Saying We Do...

Photograph weddings?!?!...

We love weddings!  They are beautiful and special and there are so many wonderful opportunities to get creative with photos!  But…we made a conscious decision not to photograph them.   The decision was for a lot of reasons – we didn’t have pricing in place, they are a lot of work and take a lot of time - and we both have other jobs!  And….let’s just put it out there!  We weren’t willing to risk providing anything less than perfect images of a once in a lifetime day.  There are lots of “what ifs” involved!  It’s not like if the pictures don’t turn out you can go back and have a “do over”!

All that changed on January 29!  Change is good!  So is stepping out of your comfort zone.  We took wedding photos for some very special people on their very special day and we were actually pretty pleased with the results.

So why did we do it?  As I said, these are two very special people and we have some pretty special connections.  The bride is my co-grandma (to Hailey).  She is Tiffany’s mom and she has done an absolutely amazing job as a single mom raising two smart, independent and all-around awesome young women.  And the groom has done a pretty great job raising his four kids too.  And now they have a big, blended family that is going to change the face of everything they do from now on…birthdays, holidays, parties, you name it!

We did it because we wanted to!  We did it because we wanted to be part of all that was special about these two people finding each other and deciding to spend the rest of their lives together.  We did it because we thought maybe we were ready to take a baby step into the world of wedding photography.  I don’t know when we’ll do another but when we do, we’ll have just a little more confidence about it.   Thanks, J & G, for stepping out there with us and trusting us to capture your wedding day with images that we hope will bring lots of good memories each time you look at them. 

Take a look and see what you think…

Couldn't resist adding this one...Three generations, the littlest bridesmaid - Miss Hailey

"Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts."
~William Shakespeare 

I'd like to raise my glass and make a toast the happy couple all over again! 
I couldn't do it before...I had my camera in my hands!

Happy Valentines Day to you and the ones you love...

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."

~Helen Keller

We ♥ Baby Props

We are picking up baby and children's props left and right and can't wait to use them.  Today we entered a giveaway from from Inspire Me Baby Me Baby to win some adorable headbands from Sprinkles for Sprouts.  We can't wait to photograph your baby/child.  Give us a call to schedule your session soon and spread the word...

                           XOXO, 
                               Tina

Putting with the Pros

I haven’t blogged in over two months, but today was like the breath of fresh air that I needed, literally and figuratively speaking!  Getting out in the sunshine and attending the CBS Outdoor Special Olympics Putting Contest at the Waste Management Phoenix Open with Ryan as a participant, breathed a dash of hope, and sprinkle of optimism into my mournful soul!  



In a time when all we hear from the media are tragic and devastating stories I am here to tell you the paparazzi were there in droves to capture the opposite side of humanity.



Lots of media attention with
Coach Whisenhut as his partner

Just get involved in Special Olympics and goodness will present itself at every turn.  The world is full of good people (many of whom are near and dear to us) who give of their time, their energy, and their money to make opportunities happen for those they feel are deserving of a time to shine!  Were Louis Gonzales, Mark Grace, Tom Chambers, Ken Whisenhut, the Phoenix Suns Dancers, and countless other pro-golfers and community leaders there for the face time, the money, to sign autographs for their fans, or other self-serving reasons?



Tips from "Coach Whis"

It’s doubtful. Because, you see, generally speaking those kinds of things are not important to the Special Olympic Athletes.  They don’t judge people by their fame or money or status…they take things at face value and like and love people unconditionally.  They were there because they took time out of their busy days, schedules, and lives to make a very special event take place for some very special athletes. 

  

This was one of Ryan's favorite things about
his day...the Phoenix Suns Dancers
were the scorekeepers.....S C O R E ! ! ! 

It appears that it took a village to put the event on today, but there wasn’t a face in the crowd without a smile.  It’s just a feel good kind of event for everyone involved on the giving and on the receiving end.  So thank you to all of you who continue to support Ryan and us in our ongoing involvement and participation in Special Olympics Arizona!  You just made my day!  



Good friends in the gallery



Until next time,

     Tina

"No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted" ~Aesop



Precious Little Baby Girl...

It’s funny how life is.  Something good always happens to soften the blow of whatever bad thing has come to pass.  We haven’t blogged much lately.  In fact, we didn’t have many photo sessions through the holidays and we didn’t blog about the ones we did have.  The fact is that we’ve been busy…with life, with other jobs and with just trying to keep up.  We love blogging and we really LOVE taking photos, but let’s just say our hearts haven’t been in it for awhile…until Hailey came along that is!

Hailey is my new granddaughter.   Yes, we have another girl in the family.  And yes, I think the girls now just might be outnumbering the boys!!  My how life has turned around for me since girls started joining our family.  It’s fun…really fun…to have big girls and little ones in the family.

Tina and I took these photos of Hailey and her proud mommy and daddy when she was just 10 days old.  She was a perfect angel and slept through almost the whole session, which is what we always hope for but don’t always get.  When she woke up, it was pretty easy to get her back to sleep and we even changed her clothes a few times without much problem.  Everyone who sees her or sees a picture of her comments on how beautiful her mouth is.   If you think it looks like we put lipstick on her or altered the photos with color, I can tell you we did not!  Her mouth is just truly a perfect little rosebud!

I’m really sad that my mom isn’t here to hold her newest great granddaugher.  I don’t know anyone who loves babies more than my mom.   I believe she’s looking down from Heaven though and sprinkling angel dust on this precious new baby.  I also know she loves what she sees. 

As for Hailey, you can be sure she’ll be the subject of more blogs as she grows and as we have more photo sessions with her. 

This isn't Hailey...it's Pearl in Hailey's crib.  Pearl was Tiffany's first baby and she's still trying to figure out how she got ousted from being the head princess by this new little creature. 
Luckily, she doesn't seem to have a jealous bone in her body. 
She just wants to be a baby too!

Blessings to you and yours,

"Every child born into the world is a new thought of God, an ever-fresh and radiant possibility."Kate Douglas Wiggin

Awesome Experience at the North Pole

OK, so Christmas is OVER you say!!!  Well, there’s always next year, and the year after that and so on…

I would have made this post before Christmas if I could possibly have fit one more thing into my life during the week between December 18 and December 25, but unfortunately I could not!!!  On December 18 we had the great privilege of visiting Santa at the North Pole Experience in the lovely and quaint village of Greer, Arizona!  If you think of Arizona as only a desert, you simply must visit Greer and the White Mountains in eastern Arizona.   I promise you won’t be disappointed—no matter what the season!

If I had been able to do something like that in my childhood, I can’t imagine I ever would have found anything to top it.  In fact…I think I shall never top it with any other holiday experience for the rest of my life, but I will try.  And I will keep you posted as to what I find next year.  Meanwhile, I highly recommend you check out their website; and if you live anywhere near Arizona and you have children or grandchildren, I suggest you book your experience early for 2011.  I have a feeling word is going to spread and the available slots are going to fill up fast.

Bryan and I went with Chris, Hannah and Lucy and Lucy’s other grandparents, Papaw and Carol.   This is only their second year of operation and let me tell you, they have it ALL figured out perfectly!   It starts at Molly Butler Lodge in Greer where the outdoor decorations are the first thing you see; and when you walk inside you are greeted by more decorations, warm fires, a welcoming atmosphere and the smell of good food.   We had dinner first and were amazed at the huge choice of foods in the buffet line.  Quite wisely, there were selections for the kids such as macaroni and cheese and chicken fingers, along with great selections for the adults including prime rib and mahi mahi.  The food was great and the dessert table was equally as tempting.

After our feast, we boarded the Candy Cane Express to head for the North Pole.  Our guide for the ride was an elf named Sprinkles.  At some point along the way, our trolley went dark as we went through the “portal” to the North Pole.  Suddenly we were greeted with thousands of twinkling lights in the middle of the pitch black forest.   Sprinkles taught us the secret knock and  knocked on the big door while we waited to enter the magical world of elves and everything Santa and the North Pole are all about!

Once inside, we found ourselves in Santa’s Toy Hall of Fame.  I’m quite sure there were some toys there from everyone’s childhood, whether parents or grandparents.  The nostalgic feeling of seeing toys from my own childhood was very special.  I don't want to give away too much here so I'm just showing you one of my favorite old toys.  As we moved into the next room, we were greeted by two elves who told us the head elf, Alabaster Snowflake, would be joining us soon.   Alabaster came in and filled all the kids, who were quite awestruck by now, with stories of Santa.

Soon they were being moved through the doors to the Elves’ Toy Workshop where they each joined an elf and helped finish off some toys that would be donated to charities.  The elves also participated in some play time with all the kids.  The workshop was nothing short of awesome, but I’m sure by now you’ve figured out that each step of our journey was just that!  When the toys were finished and put away, the children moved to the elves’ kitchen/dining room and sat around a huge table with the elves and had cookies and “snowman soup”.  The elves entertained them with plenty of antics and singing while someof the helpers frosted cookies in the kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next stop was the classroom where one of the elves taught them how to be “nice” and how not to be “naughty”.  Our little Lucy sat in the front row and appeared to be paying very close attention.

When class was over we moved on to the final and main attraction…the Jolly Old Elf Himself...in his private office!  Each family was given their own private time with Santa so the children could have his undivided attention while giving him their wish list.  While we waited our turn, we got to visit with Santa’s elf assistant and check out more old memorabilia, along with the naughty list which had some familiar names on it!

After seeing Santa, we boarded the trolley and headed back to Molly Butler Lodge for some time with Mrs. Claus as she read Christmas stories to all the children.   She was everything Mrs. Santa should be and it was the end of a very magical evening.  I am looking forward to our next trip to the North Pole with anyone I can find to let me tag along!  I highly recommend you check out some of the links in this blog and consider visiting the North Pole yourself!

"He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree."   ~Roy L. Smith

"I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month."
~Harlan Miller (Better Homes and Gardens)













I hope your holidays had some magic of their own and that 2011 is a wonderful year for all of you!  And don't forget to start planning soon for your own very special holiday experience next year.


Blessings to you and yours,

What are Your Holiday Traditions?

Our family has some holiday traditions that have stuck with us year after year and some that we’ve tried once or twice and they haven’t caught on, even though most of them were lots of fun.  We thought we’d share some of our memorable photos and traditions and ask you to share yours with us.   We are also having a contest on our Facebook page so submit your photos for a chance to win!  Here’s a link to our page.

http://www.facebook.com/ThroughMySistersEyesPhotography

Our best and most time-honored tradition is a game we play on Christmas Eve.  We can’t tell you the game because we never know what it is until Christmas Eve.  You see…our sister Angie creates a new game each year and they are always looked forward to with much anticipation.   They could be a game of Family Trivial Pursuit or a version of some TV game with questions we may or may not know.  Whatever the game, it is always the highlight of the evening and creates quite a raucous atmosphere!  Prior to Christmas, Angie and our mom have spent a lot of time creating the game, buying white elephant gifts and wrapping them so everyone goes home with something.  One year Tina won and there was an engagement ring in the prize box!!!  I think the winner was fixed that year!  This year it won’t be the same without our mom…for Angie or any of the rest of us.  But I hope we can continue the tradition for the next generation to take part in.

************************************************************************

One year one of Angie’s game prizes was a little glass duck that Bryan lovingly named the Peking Duck.  That led to many antics about the Peking Duck and lo and behold, the following year Angie received the duck under the tree.  For probably at least ten years Angie and Bryan had to come up with increasingly creative ways to “sneak” the duck into the other person’s hands.  That got pretty hilarious too.  Once it got old, I think they both tried for at least 3 years to end it and Angie came up with the winning play.  The head of Peking Duck is now immortalized and sits in our cabin in Pinetop.  He is cemented into a mosaic dish that we use as an ashtray.  Oh that duck brings back such good memories!  Here’s a picture of Bryan reading a letter from the “Duck”.  I don’t know why I don’t have a picture of it but I think I will soon…

We’ve had many different years with Santa hats, reindeer antlers, blinking light necklaces, goofy sweaters and who knows what else! 

It seems on most years someone shows up with a little something for everyone to wear.  You’ll notice some of them in the photos here.  One year the DeWitt boys went thrift store and closet shopping for goofy sweaters and wore them with Santa hats.  For the rest of the night they acted like some combination of Dumb & Dumber, Elf or some other character they made up.

In 2005, the DeWitt boys started a Christmas light contest between their two houses.  We had a caravan and went to check them out and vote.  I have no idea how many hours they put in and how many lights, but it was great fun.  It was far too hard for me to vote but someone made me so I voted and kept my ballot what I hoped was secret!  In the end, Pete won and Mark had created a silly traveling trophy for the winner.   The following year, we added more contestants and made a much bigger deal out of it.  We even rented a trolley so we could all go together and had Christmas music and lots of Christmas snacks on board.   Chris and Hannah won that year. I think everyone realized how much work and stress was involved in that one and it kind of fizzled the following year.  Plus, the trolley was booked and after that fun ride it wouldn’t have been the same to caravan in separate cars again.

 

Last year we had a gingerbread house contest.  It was a blast but I’m afraid it will go the way of the lights contest because it was a LOT of work.  I seem to recall that one of the dogs took a bite out of one of the houses before it ever even made it to the judging!  I must say there were some awesome displays of creativity there.    Here’s one that is modeled after our parents’ cabin in Mormon Lake…and I loved the nativity set too!  When our family has a contest there is some strong competition involved…we go ALL out!

It doesn’t matter what your tradition is…singing Christmas Carols together, volunteering at a soup kitchen, delivering gifts to a family in need, special recipes and the list is endless.  What matters is that you are together…with family, friends and anyone else who needs someone to celebrate with.  Our holidays would not be the same without the love and togetherness with our family and friends.  They are something we look forward to and make the most of every year.   We can’t always all make it, but we certainly miss the ones who don’t. 

Be sure you are freezing these special moments in time by taking photos of them.  If you don’t, someday you’ll be wishing you had!  Photos preserve the special moments and help you remember them.  You don’t know you’re missing them until you don’t have them!

We hope you will share your traditions or your special holiday moments, either in a comment on this blog or on our Facebook page.  Whether you do or don’t participate in our little contest, we hope your holiday season is filled with love, peace, joy, hope…and lots of good times and special moments!

Contest Rules:

Email us (photosisters@cox.net) your favorite holiday photo with a note about your special tradition or a special holiday event you participated in.  We will add them to an album on our Facebook page.    If you are not a Facebook user, you can still submit your photo to us and we will enter it for voting.  Deadline for photo submission is Sunday, December 19.   Vote for your favorites by liking or commenting on your photo and get all your Facebook friends to vote too.

Voting ends on Friday, December 24.  The winner with the most votes (likes and comments) will receive a free 11x14 mounted photo from your next photo session.  We don’t want to leave out our friends who live out of state and would like to enter the contest.  If you win and we’re not able to schedule a photo session with you, you may submit your own photo for printing and mounting.

Remember:

Entry Deadline:  Sunday, 12/19/10

Voting Deadline:  Friday, 12/24/10

Maximum entries per person:  3 (each must have a story)

All you need to do is submit your photo and have all your friends vote for you!

Blessings to you and yours,

Karen and Tina

“The merry family gatherings - the old, the very young; the strangely lovely way they harmonize in carols sung. For Christmas is tradition time - traditions that recall the precious memories down the years, the sameness of them all.”

- Helen Lowrie Marshall

And the angel said unto them, "Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, Which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."

- Luke 2:10-12