A Weekend at the Cabin

We spent Father's Day weekend up at my brother's cabin. He and his family have a place near Flagstaff and we are fortunate to be able to spend time there with them and get out of this crazy Tucson summer heat! It's also fun in the winter because we usually get snow and the kids love to have snowball fights and build the occasional snowman. We left almost 100 degree weather down here and enjoyed temps in the mid 80's up there during the day. Believe it or not, it actually got down into the high 30's at night. My sister and her family also joined us and then those of us from Tucson headed back Sunday to spend time with our Dad and step-mom.

I'll post some pictures from the weekend. This first set are Savannah and my nephew Jack and Savannah and their dog, Lovee. The next one is my nephew Mitch, who as you can see, had a run in with a metal putter a few days before our trip. He and my sister-in-law, Angela, were at a friend's house and he and her son were outside on the putting green when Mitch accidentally got whacked in the head. Thank God it missed his eye (but barely!) and also he's got a hard head and is one tough cookie. My brother was out of town so Angela spent several hours in the ER and Mitch ended up with six stitches. So now he's had stitches in his forehead and staples in the back of his head (on another vacation...our yearly San Diego trip when split his head open jumping off a couch...at least we got to see cute firemen and EMT's that time!) :-)

The next two pictures are all of the cousins having dinner together and then the guys heading off to golf eighteen holes on Saturday. John and Nick had a great time on the course so thanks to my brother, Jon, for setting it up. And thanks again for another fun weekend in the pines!

Cabin Pics

Yes, that is Savannah in the hammock, relaxing in the beautiful, cool pines...and yes, she is TEXTING! Aaah...typical teenager. Also Stella and Mitch and Jack with his Mama...he had an issue with a mud puddle during his golf outing, as you can see by this photo.

More from The Cabin

I was sitting outside on the front deck one morning taking some pictures and this bird flew into the yard. I put my long lens on and got a few close-ups of him.

Micki and Carl's Engagement Session ~ June 11, 2008

Yesterday I met up with Micki, Carl and their beautiful Golden Retriever, Charlie. They chose Trail Dust Town for their e-session and I think it was the perfect spot! We spent about an hour and a half taking pictures and considering in was about 102 degrees yesterday, they were very good sports. Charlie was very well behaved and actually enjoyed having his picture taken, I think. A big thank you to C.J., Micki's nephew, who came along and hung out with Charlie when we were taking pictures of just Micki and Carl.

One thing I can say about this couple is they are REALLY in love. They are so loving and affectionate with each other and it really warmed my heart. I'm really looking forward to their wedding in October.

Thank you Micki and Carl (and Charlie!) for a fun afternoon. We got some amazing images! Here are a few to wet your appetite before I get your slide show done.

Have a great weekend!

Sara and Corey's Wedding ~ May 3, 2008

Sara and Corey were married on May 3, 2008. I met them for the first time in December of last year and I knew we were going to work well together after our first meeting. Sara and I basically talked non-stop for the first two hours of our meeting with Corey sliding a few words in here and there. Corey is a bit shy and reserved (until you get to know him!) but he held his own at our first meeting. They didn't really need eight hours of coverage but the package they were looking at had a second photographer and they wanted that. So we played around with things and decided to substitute an engagement session in for the two hours they didn't need. This proved to be an excellent plan!

Sara and Corey are fairly new to Tucson so I suggested one of my favorite places for their engagement session ~ Sabino Canyon. We rode the tram up and spent the afternoon taking pictures in some very cool places. They were game for anything and at one point even rolled up their pants, hiked across a fairly large stream to get great images in front of a small waterfall. We had a lot of fun together that day and got some amazing images which we used in their guestbook. The best part of the day though, in my opinion, is that Corey got really comfortable with the camera and was ready for the wedding day. Sara actually emailed me after that weekend and said, "You've created a monster!" Apparently Corey was doing his runway modeling walk for her all week!

Can you tell yet that I LOVE Sara and Corey? I knew after meeting them and getting to know them a bit that day at Sabino Canyon that their wedding day was going to be a wonderful event.

I was right! From the moment I met Sara, her matron of honor and her mom at the salon (at

6:15 a.m.!) until the last shots were taken of them under the gazebo, it was a really special day. I loved meeting both of their families and spending the day with such nice people. The day was full of lots of love and laughter, a few tears, but mostly joy as this really great couple came together as husband and wife.

I feel like I've made friends for life with Sara and Corey and I look forward to taking photographs of the beautiful babies I know they are going to bring into this world.

Mr. and Mrs. M. ~ I hope you have many, many years of love and happiness together!

Enjoy some photos from their big day...

Sara and Corey's Wedding

Here are a few more from Sara and Corey's Wedding...

Savannah's latest feis

My daughter, Savannah, is an Irish step dancer. Her Grandmother, "Drammy" (she is called this by all of her grandkids thanks to Savannah not being able to pronounce the "gr" in "Grammy" when she was learning to talk) got her involved in this when she was seven. She takes two classes a week and different work shops each year. One of her teachers is Michael Pat Gallagher, who was the lead in River Dance for many years and now teaches in Phoenix and Tucson. Savannah also competes several times a year.

An Irish dance competition is called a "feis" (plural is "feisana). You start at the beginner level and progress up through many levels. Savannah is now competing in the "preliminary championship" level. She has been at this level for almost 2 years now. It gets harder and harder the better you get! After not placing for a year, in her last four feisana she has placed sixth, fourth, second and third in the recent feis in Phoenix. She has to place first TWICE before she can move on to the next level, which is the "open championship" level.

I was the photographer at the feis. This is the second feis I have photographed and I just love it!

We are not allowed to photograph the actual competitions, but I took plenty of pictures during the two awards ceremonies. I love seeing the looks on the dancers' faces when their name is called. The looks range from surprise to happiness to disbelief! It is especially fun to see the little kids' faces when their name is called. Some are competing in their very first feis and the looks on their faces when they receive their medal or trophy are priceless! The nice thing about Irish dancing is the support that the kids give each other. They are always so thrilled when someone from their school wins something and there are squeals and shouts and lots of applause when their friends do well. It has been a wonderful experience for Savannah and she has made some life long friends. My nieces are also all dancing now (ages 9, 8 and 6) so Drammy has done well!