Boy, n.:  a noise with dirt on it.  ~Not Your Average Dictionary

“Give mommy a kiss Lane”, Keely pleaded of her two year old sitting on the crumbling steps of the 100 year old home long since abandoned. “Nooooooo” Lane squirmed as he made a dash for the door. Keely fish hooked him by his back belt loop and tried again. “Pleeaaassse”. “Nooo kiss!”  Lane replied, this time matter of factly. She was just about to surrender and release him back to the wild when at the last moment I saw the light flip on in Keely’s eyes. “You want some Cheerios when we get home?” Those words stopped Lane dead in his tracks. He turned to her in silence, his big blue eyes piercing her like a knife as if to say “Don’t play with my emotions woman.” ” Give mommy a kiss and you can have some Cheerios when we get home…” she assured him. I held my breathe. “Cheeeerriioos!!” Lane squealed as he turned and lunged forward throwing his arms around his mommy’s neck planting a big wet one right on her lips. In a split second Lane shot a glance toward me with this “Hey camera guy, you’re getting this right? I may need the proof later.” look on his face. I smiled. “Yeah bubba, I got it.”

Angela Schwindt, a regular Readers Digest contributor, once observed that “While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.” And today, while millions of Americans are struggling with an unstable economy and husbands and sons are invading Afghanistan, the greatest lesson learned is the importance of a single Cheerio. Want little but love lots. Oh to think what the world would be like if Cheerios were as important to us as it is to that little two year old boy…

When a car is good, you know it. You don’t need to pop the hood or kick the tires. You don’t need to ask for a carfax or wonder if she has been damaged by previous owners. Taking a car around the block for a test drive is completely useless. In the end all that matters is how she will hold up in the long run and the only way to know that is to be committed to going the distance. So go the distance.  Appreciate her. She is beautiful and people will admire her. Be proud but not jealous. And should you notice a friend eyeing her, gently remind him that she is yours and is not for sharing. After all, this particular model is one of a kind. She was customized for you and you alone. There are no others on earth like her. She is simply priceless. And when the outer beauty fades and the upholstery ages; just remember the days when she purred like a kitten in your two hands and how your heart raced when you got her engine going …

Because I am submitting Leona and Landon’s wedding to certain publications I am unable to post too much from their amazing wedding at Trois Estates in Fredericksburg. However, I just couldn’t resist giving at least a sneak peak at some of their stunning portraits. This particular location is probably one of my absolute favorite venues to date and I am so excited to have the opportunity to photograph there again just next month. God willing, the light will be just as perfect then as it was for Leona and Landon. Keep an eye for the entire post soon.

 Last month I had the amazing honor of being invited to speak at the Central New York PUG meeting in Syracuse, NY. It was an all around amazing experience and I will forever be grateful for my gracious host, Alice Patterson, who is not only a kind soul but an amazing photographer to boot! Oh yeah and she comes with an incredible family who welcomed me into their home for Super Bowl Sunday and though there is truly no place like home, it was a VERY close runner up. Being from Texas and shooting the majority of my weddings in sunny California I just couldn’t resist the urge to photograph in the snow. Here are a few of my favorite images from a quick shoot I did with Alice’s sister Beth, husband John, and their daughter Abby with her high school sweetheart Charles.