Our Family's Christmas Tragedy

Christmas Eve 2007, we spent a wonderful evening with my husband's family, including aunts, uncles, cousins, and their children. It was a magical evening for the children and a wonderful time of having the family together. The one person missing was Bryan, my husband's cousin, who was serving in Iraq.

On Christmas Day, we each spent Christmas in our own homes celebrating the true meaning of Christmas as well as seeing the delight and awe in our children's eyes when they awoke to see what was under the tree.

All of our holiday cheer was shattered when we received word at 10 o'clock in the morning of December 26, that Bryan was killed in Iraq on Christmas Day when an improvised explosive device detonated near his position. Bryan was serving with the 82nd Airborne out of Fort Bragg, NC.

Bryan was the only child of Karl's aunt Sylvia. He had been deployed to Iraq for his second tour since November 2006 and had just received his orders stating he would finally return home in early February 2008. His daughter turned 4 on New Year's Eve and his son was born this past May. Bryan was 33.

The outpouring of support from the community of St. Augustine where Bryan grew up was so overwhelming. Nearly a hundred Patriot Guard Riders with flags on their motorcycles also stood with flags on either side of the sidewalk leading to the church; a several mile procession with people taking time out of their work day to stand and hold American flags with their hand over their heart; three gentlemen who saluted every vehicle in the procession; the sheriff's deputies who stood at attention at nearly every intersection; the fire fighters who positioned two ladder trucks at the entrance to the cemetery over which flew an enormous American flag; and the house on the procession route who had a sign in their front yard thanking Bryan.

Please keep Bryan's mom and his wife and kids in your prayers. We will miss you tremendously, Bryan.

Maternity Session

Last week I had the honor of photographing these two wonderful parents-to-be who are due later this month with their first precious baby -- a girl! I can't wait to meet their sweet little bundle!

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

A few days ago, I was blessed with an incredible opportunity. I was notified that I was accepted to be an affiliate photographer for the "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" Foundation.

A little about the Foundation:

When we learn that we are expecting a baby - whether it be a first or sixth - we have a range of emotions - from happiness, to excitement, joy, and sometimes fear and uncertainty. For some families, the fears become a reality when they find out that their baby may have have a life-threatening condition through pre-natal tests. Most of these families will take the journey through the entire pregnancy not knowing what lies ahead for their precious child. Some parents may not find out about a life threatening condition until their baby is born and some will know immediately because their baby was born still. These families aren't thinking about the outfit they will bring their baby home in, or of the future events that will be recorded in scrapbooks. They are forced to think about the very worst because they are told that they must do so.

This is where the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS) Foundation can help with the healing process when a precious baby passes on. The thought of having photographs made of the baby may not be at the forefront of the family's mind when facing all of the decisions that they have to make, but soft, gentle heirloom photographs of these beautiful babies are an important part of the healing process. They allow families to honor and cherish their babies, and share the spirits of their lives.

At the request of a family, myself or another local affiliate photographer will go to the hospital or hospice location and provide you with a private portrait session. This service is offered to any family suffering the loss of a child as early as 20 week gestation, as well as children as old as several months. The portraits are then retouched and provided to the family as a DVD slideshow as well as a CD that will allow them to print the portraits of their precious baby. All affiliated photographers graciously donate their time and talents to our families and are proud to offer this service at no cost.

I am honored and blessed to be one of their affiliated photographers. To be able to give these families professional photographs of the precious moments with their baby.

To learn more about the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation, contact an area coordinator, or make a much-needed donation, please visit www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org

Holiday Specials

We're pleased to offer two holiday sets for your holiday portrait needs! And, a special price to go with them!

The Holiday Special is $99.95 plus tax and includes your choice of either 4-4x5 prints or 24 custom designed slimline Holiday cards. Additional portrait prints, custom designed folded cards, and packages are available at special pricing.

Our first set is "A Visit from Santa". We have an all white set, complete with white Christmas tree decorated with white ornaments, white packages with white bows all against a white backdrop. As your child sits for his/her portrait, "Santa's Feet" will appear next to your child as your child looks up at "Santa". Santa won't be here, but Mom and Dad can help us out by putting on our Santa costume as one of Santa's helpers.

The second set is "Winter Wonderland" complete with a winter backdrop, a 4 1/2 foot tall soft snowman, "snow" on the ground and it's not complete without snowballs to have fun with!

These are short 20-minute sessions, so please come dressed and ready. To schedule your appointment, please call the studio at (904) 403-9553 or contact us through our website.

NEW! Email Subscription added to our BLOG

You may notice something new about the BLOG! In the upper right hand corner, you'll see a place where you can enter your email address and receive notification when our BLOG has been updated without having to check the BLOG all the time! You'll receive a snippet of the day's post so you can decide if you want to click through to our BLOG to read it in full or ignore it if it doesn't interest you! This is a great feature as we'll be adding information and specials to our BLOG. We will be offering some special deals that will only be found on our BLOG, so be sure to subscribe to the email alerts or check our BLOG often!

Baby Gabe and Big Sister Kate

Earlier this week, I had the wonderful pleasure to meet this precious 5 week old bundle of joy, Gabriel, and his beautiful and energetic 2 year old big sister, Kate, along with their mom and dad. Although this handsome little man was the main subject for the session, we did get a few of Kate, as well! My heart was taken again by these two sweet children! Can't you tell why?

Baby Carson

When you have kids, it seems like time just flies by so fast. Today, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet this handsome little man and his mommy and daddy. Carson is just four weeks old, and the joy of his parents life. He certainly stole my heart and he was wide awake for most of the session -- he didn't want to miss a thing! Just as we were finishing up, he closed his eyes, so we did get a few beautiful sleeping baby images. Quite the handsome little man, don't you think? Oh, how I miss my kids being this small!

The Arena Record

Today I received a call that an article about the Bull Wear catalog photo shoot and several of my images were published in the September/October 2007 issue of the Arena Record - a one stop publication for anything and everything rodeo related. The editor of the Arena Record had contacted the owner of Bull Wear who asked me to provide a few sneak peek photos for the catalog to be published. The catalog is due out late this fall! If you look carefully on the top of the page, there is another image of mine being used by the SSBR - the cowboy in the tan colored chaps.