Egypt and the Sinai Pennisula

Finally! The end of the March and April travel saga! Egypt was amazing. I am always blown away by how different each place is that I visit! Each part of the world offers up another way to behold beauty. I marvel at God’s creation with each destination that I travel to. I guess that is why God created such a beautiful and diverse world for us to enjoy. Oh and I have every intention of doing so!  Egypt is a land full of tradition and old world flavor. I loved my time there and will never forget the new experiences and people that I met! 

Greece!!!

What a beautiful country!!! It was cool to change things up after a couple of weeks in Kenya. I met my cousin Jamie in the beautiful city of Athens and it was a riot! (almost literally!) Ok so Jamie and I made a deal- I would do the picture part and she would do the writing part so go to Jamie’s Blog for more details on our trip….. 

 

Africa part 2

Sorry It took sooooo long but here is part 2- to my kenyan adventure…….Enjoy!

 

 

Jambo!

Yay! I am soo excited to show you the first set of pictures from my trip to kenya! First let me tell you some logistics. On March 17th a team of Doctors and Nurses arrived in Kenya to teach an APLS course (Advanced Pediatric Life support). The group makeup I likened to Noah’s Ark. We came in two by two. We lined up as such: two critical care physicians, two pediatricians, two pediatric intensive care fellows, two pediatric residents, two pediatric intensive care nurses, and two pediatrics (aka the Kidlets)! It was a great group dynamic! We had an awesome time together. I feel so blessed to have been given an opportunity to work with all these amazing people. So many laughs- which if you know me at all- you know that is my most favorite thing to do! The kidlets were the stars of the show. We were all so glad that they came. This journey entailed many jokes (mostly knock knock jokes), and many renditions of Toto, the Lion King, and a lil bit of Dire Straits too! haha!

Kenya truly had a beauty all of its own. I still can’t help but hold my breath while looking at these pictures myself. Oh and if you are wondering “Africa” by Toto always is playing in the background of my mind as I look at them too! I hope you enjoy these first pics as much as I enjoyed taking them! More to come!

 

March Madness

Alright so bear with me I have tons to post and I don’t wanna forget anything. March 14th I went up to Lake Arrowhead for one last hurrah before heading over to Africa! Had to see all my mountain peeps one last time. We had a blast! It was sooo good to see old friends, good friends and new friends alike all in one place. Coming to a store near you the latest brews from “The LAB”. Upcoming and very promising lagers and stouts! Check out some of my favs- the rest will be up on facebook. Stay tuned Africa will be next! 

Under my UmbrElla

So I have this lil pup…..well she isn’t that lil anymore but she used to be very lil. She is very cute and very mischievous. Her Name is Ella and she is a Dalmador. What the hizzy is a Dalmador? Oh its a combo of Dalmatian and Labrador. Consider yourself up to date now on the latest terminology in the dog world. Some one asked me if “Dalmador” was just a fancy word for “mutt.” Hahaha-yeah just like melanoma is just another word for sexified. Ella has brought balance to the La Hermosa Family. She also has reminded me how time consuming children will be. Parenting skills accumulated include but are not limited to: having a daily routine,  consistency, sleep sacrifice, anger management, and a new sense of what “clean” really is. Affectionately nicknamed “Love Bucket”  by my roommate  she is definitely my gal pal in the house. We hang out and listen to music together, we have dance party USA,  we talk about boys ( she has a boyfriend next door Finigan the Irish Setter- he is older haha and they have play dates all the time ), we do Taebo, she helps me stay motivated, oh and she is my ”run for fun” buddy- although she kicks my butt everytime!  Sunday I am leaving for another world aventure!  I will be spending two weeks in kenya before heading over to hang out with my cousin Jamie in Greece and then check out Egypt. I am so excited for it. I can’t wait! The thing is my baby girl has kinda grown on me and I think I am gonna miss her (sniff sniff)

Sybren, Darcy and Konner

Again I was given the privilege of photographing yet another beautiful family- and an added bonus was that they are part of my own family! My aunt and uncle and their handsome lil man Konner! I had a blast and I think we came up with some pretty good shots too! Sorry it took so long for me to post these- thanks for your patience! Here are a few of my favorites from the day- Enjoy!

 

 

The Merchants

Last Sunday was family picture day for Mike, Angela and their two beautiful kids. This family session was especially significant to me in that Angela was a good friend/roomate/support system to me in the hard core years of nursing school. I had so much fun photographing Angela and her family. They are so adorable! I am so happy to have had a chance to catch up with Angela again as well as get to know her family! Here are my favorites from the day

The Reeves and Potter’s family session

A week ago I was given the absolute pleasure of taking family photos for my good friends Mindy and Ray-along with the rest of Mindy’s side of the family. It was seriously a blast! We went down to the Mission Inn on a Friday afternoon- it was beautiful. The Mission Inn had already been decorated for the Christmas Holiday season and the colors were bright and beautiful. What a beautiful family and so much fun to photograph! Thanks guys for such a great afternoon. I had soo much fun! I had sooooo many favorites from this shoot- it was super hard to choose- needless to say- this post maybe a lil long……..I can’t help it- I love them all!

My lil sister is all grown up now

The tables were turned on me this last weekend as it was my turn to be in the bridal party- instead of the one shooting it. It was a great day! My sister was beautiful, Jason was extremely handsome in his tux, the ceremony was exceptional. Everything turned out just as it should. Sure there were a few unseen complications but over all it was a very memorable day. A quick shout out to the best man Jon- who was such a huge help! Both of the groomsmen as well as my fellow bridesmaid Abbey were awesome! Ha ha my two “lil” brothers were very handsome- you lil heartbreakers! Thanks to them we had a very entertaining slide show! Dang this starting to sound more and more like and acceptance speech at the Oscars!
Anyways…..In conclusion ha ha, I am very happy for my sister as well as my new brother-in-law Jason. I wish the two of them only the best! I had hoped to get more of my own images from that day but I was entirely way to busy. It’s ok though, I left such a task in the capable hands of my good friends Mark and Audrey.  I did get a few shots in though! See more pics of Jason and Patti on their big day at Mark’s Blog site.