Kristen and Amos are Engaged!

While home in Texas for Christmas, Stoney and I had the pleasure of taking engagement photos for his cousin (and mine too!) Kristen, and her fiance, Amos. They are a beautiful couple and we love them both so much!
We snuck away from Leonard Christmas festivities to get some rockin' shots. It was a beautiful day! The light was perfect, Buda's Ruby Ranch landscape was gorgeous, and our models were total pros! Congratulations Kristen and Amos! We can't wait for the big day!!

Colorado Sunset

I took this photo on a drive from Colorado Springs to Pagosa Springs this past summer. It was a remarkable sight. We now have a large canvas print of a similar photo from that sunset above the headboard of our bed. It was Stoney's 30th birthday day present.

Spring Break

Last month, Stoney's sister PJ, her husband Matt, and their three adorables, Trinity, Micah, and Emory, came up to Colorado Springs for a Spring Break visit. They drove the entire way, from south/central Texas to Colorado Springs, in one straight trip. Stoney and I don't even do that and we just have a dog!

We loved having them up here and wished they could have stayed longer. We tried to pack as much into their time here as we could. We were able to get some great family pictures at Garden of the Gods, went to the zoo, ate a lot, went to the Broadmoor brunch with PJ (and definitely ate too much), played in the park with the girls...

Here are some photos of their special session at Garden of the Gods, and some shots of our time at the zoo.








Such cuties!














The bears put on a fantastic show for us. We probably spent nearly and hour watching them.


I don't know this dude, but I appreciate him letting me photograph him and Mr. Bear.




I am very thankful for the barrier between us and them. ...look at those claws!

Thanks Matt, PJ, and The Adorables. We are so happy you came to see us.
Love you lots.

Our house smells like Easter!

I love Spring. And with Spring, comes Easter. I also love Easter.

I decided to pick up some paperwhite bulbs from Summerland Gardens here in Colorado Springs about three weeks ago. It's a great gardening shop where you can find everything from plants, to jewelry, to paperwhite bulbs...the owner even keeps a rotating art gallery upstairs.

It is super easy to grow these bulbs. All you need is a pretty container, some rocks, and water. They will start growing in under a week, and flowering within two weeks. It kinda reminds me of an ant farm...but not...

The smell of paperwhites is a quintessential Easter fragrance, and it makes me very happy.

A Perfect Day

About a year ago today, I was in the LA airport on my way back to Texas. The Super Bowl game was on every television, there was a sense of excitement in the terminal, and all I could do was try my hardest not to cry. Thirteen hours prior, Stoney and I had said goodbye in New Zealand where we met for his R&R from Afghanistan. Knowing we still had another half of the deployment was terrifying.

Today was the Super Bowl and it was a great day. Not because of the game, but rather because I got to spend the whole day with Stoney. I am thankful.

We decided to go for a drive into the mountains (Daisy went too). Our drive took us out of the Springs on highway 24, into Woodland Park, and then up to 11-Mile Canyon. We took another day trip to 11-Mile this summer when we went fly fishing. It was beautiful. I'm really going to miss CO when we move this summer. After our drive, we headed back to Woodland Park for lunch at Fiesta Mexicana, and it was really good. After that we stopped at Donut Hill just down the road for some dessert. If you live in or around Colorado Springs, you've gotta try this place. And finally, we watched the game...we mostly watched the commercials, but we were so excited when our team (as of the morning of the Super Bowl...yes, we are fairweather fans) won!

Fun...

Just going through our New Zealand photos.
Here I am...flying in NZ.

Girls Weekend - South Carolina Style!

Stoney and I got married in July 2006, and soon after, I found myself in a whole new world. This new world was located in Killeen, Texas. I was suddenly an Army wife, was working on starting up my photography business, didn't know many others in the area, and my husband would be deploying in 4 months to Iraq. Insert Kate, Kerri, Karissa, and Meredith. I thank God for these girls. They too are/were Army wives and were also at Fort Hood. We all immediately became great friends. I always knew that each of these girls was just a short drive or phone call away. We all helped each other through that (extremely long) deployment.

In 2008, we all started to go in different directions across the US. Each of us currently lives in a different state, but since we've been apart, we have made it a point to stay in touch. We have also made it a priority to get together once a year. So far, we've made this happen for the past three years. In 2008, we met in Nashville, TN... 2009 - Houston, TX (specifically the Woodlands), ... 2010 - Columbia/Charleston, SC. I am so thankful that we've been able to continue this tradition. This year it's going to get tricky; one of our five will be in Alaska, and there's a chance another will be in Europe! My fingers are still crossed.





Just last week, our southern friend from South Carolina with the sweetest accent ever, had her first baby! We are all thrilled for her. Here's a photo of Meredith a couple months before she had Michael Mae.


Jumping shots are ALWAYS a good time!




Love to all of you.

Chris and Maria

These guys are great. We love them a lot. :)
Here are their photos from a while back. We did the first part of their session at Red Rocks Open Space in Colorado Springs, and then we downtown for the remainder.

Thanks Cordova's.