Today in our backyard……..

And Mia doing her favorite thing……..FLYING:

The shopping carts at my local Wal-Mart are one of the bains of my exsistence.  I ALWAYS get the one with the wheel that thinks it’s in charge of driving the cart.  Or the one where two wheels are at one level and the other two are at a different level so the whole cart rocks back and forth.  Oh and then there is my favorite…the one that has all that nasty string wrapped around it’s wheels (where does that stuff come from anyway) making it impossible to push the cart once it is full.  My issue with the shopping carts has become so bad that I WILL NOT shop on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.  There are so many people and they all act like they are the only one in the store and no one says “excuse me” or “I’m sorry” and with a shopping cart that wobbles back and forth that you can barely push because of all the string in the wheel and then it decides to take a sharp left turn into someone’s cart that gives you the evil eye and continues to block the aisle as they try to decide just what exactly is the difference between Heinz 57 and Hunt’s Ketchup and which one they should try this week.  AAAAAHAHHAHAHHAHAH!!!!!

But today……….Wal-Mart had BRAND NEW CARTS!   Today was a good day.

Saturday I headed north to Celina to meet the Davis Grandkids.  They were a ball!  Their Nana’s house is amazing.  It looks like a red barn.  So we took advantage of the beautiful day and perfect red backdrop…..and a bale of hay to get some great photos of these six fun kiddos.

We started off with the youngest and she was the sweetest little thing.  I could have photographed her ALL day!

Then big brother had his chance.

I wish I had this much energy. :)  This little guy was so funny.  He kept me giggling!

Next I spent a little time with their cousins.  The oldest grandchild and his sister with the most beautiful skin I’ve ever seen!  Typical brother and sister acted like they didn’t want to be close, but I could tell they love each other!

I told you she had great skin! Oh to be 4 again!

Then the last two.  I had fun with these two.  The youngest was thrilled to sit in the hay as long as I wanted.  I loved their outfits and they just looked like a Tommy Hilfiger ad!

Aren’t those toes precious?!

Last but not least all the kids together supporting their Grandpa’s alma mater.  I had a blast with the whole family on Saturday. Can’t wait to do it again!

*this post will stayed pinned to the top of the blog until Sat. April 26th Extended to April 30th. New posts are below this one.

I’ve never been one to be embarrassed of my age. So there it is. As of 10:04 a.m. I am 32 years old. Sigh. How did that happen so fast? I hear the years tend to fly by faster as you get you get more and more under your belt. I am really feeling that this year. It seems like only yesterday I was 23…..THAT was a fun birthday. But we won’t talk about that birthday. I have been sworn to secrecy so as not to incriminate the innocent…..YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!

For some reason on this, my 32nd birthday, I am feeling VERY aware of the passage of time. It absolutely amazes me just how fast a lifetime flies by. I am so thankful to my mom for capturing so much of mine on film for me. The above picture was taken at my 8th birthday. Thanks MOM! It is this rapid passage of time that makes me so passionate about my job. I’ve said it before about a wedding that the only thing left is the pictures. I guess that apply to a person’s life also. The only thing left when they are gone are memories, a bunch of useless stuff and photos. Photos that proved they were here and that someone loved them enough to take the time to capture a moment in their life.

So in honor of capturing time AND my birthday I am holding a “32 Sale.” For the rest of the week (until Midnight Saturday April 26th 30th) anyone who books a session will receive 32% off their session fee AND 32% off their final order! You can book the session for anytime during the remainder of 2008. The session fee is paid to hold your date. If you are interested in booking a session and getting in on this GREAT offer then email me at cindymills76@yahoo.com and put 32sale as the subject. I’ll send you the top secret link to pay your session fee and you will be all set to start capturing those moments of your loved ones!

Thanks for helping me celebrate!

Finally, here it is. My reasoning on “Why I think EVERY couple NEEDS a wedding album.”

When I made the decision to start photographing weddings I knew that the most important product that I could offer to my clients was a beautiful wedding album. I know the trend during this digital age is to offer the digital negative or to “shoot and burn” and it’s referred to among photographers. While I am not opposed to letting my clients have their digital files I truly and deeply believe that they should have an album. A beautiful, heirloom quality book that simply tells the story of their wedding day in photos. The reason this is such a deep conviction is from my own personal experience. Here are my wedding photos:

And that is where they have been since 2002! Isn’t that the saddest thing you have every seen? There is a saying that goes ” The cobbler’s children have no shoes.” Well, this wedding photographer has no wedding album. I wish I had one and so I am on a mission to give my clients the beautiful album I never had.

So I make the process of getting an album as easy as possible. With each wedding package I offer I include some product/album credits and an album pre-design. What is a pre-design you ask? It is my vision of the client’s wedding day in album form. I choose the photos that I think tells the wedding day story the best and make an album design. Once the clients sees this design we can make adjustments and changes from there. Most clients only make minor adjustments, by adding more pages (usually) or subtracting a few pages. Then you choose your cover style/color and that’s it! Easy!

So would you rather have the negatives because you are going to make your own album?

Trust me! You won’t!!!

Or would you like to have a beautiful album of your wedding day?

Tough decision!

So what does an album pre-design look like? Here is one from a recent wedding.

By the way, I do include the digital files in one package and they are also included with the purchase of an album in my other two packages. Just in case you were wondering.

I spent Sunday afternoon with this sweet little guy and his mom and dad. He is the strongest newborn I have ever seen. At two weeks old he can already raise his head up and look around for seconds at a time and he uses those strong little legs to push himself forward. He’ll be crawling by a month (ha ha) just kidding. I hope not. Nash was a tough little guy and fought us the whole way, but didn’t cry at all. We pulled out all the tricks to get this little guy to sleep even the space heater which finally worked, but we were all sweating. Of course, you would never know it from these photos. Mom and Dad look great! They both worked SO hard to get some good photos and here is their reward. They deserve it!! Enjoy.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this next one!

This one too!

I told you he was a sweet one! There are tons more great images and I can’t wait to share them with Nash and his family. Have a great Tuesday everyone.