Isn’t LOVE beautiful (and this couple!)!

Enjoy,
Melinda

First grade began for my daughter Faith as well as her soon to be good friend Kyle. They instantly became friends in class and would talk about each other to us Mom’s however, we did not know Kyle or his family and they did not know us so we had no face to a name, then a few months back…Faith started asking if she could have Kyle over for a playdate. I had met his Mom Kasey and thought she seemed super cool so I said, “sure”. Finally, Kasey and I became friends too and we started helping each other taking turns picking up the kids after school. Faith is a little shy as first so the first few times that Kasey invited her to play over at her home, Faith say, “No thanks”. Kasey being so sweet, just said Ok and brought her home. However, after leaving Faith would tell me…”Mom, I really wanted to play at Kyle’s”. Well, finally she did and she had a ball! She also hit it off with Kyle’s younger sister Skylar so she had two friends to play with. Kasey took the kids to a movie and dinner one night and Faith had SO much fun! Fast forward to these photos and why this story is bittersweet… Kyle asked his Mom if he could take Faith on a non-date without his sister Skylar. Kasey said, Ok. Little did she know, that Kyle had quite the plan! He wrote the cutest little checklist of things to do before the date: 1. Buy Faith flowers and chocolate, 2. Say something nice to her…it was the sweetest thing ever! He made his mom take him around all day preparing for his non-date. He also requested that he get “dressed up” so he wore a tie and new shirt and his dress shoes. Faith eagerly prepared too, putting on a new dress I bought her and fixing her hair just perfect along with asking if she could wear some lip gloss. Kyle came and picked up Faith and I almost cried when he walked up to the door by himself with flowers and a box for her. She was a little shy and nervous she told me. He gave her a box with the prettiest heart necklace and some yellow tulips. She was so excited! The pictures below really tell this story better than me! They went to feed the ducks and off to dinner, with their driver; MOM…Kasey! Kasey and I were talking as they got into the car and looked over and Kyle told Faith she looked beautiful as he opened the car door for her (ahhhhh)…Kasey and I were in shock! They had a wonderful time and after the non-date, Faith was talking about it all weekend!! The sad thing and this make Faith tear up everytime she thinks about it and heck, I have to admit, I feel the same…They are moving at the end of the school year! Heading to Arizona then back to Korea where Dad works and lives right now. It is heartbreaking! Friends like that moving away just hurts, period! They do plan to move back in a few years and they better and we plan to visit them in both places they go but it won’t be the same. Our families adore each other and Kyle and Faith…well, I secretly hope that someday they do have a real date! Now thanks for listening to my LONG story and I hope you enjoy the pictures…

XOXO,
Melinda

Good times!
Melinda

Enjoy,
Melinda

Beautiful image of Mom with her daughters…

Little Sister (LOVE HER)…

Stylish sweet Big Sister (digging the sassy scarfs!)…

“The Family”…

It was a wonderful day!

Hope everyone’s enjoying the holiday’s,

Melinda

So…it’s “Holiday time” and the one time a year I book a regular session for them. Here is a little sneak peek at a couple of my favorite shots I got this year.

Here is Miss Emily, my daughter Faith’s BFF and my little muse (I love her!)…

And then there is Jake… such a handsome guy and growing up so fast! If I had a son, I would want one just like Jake! He can marry my daughter (either of them!).

There is nothing like a “BOY AND HIS DOG”… by the way, we LOVE Dolly!

And last but not least, brother and sister- such a special bond!

More holiday session blogging coming soon!

Happy Holidays,

Melinda

Big Sister and little brother were adorable to each other and just too cute. Here is one of my personal favorites…

Love this little guy! Isn’t the hat just way cool on him!?

And Spunky Big Sister in her pettiskirt/tutu jumping and twirling around…

And of course, just one of the many beautiful images I got of this absolutely gorgeous family…

Happy Monday,

Melinda

Okay, so a couple of weeks ago I am at a newborn baby portrait session patiently waiting while Mom feeds baby in the nursery. While sitting on the couch just relaxing a bit, I look up and see something that catches my eye, this old film polaroid camera… “WOW, I think to myself and perhaps said out loud”. So, I get up and look closely at it. Then of course, take some shots of it because well it is timeless! Everything (almost everything) is digital now and that is exciting but timeless is also priceless! Which I ponder all of this while staring at this camera up close. I know the reason that I LOVE being a photographer is the fact that I LOVE portraits. If my house were burning down, I would grab my kids and husband and get them safely out of the house and then proceed to go back in and retrieve the wall portraits I have hung throughout my home as well as baskets of loose images from over the years. Because, really that is what I value. I know personally that I would and do spend money on good quality portraits of my children and family because before I become a professional photographer, I did pay other great artists to take beautiful images of my oldest daughter. For me, other than them in the flesh, there is nothing more valuable to me! I can get back almost everything else. But that moment in time when I got married on the beach in Maui, Hawaii to my husband or maternity images of myself or when both my babies were brand new, crawling, walking, starting kindergarten, etc… those moments are priceless. Yes, of course they are stored in the “Melinda vault” forever BUT every time I look at a picture it literally takes me back to that precise moment and smiles, laughter, tears fill my heart! I guess it is hard for me to understand how anyone else can not value fine quality portraits in the same way as I do. I understand we are all different but are we that different? I just can’t imagine that we are! God made us who we are and we are all alike despite differences as deep in our souls- we are the same. Anyway, I knew this post would turn into a short novel because I feel so passionately about this. I have a beautiful life! I have two beautiful girls, a loving husband and I get to stay home and raise my children while also being a professional portrait artist…I am blessed! I am not trying to sway anyone into what they should or should not value but for me, I just want my clients, friends, everyone that reads this to think about what you value and be willing to spend or save to spend in order to get to have those priceless, timeless portraits as I think they are a true gift!

Now, check this little beauty out…

And a close-up…

If anything, my only hope in this post is to remind you that cars, toys, dolls and clothing are truly replaceable but the people you love and beautiful portraits of those people can not be replaced… ever, so think about what you value and be willing to spend your hard earned money on what you really value.

Blessings,

Melinda

The oldest daughter, deep in thought…

The stunning family portrait…I always LOVE when I get several of these for my clients and so do they (and we did!).

Sweet Sisters…

Little sister was so tiny last year… look at her now! So spunky and sweet!

Many more family holiday session posts coming later this week as I am updating my blog so to my clients that I photographed a few weeks ago, your family will be blogged soon (sorry I am out of order)…

Hope you enjoyed seeing this fun and fantastic peek of The Shah Family!

Melinda

Blessings,

Melinda