Suzy-In-Law

 This is the sister of Joe.

Suzy has gorgeous skin, a die hard love of Zumba, five spunky beloved kiddos, a primary to run, a killer mashed potato recipe, and a tale of woe involving being shot in the back with a b.b. gun by a tyrannical older brother. 

She is a great sister. 

I snapped her family last month for Christmas, and can't post the family pic yet, but here is the rest of 'em. She's pretty neat. I love these kids! 

Gavin is hilarious. 

Kenzie was two when Joe and I started dating and she used to rub her face on our feet when she got tired. 

Megan is a little spitfire (and Joe's verbally oathed favorite niece)

Laney is impossibly beautiful and sweet

and Ryder knocks your socks off with his cutey pie chubalub! 

I hope they grow up thinking Aunt Melanie's pretty cool.

I'll bribe 'em good, so of course they will.

Sweet Laney. SO CUTE!!

My boys love their cousin so much! I love this boy! Keeps me laughing with his wit. Stand up comedy is definitely in his future!

Gosh Freak girl, you're going to break about a million hearts!

RYDER!!!!!!!!!!

Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters......

Beautiful Yaneli

 How do I describe Art and Yaneli?

Well, when they were little, they smiled so much that their mothers warned them that if they didn't stop smiling so much, their faces would freeze like that. 

Clearly they were disobedient children. 

Yaneli glows so freaking much as a pregnant lady that I could have used her as an additional flash. 

She is beautiful. 

She got up at dawn for me, but while I live in the land of clear desert sunrises,

Colton holds the mystical ozone layer. 

So we did what we could. 

Fortunately for me, she's so freaking lovely that it was easy.
I love these folks. 

 I just love this framed pic of their little peanut so much! I can't wait to see him!

I bet he comes out grinning, just like his parentals. 

 Just like his dad!

"WE SHOOT AT DAWN!!!"

 Remember Colleen? 

I went up to the mountains with her yesterday to shoot some photos. 

She's really into photography too. 

It was lots of fun. 

We're already planning urban excursions to old signs and abandoned amusement parks and buildings.

Photo shoots with friends covered in chocolate and more dawn shoots and 

(I'm not going to stop bugging until someone goes with me, but I hope it's Colleen and my sister)

a trip to Yosemite next year with 100 rented lenses. 

So, Colleen got up at dawn for me and waited at Lake Gregory.

Then I was late. 

I fixed her camera, 

and she filled up 3 of my almost flat tires while I fix it flatted my tire that really was flat. 

We shot the lake that we both grew up by and 

conversed as to how non-cool the lake we both grew up by actually is now. 

We hung out at her mom's house and played with her baby 

and attempted a cat rescue.

This culminated in a cat that screamed its head off 

(and to the detriment of my nerves sounded like a wailing toddler

still stuck in a drainage pipe and Colleen scratched up by the hill of berry bushes she fell into 

while trying to rescue the toddler cat. I hope it got free somehow. 

THINGS YOU PREFER TO NEVER HEAR. EVER. 

1. Paris Hilton saying any word in the human language. 

2. Styrofoam squeaking as you rub two pieces together. 

3. Fingernails down a chalkboard. 

4. Arnold Schwarzenegger doing a reading of the 'sex life' parts of his book. 

4. A cat screaming its head off and sounding like a baby in despair. 

It was a really fun day!

Below, Colleen at dawn. 

DAWN LIGHT IS THE FREAKING BEST. 

I believe the line "WE RIDE AT DAWN!" was written by a photographer. 

EYES.

Gotta say. 

James holds the monopoly on eyes. 

It's like, Lance Armstrong and the Tour all over France.

or-

Michael Phelps and the 400 swimming medals he's won. 

J.K. Rowling and Magic. 

Me and bad luck. 

Me and Humiliating incidents. 

Celine Dion and wine glass shattering power ballads. 

Some people just corner the market on their little piece of real estate in this thing we call LIFE. 

And James, (sorry folks, don't even try, you've lost already),

holds it down FOREVER when it comes to eyes. 

I love this photo because it perfectly got what crystal, heavenly, perfect, wondrous eyes James has. 

That girl with the light eyes on Nat Geo cover comes close, but not quite. 

Click on this photo. Now Look. It's ok, you can grab a tissue : )

No one will EVER trump James eyes. : )

When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another. – Helen Keller.

A good friend once told me that they knew without a doubt that Randa was

truly meant to be James mother. 

Randa is the strongest woman and the strongest mother I know. 

She is funny, and kind and sweet and amazing. A wonderful friend. 

This is her son James. 

I had the very very fortunate experience of staring at James for two hours last week. 

You don't go around staring at people's kids. 

They tend to call the cops if you stare for longer than 14 seconds. 

And 14 seconds is still in "you're a creeper" territory. 

But :) 

When you are a photographer, YOU GET TO STARE! 

You really get to see how beautiful kids really are. 

And staring into this kiddo's eyes is literally, (and I do mean literally) staring through the clouds into heaven. 

So, Randa let me stare into heaven for two hours. 

He is an angel. 

And Randa fights for him and protects him and cares for him and loves him so much being around them plasters a big goofy grin on your face before even know your mouth is twitching. 

Everyone at my church gets very excited when James and Randa arrive. We both love them so much. 

I want to be a good mom. A strong mom. Which has the exact same meaning as, 

I want to be like Randa. : )

Once upon a time, there lived a girl named Denise. 

She grew up and married a man named John. 

Together, they knew every fact, trivia tidbit and secret
 that could ever possibly be known about Disneyland. 

And they lived happily ever after. 

(And they were loved fervently by their good friend Melanie.)

Pretty Perfect Pacified Pedrozas

Since all my posts seem to highlight families and people that I love....

Here's another one! 

This is John and Denise Pedroza and their son A.J.

They taught me long ago that being chill is way cooler than worrying. 

So even though I worry more than any other person I've ever met,

I love hanging out with them because they make me chill out and feel calm. 

 

Incidentally, I typed that last sentence as I burnt my throat bellowing at my children to pick up the puzzle pieces they just scattered all over the floor. (Seventeenth mess in the last hour, one mess for each dish I've been able to wash in that time.) True Story. 

Anyway, I love 'em. And you can be jealous that I get to have them as friends, because they are that awesome.