Jorge + Amanda, Engagement Session, Diablo Grande

Their wedding is only one month away and I'm so excited to share with you their engagement session.  

Introducing the soon to be: Mr. and Mrs. Gomez, otherwise known as Jorge and Amanda, my brother-in-law and future-sister-in-law.
We did their session one August evening at the Diablo Grande Golf & Country Club, tucked away in the hills near Patterson, Ca.

I pray that you will have a blessed union and many years of life, love, happiness and blessings!  I am so excited to welcome you into the family Amanda!  To Jorge, I am so excited you have found the love of your life, she brings out the best in you!

Can't wait for the big day, congrats you two!

Just around the corner!

Happy Friday everyone!  Had to share a few pictures from upcoming posts to keep you up to date on what I have been up to!

The first is from a personal shoot featuring my brother-in-law, Jorge, and future sister-in-law, Amanda! We did their engagement session in August and had so much fun! They are getting married in October in Reno and I can't wait to be a part of their special day. I will be attending as a guest, but I will be sharing pictures of Amanda getting ready on her big day, later in October, I am so excited for them!!

  The second picture below is of my great-nephew (so crazy, I'm a great-aunt now!). Nathan, was 5 days new when we did his newborn session and is such a precious little thing. He is a few weeks older now, but I hope to share more pictures of him as he grows. I can't wait, it's going to be an incredible journey! 

50th Anniversary-Ray + Eleanor, Roswell, New Mexico

At the beginning of July I took a roadtrip to Roswell, New Mexico and had so much fun!  Roswell, New Mexico? Why? To see the alien landing site and museum?

No, but coincidentally the annual "alien festival" happened to be going on during our time in Roswell.

I was invited by Renee Oliver to join in the fun and photograph her parents 50th Anniversary and to take a mini-vacation.  Of course I would never turn down an opportunity to travel and traveling with my husband makes it so much more fun, it was our first trip together out of state!  So, 7 of us, myself included, drove from California to New Mexico to spend time with the Vaz family, partake in the long holiday weekend during the 4th of July, attend a graduation party, 4th of July party and a 50th Anniversary/Family Reunion Party.  And party we did! We ate a lot of fabulous food, met so many wonderful people who are now friends, got to see what life in Roswell is like and relax.  Roswell is a lot like California (minus the dry, summer heat), there are dairies, countryside, farmland for miles, it was beautiful.  I also got in touch with my Portuguese culture (I'm part Mexican and part Portuguese), spent time talking with people who were also visiting about Portugal and the Azores, life in the "old country" and started every morning with Portuguese sweet bread and coffee. It reminded me of my mom's awesome Portuguese sweet bread and I felt at home, it was great!

Ray and Eleanor Vaz celebrated 50 years of marriage that weekend and it was such a wonderful celebration.  I was so amazed by their unconditional love for one another, their partnership as husband and wife and as parents and grandparents. They have created quite a legacy for their children and grandchildren and their children to come.  The festivities kicked off with a family portrait session with all of their children and grandchildren (6 children plus their spouses & 19 grandchildren!!) The evening was followed by a wonderful dinner, a dance from Ray and Eleanor and dancing under the New Mexico stars to end the night! It was such a fun time for everyone there!

It was such a wonderful experience to be a part of, to see family come together in celebration and share in the love and happiness.  I wanted to give a big thank you to Eleanor and Ray for opening up your beautiful home to me, my husband and Andy, for being so welcoming and so great to work with!  As well as the entire Vaz family, you are such amazing people and thank you for being so welcoming and fun!

I am so excited to share my favorite moments from the anniversary with you all, enjoy!

Anchor Ball 2011-Disneyland Hotel

In May I had one of the coolest opportunities to date in my photography career, photographing an event at the Disneyland Hotel!!  I am a huge fan of all things Disney, love it, love it, love it!  I actually just got off the phone with a dear friend of mine and we're planning a Disney Cruise next year, I absolutely love Disney!

But, I digress.

This event, known as Anchor Ball, is a fundraiser event put together every year for Serra School in Orange County.  The event has a theme every year and this year's theme was "Crusin' America", it featured a tribute to the 50's, the diners of that era, Route 66, American Graffiti and what not. Men arrived in tuxedos and women in gorgeous evening gowns, the night featured a 3-4 course dinner, live music, a comedian and dancing, it was incredible!  The evening began with a silent auction and cocktail hour, with high-end items for all to bid on (ranging from jewelry to electronics to gift baskets and vacations!), it was very neat to view all that was available for bidding in the silent auction.

I mingled through the crowd, meeting parents, staff and V.I.P's during cocktail hour, snapping candids and had a great time.  Later in the evening everyone walked into a gorgeous ballroom for dinner and the live auction, which showcased some of the most amazing items:
               *sushi for 10 in the privacy of your own home 
               *tickets to Disneyland for you and your child and their friends arriving in a limousine for the day
               *movie night to the see Cars 2, dinner and a limo ride
These and many other spectacular items were available during live auction,  I was loving every minute of the event and felt so honored to be able to capture it all!

I wanted to give a very big thank you to Christine Bentley for referring me to the coordinators of the Anchor Ball to be their photographer, it was an incredible opportunity and I am forever grateful to be a part of something so wonderful for children and their education.

Here is a look at my evening from the Anchor Ball:



The tables were decorated so beautifully, on the right on the VIP table and it was located in the center of the ballroom. Details below of the VIP table, it was stunning! Dinner, live auction and comedian to get the night off to a great start!  Check out that amazing "Cars" themed cake, it was too cool!