What Will Your Legacy Be?

There are things that matter like paying your bills, and doing laundry, and being kind to your neighbor, and being a good citizen.

And then there are things that matter like telling your loved ones that you love them, showing your loved ones you love them, accepting others unconditionally, and finding purpose in serving others.

How lucky am I to be surrounded by people who demonstrate the former, but more importantly the latter “things that matter”?  Last week, my better half and a team of other wonderful guys and gals put together a golf tournament, the proceeds of which went directly to MASD/ADS to benefit Special Olympians like my son.  They gave of their time, their talents, and their resources so that this could be realized in their 10^th annual Duck and Run Golf Tournament.  They are the “salt of the earth” and I am honored to call them my husband, my brother-in-law and nephews, their business associates and friends!

I had the pleasure of being a spectator at this event at Vistal Golf Club one morning last week.  I also had the pleasure of hanging with my daughter as we made the rounds and visited with golfers and fundraisers taking pictures of “things that matter”.   

The golf course was beautiful, the view divine, the weather was perfect, but the faces…they tell it all!  These are the faces and images of the “things that matter”.  I can’t think of anything I’d rather photograph!

Hole #1: “{D’}s Drive”.  Golfers were greeted at the first hole by a Special Olympian who can drive the golf ball as straight and long as the best of them.  They got to choose whether to play his ball or their own. And by the time they were back in their cart and on their way their lives had just been changed from meeting the ever talkative, always inquisitive and holds nothing back Mr.{D}…"play ball”! 





  

 Ambassadors and buddies making the rounds and hitting a few balls for the players.



And then there was this young lady! She and her parents sit at hole #15 (par 3) every Friday and raise donations to help buy uniforms for MASD/ADS Special Olympians.  They were happy to come and do the same the day of the golf tournament.  Miss{A} promises a sleeve of balls if their drive lands on the green, and if it’s a hole in one…a trip to Las Vegas!  She explains to the golfers arriving at the hole that it will include a little extra spending money for gambling, meals…(with this she pauses) and then delivers the punch line “and liquor”!  To this the golfer replies "You had me at hello" and hands her a $20!  She is very articulate and engaging and if it’s any hint both her e-mail addresses have the word “diva” in them!  Upon meeting my daughter and checking out the feathers in her hair she says, “Oh….they’re so you!  I’m a diva too!  Let’s take a picture….like this”!

How many rooms full of golfers do you imagine sing happy birthday to someone over lunch?  None, you think.  Well, as Mark explains it, anybody who hangs around Special Olympians for long, knows that anytime within a 3 week time period surrounding their birthday is fair game for singing and celebrating.  And so we did.  Ryan just happened to be celebrating his birthday ON the day of the tournament with about 104 golfers!  He was grinning from ear to ear.

These are the men and women who donated their hard earned money to sponsor a hole, purchase raffle tickets or mulligans, play 50/50 and/or play a round of golf. It's very touching when they win a prize or cash and turn around and donate it back to the athletes.



My Sweetie and some his team who devoted

themselves to making this tournament such a success!

   

They raised $17,400 for Special Olympics!


                   Life is good, and these….are the things that matter!

           Tina

This sits on the side
of the mountain
overlooking
Vistal Golf Club



   

GOT SMILES?

Senior High School students around the country will soon be graduating and making plans for life “post high school”!  Their schedules are filled with proms, finals, college applications, graduation and of course…senior pictures!  We are always thrilled to have the opportunity to capture images of these lovely young people as their excitement for being a senior is written all over their faces.  Miss {A} was no exception.  She had a smile that could light up the room, under a sunset that lit up the sky.  Have we said how much we loved this location for her shoot? 

Presenting, the lovely Mesa High School Graduate…Miss {A}!

How cool was this? We found some bronze sculptures of her high school mascot!



Someday she'll be a part of the hustle and bustle here.



THIS is the reason we love to shoot in the "golden hour"!



Congratulations and Good Luck Miss {A}



"The only things that stand between a person and what they want in life are the will to try it, and the faith to believe it’s possible" ~ Rich Devos

                                                 Tina

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,