Here we go....

Okay, so I have had a TON of people wonder
if I'm ever going to blog again. In person,
on the phone, on facebook etc...even my sister,
who hasn't blogged since the first snowfall
in early November, wants to know when I'm going
to blog again. The answer is "yes" and I will
make every attempt to back into the everyday
routine. I secretly missed doing it but truth be
told, I enjoyed the break.

My first wedding of the season is today.
JoAnn and Rick are getting married at
Murphy's Landing in Shakopee in, what will be, my
first ever "period" wedding. The wedding party
will be dressed to reflect the period and the
wedding party and guests were encouraged to do the
same. I can't wait!

Yesterday I finally met Owen. He is the newborn
son of Kelly and Jeff Read. They have been waiting
for his arrival and this joy for a long time.
You see, they lost Alliah a year ago, December 8th,
at 29 weeks gestation. I was called in to photograph
her for NILMDTS and that is how we met.
A bond was formed and I am certain that this family
will be a part of my life forever!
Interestingly enough, his full name is Owen Patrick.
He is exactly 3 years and 51 weeks younger than
our Owen Patrick (my nephew). Both Owens have their
grandfather's first name as their middle name.
As you can imagine, my mouth dropped open when she
said "Owen Patrick". :D

These are just a sample of his first, official
photo session...I just aDORE him!






Lastly, today I want to share the new basement.
The images that are propped up along the ledge
will come down as I have some giant images on
their way to go up in their place.




Thanks for your patience.
You may subscribe to my blog by clicking
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That way, mom, you don't have to check
10 times a day to see if I've blogged.

Have a great day.

Small world.

So yesterday I decided to send an e-mail
out to my logo designer and friend, Jessica
Rodin, and let her know my plans for my
identity that she created. She checks it out,
clicks on the blog link and up pop all the photos
of Danza and her mom & dad. Not so noteworthy, right?
Well, it turns out that the other mom up in
ICC at Children's, Alicia (who I met while I was there
photographing Danza) and Christa have become
the best of friends as their daughters are about
2 weeks apart and have spent many days and nights
together. I even took a few shots of Alicia,
Christa and Danza together.
Guess what? Alicia is a really good friend of
Jessica's & Tom's ("Boat Tom" for those of you
who have heard about his gorgeous Yacht).
Alicia is also a hairdresser and has been doing
their hair for years and they have just become
great friends and I can tell you from experience
that it's hard for me to even call some of my
clients, "clients" because they have become such
wonderful friendships! WOW, right!?

So now, I ask that you pray for Alicia and her
family as their little girl is still up in ICC
at Children's and they are missing their friends!
Pray for their daughter's continued success and
health so that they, too, someday soon can return
home and start their new normal!

Alicia is on the left...





Another fun thing...Alicia & Christa don't live
that far from one another either...cool, huh?!

Jessica wants to be in the homecoming photos
when Alicia's little girl goes home!! :)

The Kittens are Coming!!!

(We leave early this morning so this'll be a short one)

Anne called me around noon yesterday to tell me
that the kittens were on their way and that
she was freaking out, so I rushed right over!

Much excitement, as you can imagine and my mom
even got in on the action and picked Emily &
Amanda up from school early so they could witness
the birth.

I got there at 12:30 and the first one came
at 1:28. Then, the boredom set in.
I left around 3 to go gas up my mom's car and
put air in her tires and Anne called...
"Where are you?" and I'm like, "getting mom gas,
did she have another one the minute I left???"..yep.
DANG it!!! Oh well....

Here's the first one...











Anne called yesterday around 5 and gave me the
very sad news that the 2nd one did not make it.
Oh, I just HATE that!! She did everything she could
but it was just too weak.

I won't get to see the other beauties in person
until I get home, but if you want...we can all go
to her blog (it's listed under "check these out")
over the next few days and check in.

Oh, and FYI, Anne had a beautiful basket all set
up perfect for Spice and at the last second she
hopped out and into the cardboard box she went.
And that's where she stayed...like a homeless,
unwed mother on the streets having babies. :\

Adios amigos. Hasta Luego.
I'm off to my happy place!

More from Mexico soon.

Good to talk to you last night Nicki!

Jane & Rodney, thank you so much for your kind
remarks. I love working with you Jane and to
Rodney, get ready for your bulsiness to ROCK!!!

p.s. I've added a Web Cam to the top of my
"check these out" list. It's where I'll be
with my sister from the 6th-13th of March!!

Bob Davis.

If you don't know Bob, you should.



I've mentioned he and his wife, Dawn, before
so they are no strangers to this blog ("hi Dawn!").
I stole this photo off of their la Storia foto blog.

Well, I ordered his DVD and I am so excited
for them and I'm looking forward to seeing the
final product as Dawn has shared some of the
footage from it during the process of creating it.
It's pretty cool.

Moving on....

This is my brother giving his new daughter, Reese,
an eskimo kiss at the hospital on Monday.







I'm heading to the Hilton this afternoon to greet
2 cancer families. A 2 year old boy and a 7 year
old boy (different families).
They'll be checking in for their "Minnesota Miracle"
weekend...free of charge. This is the first 2
families of 2008. Unfortunately, this will be the
first of many but what the Hilton provides along with
the Miracles of Mitch Foundation it allows these
families a little "time-out" from the cancer.
It fills my soul to see these cancer kids get
excited about their hotel stay. The smiles are priceless!
I especially love it when they allow me to accompany
them up to their rooms and witness them opening the
door to all the balloons and gifts...sometimes, if
they are in the mood and healthy enough I get them
to jump on the bed with their friends and siblings!
That usually doesn't take much coaxing! ;)



Well, back to editing.
Make the very most of your day today.

Meet Reese...

I started a blog on Monday night when I got the news
that Reese had finally come into the world...
I was saving it to post on Tuesday morning. I forgot
that I had started it so it's still sitting there.
Boy, talk about your "2nd born syndrome", right?!
Sorry Reese. You are darling, perfect and I love you!

When my mom & I got to the hospital yesterday, Sue,
Kindra's, mom was holding Reese and the nurses were
giving Kindra her "exit" speech. Interesting really,
I've never heard one. I especially loved the part about
stitches and stool softener....yeeeeooowwww!

Shortly thereafter, Mike arrived with Owen (the big
brother) and he just went on and on about the whole
experience. Owen is at that really funny age where
he is all about what's going on. He sat next to Kindra
on the sofa and pointed to her belly and said "it's
empty now cuz Reese isn't in there anymore." so cute!

I took a ton of photos and Kindra tried to set one up
by getting Owen to lean in and smell Reese...
he then said.."she doesn't smell like cookies, she
smells like a baby." again...funny!! :)

We stayed and had lunch with Mike & Kindra (Sue had
taken Owen home for a nap) and then the 3 of them would
pack up and head home to begin their life as a family
of 4! I love you all so much and I'll see you again
soon, no doubt!

Here's some shots of the newest Craig..just 48 hours old.



Oh, and guess who didn't get the eyelashes!
Seriously, Owen has more hair on his eyes than some
people have on there head!! I think they need brushing!



Proud Aunt Susan!





Shhhhhhhhh...the baby is sleeping.

babystology.com

Okay, how cool is this?
I found this on Jessica Strickland's
blog...



Just got news that the little darling's
head is not down. If she doesn't adjust
herself by this coming Thursday, her Dr.
is going to move her manually and this
procedure has been know to do 3 things...
1.)break her water.
2.)cause kiki to go into labor.
3.)if her heads NOT down they may do
a c-section the following day.

So, by all rights I could have another
niece on my hands by next Friday.
That IS, if baby Lola doesn't get her
rear in gear!! ;)

I of course, just pray that Kiki is
comfy and Lola is okay!
Oh, and for the record, they are not
naming her Lola, that's just what we have
all be calling her! ;)

This morning I'm heading down to the
salon that Mandy is having her hair
done at. I so wanted to go to the
rehearsal but it was not meant to be.
No worries tho'.

Today (and last night) we are getting
the most beautiful coating of snow.
This will make the bride VERY happy!
I hope she remembers to bring an umbrella!
It's like a fresh winter~wonderland
outside. This will make for some really
terrific photos!

Have I mentioned that Mandy is going
to come over tomorrow morning and have
me cut all of her hair off!?
They are headed to Viet Nam for their
honeymoon (Mark's family is from there)
to meet family and travel and it's
sooo hot there, she doesn't want to
bother with it.
Brave girl ya got there, Mark! ;)

I'm gonna run, the snow thing could
be tricky as well as pretty!

I'll post some images early next week.
(I made a promise to Gary for 2008
I would not work on Sundays...not at
the computer anyway.)
Wish me luck with that!! :)

silpada jewelry...

fine sterling silver jewelry

the recap on cindy's party last night
goes a little something like this...
i went knowing that i would have fun,
drink some wine, snack on some goodies,
talk to all the gals and even take some
photos~oh sure, i did all that AND i
ended up purchasing 2 rings!!
i absolutely LOATH waiting!
"here's all the really fun~gorgeous
stuff that you can have..." ....in 3 weeks!

i'll still love them when they get here!
thanks again, cindy for a great time.


ron & cindy (& reggie)






i forget this little guys name but he tagged
along to the party and stayed pretty darn late!





gary just called. he got three birds yesterday!
not that that excites me any but i told him that
when you go out there every other weekend you're
bound to get good at it, right?!

the snow that is to hit us tomorrow will, of course
hit them first and so they are considering heading
back early so they don't have to follow it all the
way back to minnesota on sunday and we are expecting
a PILE of snow. the first big snow of the season.
pretty cool really....on december 1st an all.
that should get everyone in the Christmas spirit!
i'll be posting images of that tomorrow! :)

i have several families that are waiting to take
"snow" photos and so this may turn out to be a
very busy weekend for me! :)

i head to the Hilton later today. 2 families are
checking in for the weekend

Go get ready for the snow!!!!!

(i'm sorry, i forgot to post photos of Uta
and her new "do"! what a treat for me to
meet her and cut her hair. Uta returned to
germany this morning...hope to see her again!@
thanks, ann conrad, for bringing her by!)

timberwolves blow it again...

this is not to say that we didn't have a
fabulous time, because we totally did,
but when i attend a professional sports
event it would just be so nice if it weren't
a blow out! 82-100, hornets win.
it was fun to see bobby jackson, he's so
cute! he used to play ball for the gophers.
then he went to the denver nuggets and now
he's with new orleans. his salary for the 2008
season? 5.6 million. not bad.

well, we arrive to the target center and
discover that some folks that sit right
behind ron (when he runs the clock) have
3 friends that couldn't join them so cindy,
gary and i joined them in the front row.
i really great way to get close to the game.
even listening to the banter of the stats
guy, ron, the shot clock guy and the announcer.
pretty interesting, not to mention cool.
those seats go for about $330. keep in mind
that ron & cindy's seats are pretty awesome too!

we all got to press the buzzer too cuz i'm
serious when i say we sat right behind ron!

the game sucked but the experience did not.
we decided to get a little closer to home after
the game and swung into biaggi's for a couple
then home.

thanks for your note karen!

jacquie, it was good to pass by you on the
street, i owe you a bottle of bordeaux! :P
and this is what you get when you don't call...



dean & lois, we FINALLY booked our flights~
we arrive on monday and will be heading back
on thursday. kind of a quicky but we are
anxious to come down and celebrate.
do NOT make plans for the 9th! we already have.



love to all.

wait, one more thing. my cousin kim who lives
out in montana with her fiance scott just
sent a few photos of their little guy, orion..
i have GOT to get my hands on this guy!
i think they are coming out for Christmas!

baby ian...

(the music was intended to just go along with
j's slide show...)

stacey decided to come to the PUG meeting
last night sort of last minute (to bring the
crackers that jason left at home!).
that meant that we all got to meet ian who
is just a couple of weeks old!





he is just perfect! his skin, eyes...everything.
ian is just adorable. thank you for coming out
last night and bringing ian & lauren along.
tell lauren that "the white lady" will see her
after school today! :) ya see, i had on a white
blouse last night and she couldn't remember my name.
i'm finally going to head over to stacey & jason's
house today.

yesterday, as i mentioned, i met up with jane
at her "house of fun & fur" to make her greeting
card selections...here are a few...

here's ringo..



here's jane & daisy


and my fave...betty. she was crabby yesterday.



i snapped a few more while i was there cuz these
animals are so darn funny and photogenic!



daisy & ringo play constantly. i love how
ringo is covering daisy's eyes here..

happy halloween!

today, i woke up in my own bed, alone.
no girls, no cats & gary was up and off to
work pretty early.
no rest for the weary, i have an 8 o'clock
and the fun won't stop until around 4.

we had a pretty heart warming reunion last
night at anne & pete's. they were on the
ground early and home early.
anne was bummed. she noticed that they never
stamped her passport in france so now she
has no proof that she was actually there.
weird, huh?

lots of gifts bestowed on everyone (even me)
and we were just really excited to have them
both back home, safe and sound.

i'm going to miss those girls & ben. we had
such fun. we always have fun when i stay there!
so, until next time...

my good friends jason and stacey thon had a
baby boy (ian jason thon) just before lunch
on the 29th. VERY exciting! congratulations
you two...or should i say 4! you can get to
their photography site & blog from my PUG
blog listed under "check these out".

so, it's halloween. hmmm. i didn't get any
pumpkins this year. i got very sidetracked
at anne & pete's this year. oh well, the
candy will taste the same, right!? :)

i have been waiting for days to get my new
leopard system installed. gary's brother
is coming over to take care of that for me.
it'll take a couple of hours but from what
i understand, well worth the wait!
i'll let you know as soon as i get the chance
to dive in and play with it.

i can't post photos today either...very little
time this morning...

happy haunting!!

baby gavin...

just 3 and a 1/2 weeks old and
having his first photo shoot!
he, mommy & daddy are heading back
to colorado this saturday...
his grandma and aunts will miss
him dearly! we'll see him at
Christmas and it will be wonderful
to see the changes. until then,
we can all go back and check out
his first ever slide show!
have a safe trip back you three!

BIG NEWS!! i'm #2 on the list to get my
mark III so i should have it any day.
i have never been so excited to get anything
in my life...well, maybe the "sasha" doll
when i was 8...or my driver's license when
i was 16...or my period when i was 30!!!
so, i've been blessed in my life, i'll admit.

nace meeting last night went well.
we met at embassy suites in bloomington.
janice, our fabulous hostess was all
gussied up in her cowboy hat! ya see
this meeting was to serve as a recap
of their national conference that took
place recently in houston texas.
so it was all about country...really fun!
i'll be posting photos tomorrow.

i'm meeting zach this afternoon for
a photo shoot for his senior pix.
he attends wayzata (pronounced wyzetta)
high school and is a baseball FANATIC!!
and this young man is also dating my
niece, g. those images i will post
tomorrow as well.

one more hot sticky day and then
we are in for a cool down!!