Thursday, November 29, 2012

The Hoffmans come to Maui!

This past weekend I met up with the most adorable family from California. I was so appreciative of their patientence; I had to change the location twice because we had an unexpected North swell come in when our Trade Winds came back. The original beach we had decided to take their pictures on was almost completely washed out! Instead, we met at Puamana Beach, which is just South of Lahaina.

I love this beach because it has a lot of "props" as my husband once so eloquently put it. There are many palm trees, rocks, and tree roots that give the photos a different feel.
 

Meet Cole and Hailey: the most easy-going pre-teen and teens I've met (and believe me, I've met A LOT of those!)


And while we're talking about how great the kids are, I just have to give a quick nod to Cole; he caught a MAHI MAHI while he was here! How awesome is that?!

Dad Matt and Mom Laurie are pretty great too :)

I was so so so in love with the lighting on that day :)


Matt, Laurie, Hailey, and Cole: I had such a great time taking pictures of your family. You all were so easy-going; made my job so much fun! Hope you enjoyed the shave ice (how funny that we ran into you there!) and your trip back to California was hassel-free.

Mahalo and aloha!

Monday, November 26, 2012

Photo Contest Winner: The Sato-Alameda Family!

This weekend I made good on my promise and awarded the winning family of my Facebook photo contest with some new family photos for the holidays! Melissa (along with the help of many friends and family) blew the competition out of the water with a whopping 99 votes! It was great spending time with her little family at Danny's grandfather's property in Paia.

Big sister Idalia was melting my heart when she would cradle her sister's face!
 While the girls were off inspecting flowers (Idalia kept making sure that Alenah wasn't eating flowers, rocks, or anything else she wasn't supposed to put in her one year-old mouth), I was able snap a few of Melissa and Danny. Gorgeous! Of course, gorgeous is literally Melissa's business. She is the owner of U'ilani Salon and Spa; she does everything from make-up to hair and manicure and pedicures to massages! This girl has talent!


 Mom and Dad were great, of course, but it was those little ones that stole my heart.



Love, love, love!

Melissa, Danny, Idalia, and Alenah--A big mahalo for letting me take your Christmas family portraits! I really enjoyed your little family and I'm so glad you won my contest!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

The Best Neighbors Ever...

...are my neighbors! My husband and I moved into our awesome rental home in Makawao in February of 2010. Right away, we felt like we belonged here. Often on cool Makawao evenings we hear the laughter of one of the many Silvas float through our open windows. They're such a great little family and in the two years I've watched them become even more tight-nit. First, the birth of Kaleb, the first grandson, then the wedding of Matt and Raeli (their daughter), and Lauren (the youngest) moving up to middle school. Then Leicey (the middle daughter) moving to Oahu to attend the University of Hawaii, Ryan (the son) graduating high school, the birth of their second grandchild Kaila. And now, Ryan has just returned from boot camp for Thanksgiving and Leicey is about to move to Georgia to attend school and be closer to her man. This holiday will be the last holiday for a while where the whole clan will be together.

I was so happy to take their family portraits during this Thanksgiving break. It's going to be a rough road ahead for the Silva's with two children on opposite sides of the country. But I know they'll be stronger and closer because of it all.


 Here's Kaleb in July of 2011 and then in November of 2012. Amazing what a year and half can do!

Little sister Kaila had grown a lot too! Here she is in June of 2012 and now, six months later.
OK, so they aren't all Silvas; here are two Casils as well!
  
And here's that Ryan guy, now the Marine guy, with his two proud parents



Thank you Silvas for choosing me again to take your family portraits! A special thank you to Ryan for serving our country. The Marine Corp is lucky to have you.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

The Heier Family is in Maui!

Yesterday I met up with the sweetest little family from Washington at White Rock Beach. And as an added bonus, Grandma came too! I love generational shots, so I was pretty excited that the whole family was here! But I have to start this blog entry off with a picture of the kids. Alec and Jillian are so incredibly adorable. Alec was so curious about the sand and the waves and Jillian, for only being three months old, was so chill and go-with-the-flow. I can see how these two can easily steal your heart...

 
And here's the fam together! What a good lookin' bunch!


Grandmas and their grandbabies--does it get any better?

Three generations of beautiful women! I love it!
Mom and Dad had to sneak in one or two photos while Grandma held Jillian and Alec played in the sand
Look how natural this family is in front of the camera! Makes my job easy!

Thank you Heier Family for choosing me to take your family portraits! I had a great time! Between Dad's impressions of Alec and me swooning over that baby of yours, I couldn't have asked for better subjects :). Mahalo and safe travels back to Washington!





Friday, November 23, 2012

Arun and Bea are engaged!

Earlier this week I met up with Arun and Bea who are on their engage-cation! The day before our session Arun proposed to Bea during a helicopter tour (they had made a pit stop in West Maui). ::Sigh:: I love couples in love! And these two were definitely crazy about each other! Newly engaged and in Maui, how can it get better?






A HUGE congratulations to you both! And thank you for choosing me to take your engagement photos!
Aloha and safe travels back to Austin!

Monday, November 12, 2012

The Sharp-est family around

This post is very near and dear to my heart. Last week, my husband and I anxiously awaited the arrival of the Sharp family. Steve and my husband have been great friends since high school. They have been there for one another through each of life's large milestones: high school graduation, marriage, kids (David, their 15 month-old is my husband's spiritual Godson)...and now, Steve turning 30!

Becky, Steve's wife, is Wonder Woman. And I say that in complete seriousness. She is literally a super hero! This past spring Becky approached my husband and I about a plan she was concocting: taking Steve to Maui for his 30th birthday. But here was the catch: it's a surprise! So for six long and arduous months we have kept our mouths shut and have tried to quell our excitement about their visit. Not only is Becky amazing because she pulled off this incredible surprise (he didn't even know he was coming here until they laid over in Dallas), but they also had their 15 month old in tow.

Last time I saw David he was only 9 months old...and now he's 15 months! Oh how the time flies!
We got to share our home, Maui, and Steve's 30th birthday with the Sharp family; we couldn't have asked for a better gift to Steve AND to us!

The only downside of this vacation was that Steve got incredibly ill about half way through their vacation. The last three days were spent on the sofa with lots of liquids and some quality time with the TV. Even though Steve still wasn't feeling well when they left on Saturday, we were able to squeeze in a mini-photo session at Mama's Fish House on the North Shore.




He's kinda a Momma's boy--but at this age, that's A-OK :)




 Steve, Becky, and David: Thank you so much for coming out to visit us for Steve's 30th birthday. You guys are amazing and we are so blessed to have you in our lives. Only a month and a half until we are home for the holidays; I can only imagine how much David is going to change in that small amount of time.