Well 1.  More images of Ayla because she’s undeniably cute and I can’t resist flare.

2. A reminder that I will be out of the office until June 21st.  I worked ferociously today to reply to each and every e-mail in my inbox.  I will be checking e-mail while I’m away as well. If you are looking to book a session, please contact me here and I will respond to you as soon as I return.

3. Ms. Rosemeyer is making her way across the world riiigghhht now.  We are so smart and didn’t even know it…we scheduled our flights to land and depart at the exact same time.  Not planned, but also not weird in the oddity of strange happenings that is our friendship. 

4. We have many exciting things planned and beautiful people to photograph. I can’t wait to share them with all of you!

5. I am opening up my schedule for senior sessions so please e-mail me or contact me here if you are interested in a session.  I will be adding more dates for Minnesota for late September/early October as well!

6.  I am going to miss my boys immensely so Aunt Kathy…if you could send Brady some caramel brownies and Mikey some Jedi brownies, I know they would love you more than they already do! :)

7.  Words that make my heart flutter. Rachel Ashwell. Shabby Chic. Santa Monica.  Need I say more?

8.  Dear blog reader, yes, yes, yes….the “Favorite Things” giveaway is still happening, BUT there’s one thing I’m on the hunt for.  Sooner or later it WILL happen! This I promise you.

9.  I will be living on a diet of mochas, wine, potato tacos, cupcakes, and “fro yo” as Ryan calls it, for the next 10 days and I’m fine with it.

10.  Something in the  images below is part of the Cali trip that I’m going to love sharing with you all.  What could it be?

Enjoy the next week everyone and stay tuned…

Much Love,
Krysta

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.   There was a 17 year old girl named Jasmine who had been granted a Wish and her mother asked if there was any way they could have a photographer there to capture the special day.  Jasmine’s Wish?   A ”Girl’s Day Out”.  After I hung up the phone with her Wish Coordinator, I thought about what she had requested.  It occurred to me how many times I hadn’t thought twice about jumping in the car to meet the girls for a day of shopping, pampering, and dinner.  Now it was a 17 years old girl’s only Wish… 

Jasmine, her sister, and her mother were picked up in a limo and taken to the mall to find the perfect outfit and accessories for dinner that night.  Rumor has it that Jasmine also took quite the liking to Antwon who was their driver for the day. :)  She was then treated to a day of pampering at the Pfister Well Spa.   They certainly didn’t miss a thing.   She had her hair and make-up done and walked out with polished finger and toe nails too.   I think the most beautiful part of the day was watching how happy  Jasmine was the.entire.day. She never stopped smiling.  Jasmine gets tired very easily so her mother continued to ask her if she was getting sleepy and needed to lay down to which she would profess that she was going to make it all day…and she did.

I met up with Jasmine and her family again at the Lake Park Bistro where they were going to wind down the day with a nice dinner prepared at the Chef’s table.  Jasmine was wearing the dress and jewelry she had picked out earlier that day and looked absolutely beautiful.   When I left, her mom hugged me and thanked me for putting the day into photographs.  But really I was the one who was so thankful that my path crossed theirs that day.  They exemplify how to live life each and every day.  They also proved to me once again that over anything else in this world, it is love that keeps us going.

Special thank yous to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Pfister Well Spa, and Lake Park Bistro for making Jasmine’s Wish come true.

…and an extra special thank you to Jasmine for not only letting me join in on her special day, but for making it one that I, also, will truly never forget.  Thank you Sweet Girl. xx

Ahhhh…Mikey and Luka. Inseparable this past weekend.  I thought I had them fooled. I thought by telling them that we were going on an “Adventure” we would score some new images for Grandma Denise’s large picture wall. BUT Michael knows the drill by now and he knew I was up to no good.  Luka followed right in the footsteps of Michael.  The two together provided many visuals of head bumping, spinning, tongues being stuck out, arms folded with furrowed brows.  Not to mention that the jumping picture above makes me smile, but you see it wasn’t really a jumping picture.   The boys thought it was wonderful that we were letting them have turns jumping off of the picnic table.  Luka would raise his hands every time and yell, “To infinity and beyooooooonnnnddd” while Mikey made some sort of karate noise that I couldn’t quite make out.  When they decided to jump together, Mikey took the plummet while Luka stayed back.  The end result?  Luka being dragged off the table by Mikey and landing head to head on the ground.  Luka had instant tears while Mikey stood back with lips trembling.  As Reanna tended to Luka, I ran over to Mikey and vigorously rubbed his head saying, “You’re good! You’re tough! Wow, that was a good jump…your muscles must be too strong!”  After both of the boys had calmed down, Mikey came over to me and said, “Ummm geez…when you were rubbing my head, I felt like I was on a bumpy road” and shook his head like a bobble head.

The image on the left was taken seconds after.  No love lost I assure you.  Jumping resumed shortly after.

…and we did score a few photos that Grandma Denise will love, but I think these pretty much sum up the daring duo.

These boys… I can’t help but adore them.

Make no mistake, Ayla is really as angelic as she appears to be, BUT she does have a whole lotta attitude too…(and I love it!)  I can’t tell you how many times the boys came up to me to tattle on her.  Michael got clocked on the head multiple times with markers which justified his statement that he does not want a little sister.  By the end of the weekend, he had all of his toys packed away and put up high where she could not reach them. 

But really she’s just sweet and gentle and delicate and I can’t help but love on her when she’s around.   I will say though that there is one person she loves more than her Auntie Krysta and that is her Uncle Brady.  As soon as he walks in the room her face lights up and a continuation of “Braby” enters the air.  It might have something to do with the fact that when he holds her she sees the world at a heightened view. :)

We had such a wonderful time at home in Minnesota this weekend.  I have many many images to share, but this little darling is up first.

Hugs and Kisses to you baby girl.

xoxo