MM Photography Post: The Gomes Family

I tried to post these pictures to my photography website without success, so I decided to just post them on my personal blog so that the family could enjoy their sneak preview. (The quality of photos are so much better on the other blog, oh well!)

On Saturday I met the Gomes family at Sonoma State for some long awaited and much anticipated family photos. In the last two years, there have been three additions to the family...Ava, a 22 month old, Gavyn, a 4 month old, and Biscotti, a 2 year old dog. As you might imagine, with 3 "kids" under the age of 2 it was a little difficult to hold everyone's attention.

The Dulaney family, Angela, Damien, Ava and Gavyn. Loved the blue with the red wagon and the green background. What a good looking family!

Love love love this shot...

What proud and lovin' grandparents...

Biscotti...

I just noticed that they are lined up boys versus girls in this photo...totally not intentional!

Little Gavyn was an absolute dream the entire session. He hardly made any noise and was just a content little boy.

Paulette and Rick are celebrating their 36th wedding anniversary tomorrow. I don't think they have had a picture taken together in quite awhile...they were a little shy about it, but I am glad they did it because they turned out really cute.

On Thursday, Angela and Damien will be celebrating their 4th wedding anniversary. Lots to celebrate, 4 years of marriage, 2 beautiful kids...

The bond between Ava and Rick, her grandpa, is precious. She just loves him and will follow him anywhere.

xoxo

Cedarville: Part Three

These are the pictures from my point and shoot from the Cedarville trip, plus there are still a few more on the Canon. As I mentioned earlier, we made a lot of stops on the road, half for my mom and half for Shasta. My dad had a special stop planned for Shasta to run around the Pitt River....she is such a spoiled little doggie. Her grandparents just love her too pieces.

The main ranch that we shot on was the Erquiara ranch...the rancher made these hats for my dad and his friends, I told you that they love the hunters!

More pictures of the two block town...

One night before dinner we were enjoying cocktails and Shasta decided that she was thirsty too. She was lovin' on her dad's cranberry and vodka cocktail, in fact, she drank a little too much and we were worried that she might get a little drunk!

The main eating establishment in town is quite the place to be. On the weekends the ranchers all come in dressed in their cowboy best and the food is strictly home cooked comfort food. We had the VIP table each time and everyone knew my dad.

I couldn't resist taking a photo with one of the books for sale...my mom calls me Annie Oakley :)

I couldn't tell what my dad and Damon were more excited about, the squirrel shooting or the massive prime rib.

The hunk of meat was as tall as a wine cork. By the way, no corkage for wine at the Country Hearth restaurant!

Don't worry, Shasta had some good food too...we can never forget about her!

Another fun thing about up north is the cheapness of everything...breakfast for the four of us was $20 with tip. My dad had a full breakfast with coffee, Damon had a cinnamon roll and a sausage patty, I had a soda, a cinnamon roll, one egg with toast, my mom had coffee, a homemade doughnut and one egg with toast. (Yes, we ate alot of food, but we skipped lunch, so that we could make up for it with dinner.) And dinner each night was $60 with two full prime rib meals. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Flashback: Whitfield/Quinn Wedding

In honor of Dana and Mike's 4 year wedding anniversary, I thought I would share some pictures from their wedding from June 25, 2005. Dana's wedding was special for a variety of reasons. It was the first wedding that I was in as a bridesmaid and I was so honored to stand next to one of my longest friends on such a special day in her life. It was also the first wedding that I attended with Damon, plus I caught the bouquet and I was the next to get married. I truly believe in the power of the bouquet and garter toss, Geoff, my brother-in-law, caught the garter at my wedding and he was the next to get married. :)

Dana's wedding was also special because her and Mike are special. They have been dating for 9 years...she meet him during the summer after Freshman year in college when she moved down to Ojai to work at the Ojai Mission Inn. Her and Mike met at orientation, they both had summer jobs. I think that they went to lunch together during their break and their dates continued through the 4th of July and throughout the hot summer in Ventura County. Although I am still mad at Mike for taking Dana away after her Sophomore year at Chico, I knew that she was doing the right thing and following her heart. And four years ago we all celebrated their relationship with a beautiful wedding at Dana's parents house. But first, a shot of the Chico girls at the rehearsal...

Dana had a perfect speech for Michael...I totally forget it now, but I remember it was very heart warming.

Apparently, Howli and Lindsay enjoyed it too :)

The 3 M's...

Lisa B and I were so excited to both get to walk in with Bryan, Dana's little brother. I remember him when he was so tiny, it is crazy to see what a hunk he is these days :) In this picture you can kinda see my hot pink coach shoes...I searched forever for fun shoes and I loved these flower ones. I haven't worn them since, but I still have them since they had a hefty price tag!

Their wedding cake was so them...carrot cake by the best baker ever, Auntie B's. Plus, Dana did a chocolate groom's cake for Mike with an airplane on top since he is a commercial pilot.

Mike's dad and I had a blast dancing together...big Mike passed away shortly after the wedding and he will be remembered fondly.

Catching the bouquet...

In typical Dana fashion...she wanted something quirky to decorate the pool, so they made this lucite goldfish holder for the pool. Gotta love the origional D+M couple...

DQ I love you to pieces...you are a fabulous friend, an even better mother and a great companion for Mike. I wish you nothing but the best in your future...remember to love hard and laugh even harder. xoxo