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Goodbye 2008 Hello 2009

Wow I cannot believe we are in 2009 already.  The holiday season seemed to fly by so fast again this year.  We had a great Christmas and were so happy to have my in-laws here from Texas to celebrate with us this year!  One down side to living in Hawaii is that I always miss the white Christmas I always had when growing up in Canada.  Now do not get me wrong I do not miss winter one bit.  I just miss that blanket of snow on Christmas but am perfectly happy to bid fair well the very next day!  Although we have now lived in Hawaii for 5 years and have begun to come accustom to a warm Christmas.  This year our family got a Christmas gift that we were not expecting.  We recently found out that we are expecting our 5th child.  I know we were just as shocked as you are!  We thought we were finished, but apparently God had a different plan for us.  Now that the news has had some time to sink in we are getting excited about having an even bigger family!

So needless to say we are very excited for the upcoming year.  I am hoping to stay very busy with my photography and this being my 5th pregnancy it will take more then a big belly to slow me down.  Capturing a family's joy and a couple's love in the moment is what I love to do and what better way is there to pass the time as we wait for our new addition.  Yes I am expecting great things for 2009 and I hope all you people in internet world are feeling as blessed as I am as we start a new year.  

I will leave you with a few photos from our Turner Christmas!  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ok so I am a little late getting these Thanksgiving pictures up but for the past two days there has not been very many moments in the day where I did not have a Turkey leg in one hand and a slice of apple pie in the other. In fact, I am typing right now with one finger as I shove an oatmeal cranberry cookie into my mouth.

This is the second year that we have hosted Thanksgiving day dinner and did all the cooking from scratch. It always makes me feel like such a grown up! This year we got even better at perfecting the meal and did much better at timing everything to be ready at the same time. This is also the day I put my perfectionist tendencies aside and let the kids dive in and get dirty in the kitchen, and boy do they get dirty!

After our bellies were full we brought out all the boxes of decorations and gave our house a Christmas makeover. We have been in Hawaii for five years and I still feel so weird putting up a tree when it is 85 degrees outside. I have to blast the air conditioner and brew hot chocolate to help set the mood!

I think I might be getting used to it though because I am really in the Christmas spirit this year!

Friday, I braved the crowds of Black Friday shoppers and got most of my Christmas shopping finished. It was a long day, but I felt very accomplished when I got home and massaged my sore little piggies. Now I have the tedious job of wrapping!

The Nifty Fifty

I have had the 50mm 1.4 lens on my wish list for quite some time, and yesterday I finally got this little gem in the mail. I could not wait to get out and play with it. So I rallied up my four favorite models...my beautiful blonde hair blue eyed children and hit the park for some shots! This piece of glass just rose to the top of my favs list! I love the crisp detail I can get with this lens. Having the worlds cutest kids certainly helps, but take a look at what this lens can do!

It's all about the shoes...

I had a blast the other night with a fun couple of three years who had spunk from the inside all the way down to their shoes! It turns out that Tony is a collector of the sneaker. His shoe collection goes well into the double digits and are stacked neatly in boxes in his closet. We only teased him a little bit about having more shoes then most girls.

It was not only the shoes that made this couple great though. We had a blast capturing fun shots and trying out some new poses. As you can see Cherri is drop dead gorgeous and made my job way to easy. I think I might start frequenting the restaurant they work at just so I can hang out with them again. I also have a big crush on one of the bartenders there.....and so I married him!


Thanks Cherri and Tony for being so laid back and climbing all those rocks in your fancy shoes:)

Jack and Joy

It was the perfect day,  for an intimate wedding,  on a perfect beach in Paradise.  On this day as the sun was setting Jack Crabtree and Joy Bayle pledged their lives to one another.  You could feel the love in the air as they exchanged their personal vows to the sound of the crashing of waves on the shore.  It was intimate, It was personal, It was perfect!

The Guzman Five!

A few months ago I got a call from a past client who needed donations for the Island Pacific Academy annual school fundraiser.  They were having a silent auction to raise money for the school and I was more then happy to donate a free family package and sitting.  Their annual event held at the Marriott Resort in Ko Olina was a huge success!  The Guzman family took the highest bid on my silent auction package, (which in my opinion happened to be the best prize) well maybe second to the year of free orthodontic care donated by a local dentist.  At any rate it was a pleasure to meet the Guzman's and their three boys.  However I am pretty sure their oldest son Ben would have much rather got wrestled down and had braces glued to his teeth then have to pose in front of my camera.  Although as much as he did not want to admit it,  I think even he had fun and cracked a smile to show off his pearly whites.  Thank you Guzman family for a fun evening.  I hope you win again next year!