Baby A {2 weeks new}

This little guy came to me for his mommy's work marketing materials. I think he's absolutely tiny modeling material. ;) Normally I don't upload commercial sessions but this way his mommy gets to see how handsome he is too.........





Tiny Little Markus {11 days new}

Tiny,
Smooshy,
And oh so very sweet......
♥ ♥ ♥






The 24 Hour Blur...

Wow! I'm exhausted and out of shape! The past 48 hours have been an insane blur...

Let's start with Tuesday... My husband needed to leave the house by 6am to catch a bus to the airport. He needed to report to Las Vegas, NV for work and the alarm didn't go off. Either it didn't go off or we slept right through it, we aren't exactly sure. I was to leave the house by 6:30am for a shoot. I was awoken by a shake at 6:30am... Yup it was one of those days! First day of school for 4 out of 5 kids, we both had to leave early for work and we were already way off schedule. The morning went a little like insanity. Everyone rushing from place to place and worried about being late. We all made it where we needed to be but yikes what a morning!

Thanks goodness for a shoot with Colorado Access to calm my nerves! ;) Have you heard of Colorado Access? Me either until a few months ago. Colorado Access runs our Medicaid, CHP and other state governed health programs and the people who work there are pretty cool. They are in the middle of a branding re-do that I'm lucky enough to be a part of it. If you haven't heard of them before today, don't worry, you will. One of their goals is to become a larger presence within the state and that can only be a great thing!


After the new logo launch it was off to my brother in-laws' house and I promptly had a flat tire on the way. Good thing I had a spare and heels. When you stop to change the tire in heels and a pencil skirt, guys offer to do it for you and refuse payment!

I did eventually make it to the airport and Las Vegas to meet up with the husband. Before we met up though, I had an awesome photo session with a model named Avery. We tooled around the Palace Station Hotel and Casino where I was staying for some pretty fun shots...



Before we knew it the sun had set, Dave made it to the hotel and it was time to head to the strip just over a mile away. A cheesy selfie of the two of us...


And you can't be tourist in Vegas without at least one skyline picture right?


But I'm a photographer so I took three.........


&


Following my mini walk about (I say mini because we pretty much stayed right around Caesar's Palace) it was time to go see Absinthe courtesy of the lawyer running depositions with Dave. A little bit bawdy, a whole lot of funny and a bit Moulin Rouge meets Cirq De Soliel and totally awesome!
Now Dave and I aren't big gamblers. We have five kids who are a little expensive so instead of gambling the night away, we walked the night away along the Vegas Strip...
We wandered all over the place and got lost in the Venetian only to return to the strip several hours later and in front of the Palazzo. We still don't know how that happened but we had the best time and laughed non-stop...
Finally not long before the sun came up, we were worn out and it was time to take a cab back to our hotel where the views from our room were amazing...


The plan was to sleep on the plane home but we networked instead with a gal running a clothing boutique! 
Sleep is over rated anyway but tonight we're going to bed early!

Tim & Liz {Wedding}

Dave and I photographed Tim & Liz's wedding at Lake Dillon in Dillon, CO yesterday and we couldn't have asked for a better time. I'm not going to get all wordy on you, instead I'll just show you how the day went....



I'm pretty sure he's the peanut butter to her jelly or she's the cookies to his milk. You get the idea...
There is no doubt in our minds that they are madly and foreverly in love. In fact Dave and I talked it about on the way back to Denver, those two - those two have what we have. A forever and everlasting, all consuming, down to the toes kind of love. The love filled with passion and comfort all in one.....

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado

  I love animals. Almost all kinds of animals and when I was little, I was going to grow up to be a veterinarian. At least that was the plan before I realized how much blood and needles were involved in being one so now I'm just an animal lover who grew up to be a photographer.

  Zoos on the other hand, I have a love/hate relationship with. I love knowing I can show my children real live exotic animals in a semi up-close and personal way but I've always wondered if the animals were sad to be "stuck in a cage". They were meant to roam the Earth, free and wild. Frolicking in meadows, woods and flat lands; not stuck behind glass or wire. It has been with the wonder of a child and the sadness of an adult that I have visited zoos my whole life and now I'm sharing those experiences with my children.

  A few years ago my mother in-law came for a visit from NY, NY. On one of our outings with her we visited The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and I was hooked. A zoo that only takes in rescued animals! From people who thought they would make great pets or circus animals that had been mistreated, they found a home there. The animals are ALIVE there! They "stalk" their dinners, they receive carrots by hand from zoo keepers, they sit in their care takers laps and look genuinely happy! My mother in-law now buys us a family pass each year for Christmas and she regularly sends $2 bills for feeding the giraffes and the kids love every second of it. Me - well I don't feel guilty taking my children there. We drop our tokens into the slot choosing which animal we'd most like to help that visit, the kids feel like they really ARE helping to save the rain-forest and they've taken a huge interest in recycling anything and everything possible. They've petted a baby wallaby and could never imagine owning a coat made from their soft fur. They laugh at the hippo and they're enthralled with the lemur who yells because no one will let him "go for a ride" on their shoulder. And me - me I'm just glad the lion who was starved and then was attacked by a circus cage mate, survived and found a haven that feeds her meat on a stick for fun (fingers are apparently too dangerous).

 Faith couldn't find this guy at first. ;)

 I know a few women who would kill to have eyelashes this thick!

 Feeding the giraffes is really cool and the kids get a kick out of it too!

 He was posing pretty for me

 Macey's little friend came with us and she wasn't so sure about turning her back on the giraffes! We had just watched one try to steal a gal's hat...

 The African Grey Parrot paints for fun and he talks but very quietly...

 Thanks to Meerkat Manor - my kids love the meerkats and we need a new picture every time we go. ;)

 The classic newborn pose modeled perfectly....

 This guy's trunk was ALL OVER! He just been hand fed carrots by a zoo keeper and he wanted a few more!

 My mom used to hand raise cockatiel babies when I was a kid and they have an atrium where they fly around loose (along with parakeets) and they eat spray millet on a stick from your hands. They're super cool birds but I don't recommend checking them out before they have feathers. Any naked newborn bird is ugly but these are what nightmares are made of! It's good thing they grow up to be so pretty.

 I might be a girl with a thing for lizards. I once had an iguana named George and my little brother had his brother named Fred. We pretended they had conversations on our way to Kearney, NE when I was in college. His was coming to visit and mine was coming home....

 She was seriously eyeballing Faith! I'm convinced if that fence wasn't there, she'd have had her for a snack!

I really wasn't kidding! She really wanted Faith ala-mode minus the ice cream!

Faith (understandably) got a little freaked out when she realized this gorgeous mountain lion was following her every move and she chose to hide behind me..

 This little guy is sitting in the zoo keepers lap checking out a Nikon camera! (Canons are better little dude)

 This little guy is vocal and not so quiet! He was a circus rescue and really LOVES people. If you don't acknowledge him - he yells. I overheard a zoo keeper say more than anything he just wants to walk around on her shoulder.

 The human qualities in these amazing creatures is indescribable.

 The first time we went by, she was snoozing...

Then it was snack time!

 Orangutans might just be my favorite animal. Silly, playful, human like hands and gloriously vibrant orange hair. Even he knows there's nothing like a mother's hand.



  I'm not a fan of ALL zoos but this zoo, it's very different and believes in rescuing animals, not caging them up for entertainment purposes. We're just lucky enough to be allowed to visit and help finance their care...

You Will Be Forever Missed....

  I've been mostly MIA for the past two weeks. We had to say good-bye to my Grandpa. My only Grandpa really. I grew up with a Great-Grandfather in MN and another in Boulder. Sadly they both passed when I was entering my teens so really Grandpa was it in the grandfather department and he wore that role wonderfully.

  Long story short, he was amazing and the kind of man I want my boys to grow up to be. Hard-working, honest, trust worthy, family man, caring and loving. We're all going to miss him  He really was wonderful and I really am going to miss him like crazy but we'll all be okay. We'll all be pitching in to help Grandma and that's where I'll be spending my Mondays from now on. She's wonderful and I'm looking forward to spending time with her and helping with anything she might need, even if it's just watching "her shows".

  I wish Grandpa would be with us; through losing him though, I gained a huge amount of love for humanity. You see, my dad lives in Hawaii. Maui, the Big Island. It's kind of a tropical paradise, unless you are unexpectedly call home for the unimaginable then it's not quite such an oasis. It really is an island, thousands of miles away. Unfortunately Grandpa's passing was in between pay periods for everyone (not that there is ever a convenient time but if there was, this wasn't it) and getting Dad home for an affordable price just didn't seem possible. I decided to take a Leap of "Faith" and post the following on Facebook:

My dad lives in Maui and sadly my grandfather (his dad) passed away unexpectedly on Sunday. Getting my dad here in time for the funeral Monday will be $1000-1300. I'm hoping my wonderful connections in Facebook Land will have frequent flyer miles they would be willing donate to get my dad home in time. I now it's a long shot but I have a daughter named Faith for a reason..... 

  And I do have a daughter named Faith for a reason. My mom passed away December 10, 2004 when I was just 16 weeks pregnant with Faith. At the time we didn't know what we having but on January 16, 2005 we had an ultrasound and found out we were having a girl. It also happened to be my mom's 45th birthday that day. I purposely scheduled it on her birthday. She had been with me to every other important doctor's appointment with the other children and I couldn't imagine her heart would have been anywhere else that day, at least for that hour anyway. I was keeping faith in how I dealt with my mom's passing and it took a great amount of faith. When it came time to name our baby girl, it just HAD to be Faith. And here I was, another death and needing faith more than ever.

  Riding on that thought, I started messaging what were all scams for frequent flier miles on Craigslist and in the middle of dealing with finding nothing but scam after scam, I received a message in a photography forum. Another photographer who lives in Alaska was willing to donate miles and then my phone rang. My best-friend of over 20 years used to ski; as in went to the Para-Olympics several times, used to ski and she has wonderful friends she's made skiing over the years. Well, one of her skiing buddies saw my post and wanted to donate miles! Between Jennifer at Little Moments Photography all the way in Juneau, Alaska and a gentleman I had never heard of Chris, who is training in Honduras; my dad's flight was covered!

  Through our family's time of sadness, there was a showing of humanity that was amazing. I can never thank these two enough for what they did for my entire family but you better believe I will never forget. Neither of these two individuals want anything in return. Really, I'm not sure they even want a public recognition but they deserve it anyway. Jennifer is just one of those genuine people with a heart of gold and I NEED to get to Alaska at some point. I want to meet her in person even more so now! Hannah's friend Chris, he would just like me to pass along the favor someday.... he also has a daughter named, Faith.........

  Our family losing our patriarch of the family can never be changed nor can the changes that will come from losing someone so adored but finding people like this in the world, helps cushion the blow...

We love you Grandpa!



Ethan {Class of 2014}

This guy was a riot! It has been two very long weeks around here. Ethan's session was smack dab in the middle of it all and it was wonderful to relax and laugh with him, his mom and his bff Todd (who hung shirts from his shirt and shall ever be known as "The Coat Rack" at least until he hires me for his senior pictures then Ethan can be "The Coat Rack"). I enjoyed every second of this session! Have an amazingly awesome senior year Ethan!!!!



Sands of Time Photos. All rights reserved. © Maira Gall.