from New Mexico and just had a really great time celebrating his accomplishments!

A litttle about James: He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics (which I think is really awesome because I am not too great in that department), he is super witty, is passionate about growing as a Christian, loves his family and Andy, is an extremely gifted student and football player, oh and did I mention he is my birthday twin?? Major awesome points right there, haha! It has been so great getting to know James over the past year, traveling with him, cracking jokes whenever we all get together and enjoying lots of great food (it's all about the food with us).

On our last day in Whittier, after helping James pack his things to move back home, he gave us a really special tour of his college, he showed us where he studied and tutored fellow peers, where students lived on campus, and various other spots that hold a special place in his heart. For me, as a first time visitor, Whittier has such a rich history and culture that makes me reminisce my days in college and how passionate I am about higher education. It is a private liberal arts college, much different than the state college I attended, yet retained its original values of "knowledge and academic innovation" rooted back to its Quaker founder John Greenleaf.

James told us a little about the college as we strolled through the grassy knolls, Whittier is the sister college to Princeton University, former President Richard Nixon was a student there, the gym on campus was used in the film trilogy "Back to the Future", their rival school is Occidental College, and how diversity has helped perpetuate the school's mission.

We had such a fun time on our tour of Whittier College, congratulations James on your accomplishments thus far, I know you are destined for success in the future!














Center of Academic Success, where James spent many hours studying and tutoring




Gym where Back to Future was filmed, this building is now the Art Department


Murals on one of the dorm walls





The Whittier College Student Center

One last shot of us on the campus

Some snaps from the graduation the morning prior, so proud of James!