We had a great time putting together a few moments from Michael’s proposal to Megan. We love seeing their love in-motion and hope that you will enjoy it too;-)

I can’t even express the incredible time we had photographing Mark and Leyna in Vegas. Here’s a sneak peak of what’s to come.

Wishing I could have just one of these delightful desserts right now. yummmm….

Their intermission from their proposal was a 15 minute drive to one of Michael’s favorite restaurants, Italian Bistro. For part II of his “perfect date” he had arranged for both of their close family members to surprise Megan and congratulate the newly engaged couple. So sweet! Everyone did such a great job with keeping the secret. Their were tears of joy, excited laughter, and family getting to know family.

I think we know who won this game! Well played sir!

I hope you’ll enjoy these photographs of their shared LOVE, and Congratulate!  

It was great to see these two families come together to celebrate Megan and Michael’s engagement, especially since we already have a special place in our hearts for the Gibbon’s. You can find Michael in his brother, Joshua’s, wedding party photograph. It was wonderful to catch up with Jamie and Josh, as well as Josh’s family.

Megan’s gorgeous ring… on the chapstick that kept it securely in his pocket.

aren’t these the sweetest! makes me anxious to see their wedding details!

I caught Michael and Megan sharing this moment at the end of the night, again everything faded away around them and the world only consisted of their love.

Michael contacted me several months ago to invite me to photograph his proposal to Megan. He was spending alot time and thought on planning evening and of course I wanted to be there. I couldn’t wait to capture all of his plans unfold for what I knew would be the perfect proposal for Megan.

The evening of, unsuspecting Megan enjoyed a glass of red wine with Michael at the quaint D’Vine wine bar located in Grapevine’s town square. This was their second game-date. The objective of the game was to see who could plan and execute the “Perfect Date”. (I love games where both competitors are also the winners.) After their glass of wine they enjoyed a short stroll along Main Street until they entered the gazebo. Feeling a little anxious, Michael promptly kneeled, lifted the “perfect” ring off the chapstick lid that he kept safely, deep in his pocket. He proceeded to ask Megan if she would become his wife. She stood their shocked, amazed and in awe while trying to speak the word, YES! What a great response to part one of his “perfect” date! They continued their stroll through Grapevine as we photographed their excitement evolve. After reality started to sink in we said our goodbyes and Michael informed Megan that they needed to proceed onto part II of their “perfect date”.

This is one of my favorite leg/feet shots of a couple. There was so much excitement going on that I wanted to focus the stillness, not to mention her awesome shoes… and legs.

Megan still very much excited and in shock.

There is no question that Michael and Megan enjoy life together…

no doubt that they enjoy sweet moments together…

and everything stops or fades away when they want it to!

*love*

really I can’t take anymore.

they are made for each other

more to come tomorrow…

You gotta love a surprise that leaves a woman speechless and in awe. Her fiance, Michael, did a fantastic job planning the perfect night. More to come…

The Garbe Family is a typical family living life to the fullest as they enjoy their day to day occurrences. Two beautiful girls and two loving parents. All with real dreams that will be best suited together. Their dreams were on course to Italy, instead their visiting Holland.

Lisa is often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability — to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. She says it’s like this…

When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans… the Coliseum, the Sistine Chapel, Gondolas. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting. After several months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland!” “Holland?” you say. “What do you mean, Holland? I signed up for Italy. I’m supposed to… be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.” But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place full of pestilence, famine, and disease. It’s just a different place. So, you must go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It’s just a different place. It’s slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around. You begin to notice that Holland has windmills. Holland has tulips. And Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will say, “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.” And the pain of that experience will never, ever, ever go away. The loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you might never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.

Trip To Holland
By Emily Perl Kingsley

Miss Marley has been a distant Hawaiian friend of ours for over four years. I met Marley’s Mom, Katrina, on the wonderful worldwide web in a not so faraway place called Downsyn.com. It’s an online community of parents and families with children who have Down syndrome. Becoming a part of downsyn.com was filled with so many blessings, including but not limited to: friendships, knowledge, resources, understanding, compassion, gratitude, and sooo much more:-)

As they say, “It takes a whole Village to raise a child.” In some ways, downsyn.com was that community of valuable resources and priceless experienced wisdom. It was where many of us discovered that we were not alone and that our emotional roller coaster(s) were a normal process in understanding our new life with a child that has special needs. It’s where we found out that it was okay to have those indescribable emotions that take over you without a moments notice. It’s where we laughed and cried with sharing milestones and challenges. We found out that we were not alone, and we had a place to speak with people that TRULY GOT IT. The evolution of our new life’s purpose blossomed. We learned from each other and developed together. It helped me to realize that, “I am the Lucky One.” (insert you tube video link).

I’m so thankful to have been chosen to be Lana’s mom and to have been given the opportunity to experience this wonderful life with so many beautiful people. Marley and her family are only a few of those beautiful people that I have had the pleasure of meeting and befriending.

Marley has the coolest (level-headed) demeanor of a child, her age, that I have ever seen. She will quietly observe then find that beauty within…well…everything. At times, it seems like nothing is strange to her. She is extremely giving and gracious. She is sweet, kind and an undeniable friend to all. She is Marley!

When she arrived we were so excited to see her and her growing family. It seemed more like a play-date with good friends than work. Yes, we love our job!!! Marley gave us some unique and fun photos.

Marley and family, Thank you for being a part our day! It was wonderful seeing and catching up with you all.

Now for a flashback from the past… A group of us from downsyn.com were able to meet up in Texas for a Get Together in 2007. I dug up the video that I had put together back then to share our time together. Warning, it’s almost twenty minutes long and the photos are prior-to me becoming a photographer. LOL!

We had such a fun time with the Greenlee’s yesterday. We can’t wait to share more images from their shoot, but until then here’s a sneak peek.