serina & aldo's pre-prom session

what memories come to mind when i say the word "prom?"
good, bad, or indifferent, prom night is a special night that, usually, only happens once in a lifetime.
the way i see it is, if you're lucky, you get to go to a prom.
if you're really lucky, you get to go with someone other than your mom.
if you're extremely lucky, you get to go with someone as beautiful as serina.
aldo is that lucky.
that's not to say that aldo isn't a good looking dude. please... if i were a teenage girl i'd have posters of him all over my walls. but i digress. and we're back on subject in 3, 2, 1...
serina's parents (ruben y monica) asked us to snap a few shots to remember the big day. the whole ohana was there to send serina and aldo off in style, including serina's bonita little sister julissa. more on the ohana later. let's get back to serina and aldo.

fact: serina's prom dress was made out of sparkle encrusted hotness...

her smile was made by God.

no question, the hottest couple at the prom.

serina's smile lit up at least half of balboa park that day.

this is what happens when serina turns her smile up to full power.

aldo's GQ cover shot.

flower time

the non-parental-chaperoned-prom-night suggested minimum safe distance. :)
sorry ruben. it was worth a shot.

no need to vote. here's your prom king and queen. just walk in and demand they hand over the crowns you two.

serina's beautiful ohana (including aldo).

your car has arrived.
serina and aldo, we hope your prom was awesome. thank you all for allowing us to capture this special moment.

p.s. if you'd like to see more shots of serina and aldo, head over to april's blog by clicking here.

Sharks Softball 2008 Highlights

i look out from the dugout and i see no one, yet this field is not empty.
can you see it?
from behind the fence i hear proud parents cheering for their daughter.
are you one of them?
the dugout where i now sit is filled with the giggles of team mates, too young to be distracted by the importance of this game. they are here to play.
can you hear them?
under my feet i feel the vibration of the ground as the game reaches it's crescendo and the crowd erupts when the winning run is scored.
can you feel it?
no, this field is not fallow, the spirit of the game continues to grow here.
the sharks 2008 season is now in the books, but long after the sunflower seeds are swept away and the chalk lines have faded into the earth, these memories will remain.
at the beginning of the season kim and i decided to document, as much as we could, rain's first venture into organized sports and the team mates she would share this season of memories with. when april wasn't impersonating THE GUY ON THE TRAIN WITH PEE WEE she chipped in too.
in no time at all we found ourselves swimming with the sharks and reeling in some amazing moments. catch and release didn't apply to these fishies. insert the "we're gonna need a bigger boat" jokes here.
unbeknownst to the parents, i put together a slideshow of the girls and presented each of them with a disk after the sharks last game of the season. we wanted every parent to have something none of us have. something more than just the standard issue team photo and player button the we've all been force fed our whole life. those were not going to be the only option this year. we wanted everyone to be able to truly relive the entire season and remember the moments we all shared from practice to practice, game to game. i am so glad we did this. i know rain will be too someday.
there were so many images i had to split them into two seperate videos for this blog post. if you have the time please watch them both and share in the joy that we were fortunate enough to witness this season.
these girls had an awesome time and not only developed their softball skills, but some great friendships as well.
closing ceremonies are saturday and rain is anticipating bringing her very first trophy home. the whole ohana is so proud of her.
the countdown to opening day next season starts... now.
we already miss our little sharks.

(in alphabetical order) here are the 2008 sharks!

abby (aka abby patty)

alexia

asia

brooke

isabelle

kenzie

lauren

leeanne

mikayla

some random girl that ran out onto the field (and lauren again)

and batting cleanup, zoey!

before i sign off i just want to send a huge thank you to all the girls and their family and friends. we had so much fun doing this. thank you for sharing these happy moments with us. it was our pleasure to capture these memories for you. you will all be missed. God Bless. see you next season!

i'm rain, and i approved this message.

edit to post:
some of you may have seen this image pop up during the 1st slideshow. this jersey not only belongs to boston merila (brooke's brother), it represents one of the most inspirational ohanas we know. no, boston wasn't on the sharks, but over the season we got to see him and his little brother brody quite a bit. together with brooke, they are the dynamic three-o. such a fun bunch. i wish i had half of their energy. honestly, i don't know how wendy (their mom) keeps up.
at some point during the season we realized this family is even more amazing than we thought. brooke's dad is Mark Merila. for those of us in san diego, you may already know him, or at least feel like you do. he's the bullpen catcher for the SAN DIEGO PADRES.
please take a moment to READ ABOUT MARK & then we ask that you join us in praying for him and his ohana. we are so blessed to have met this awesome family.
the merila's have inspired us more than they know.

L is for Lyric

photo sessions for new families are always fun. especially when they have little blessings like baby Lyric here. it was such a pleasure for april and i to share these moments with lyric's ohana.

there's no place like mama's arms.

how cool is this?
we wrapped lyric up in the veil that octavia (lyric's bonita mama) wore during her wedding in india. so cute!
when rain saw this picture she asked "is that a real baby? she looks like a doll."

only God could make a doll this beautiful.

are lyric's parents in trouble or what?
good luck saying "no" to puppy dog eyes like these. can't be done. don't even try.

hitting the books with papa.

john is an amazing guitar player. during our session he broke out the acoustic and played some suhweet music that kept lyric happy as a clam.
i have to say that it was pretty soothing to our ears too. april wasn't fussy at all and i didn't have the urge to cry once. :)

lyric was loving papa's music. it would be so sweet to have concerts performed daily, just for you, by your own dad. lucky ducky.

lyric's first guitar is waiting for her. it won't be long until she's rocking the suburbs.

she is so precious!

what a blessing it was to have met john, octavia, and little baby lyric. they are first ballot candidates for the super-ohana hall of fame.
thank you so so much john and octavia for allowing april and i to document this precious fleeting moment in lyric's life.
may God continue to shine His light on you and keep you safe and happy always.

Agnes & Paul Engagement Session Teaser

you're probably asking yourself, why would Ally drive all the way from l.a. to the salton sea (by herself) to meet up with our ohana and end up in a position like this. Ally doesn't sink knee deep in toxic sludge for just anyone.

she was trying to get a shot of the latest smoking hot couple to hire us, agnes and paul.
agnes and paul will be getting married in july and we talked them into doing their engagement session out at the salton sea (before it get's as hot as the sun and smells like a cat food factory). Ally needed little convincing to join us for the shoot. we got a ton of rad images (that will be posted as soon as i can catch my breath) so be sure to check back soon. happy cinco de mayo everyone!