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Gabe & Andrea ~ Crazy Love

Posted on May 26, 2009

Gabe and my husband have been good friends since freshman year at our college…. Gabe and I have been friends since our sophomore year. Andrea was in a little Bible study group I led our sophomore year. Andrea and Gabe have been friends since college days. Good friends. Never dated each other. Never expressed interest. But flirted alot. Fast forward four years since graduation…. Gabe is in Uganda working with New Hope Children’s Center. Andrea is in Siloam Springs, Arkansas running a Crisis Pregnancy Center. Andrea’s family is in Kenya (she grew up there as a missionary kid). Uganda is basically as close to Kenya as California is to Arizona. Andrea’s family invites Gabe to spend Christmas with them at the beach in Kenya. Andrea didn’t know this. She also didn’t know that one of Gabe’s prayers to God around this time was (paraphrased by Chelsea) “God, if Andrea comes to Africa, I will take that as a green light to pursue a relationship with her.” And so she came. And he pursued. The 4 hour conversation started with 9and again, paraphrased by yours truly) “Hey, I am interested in you…  you interested?” and ended with Andrea asking how they were going to tell their friends about their new relationship status and Gabe ended it with a bang: “Well, I would really like to introduce you as my fiance.” Thats our Gabe… slow and steady, cautious and calculated. Nope. From friends to fiance’s in 4.0 hours. What a story for the grandkids! I remember reading stories like this in the old missionary biographies… it is so fun and refreshing to see God still throws people together in His time and His crazy, fun ways! 

And so we all got to reunite in Arkansas for this very cool couple’s wedding. It was basically a 5 year college reunion as well, and there were tons of us there. What a great time of reconnection. My husband was a groomsman and I was photographing the wedding. Jonathan Seauve of Jonathan Edward Photography shot with me and it was a blast working with him! Check out his uber cool stuff on their photography blog. Thanks again Jonathan all of your help, perspective and expertise! 

Gabe and Andrea - we love you guys and John and I were so excited to be a part of your incredible day! I can’t wait to get the slideshow up and the rest of the pictures to you. What a day! What a life you have before you!! 

You know the drill by now… just a few faves to share.

* Note - i am working remotely on all of this because of home renovations and have not been able to put together a slideshow just yet…. but please check back soon for way more photo fun and a slideshow in the near future!!! *

A few of the details:

  

We did a “first look” session with Gabe and Andrea before the wedding… It was so special. Just them and the photographers really. We set Gabriel up and put Andrea behind him. She walked up and tapped his shoulder and he was able to see her in her dress for the first time. And REALLY take it all in. I encourage all my brides and grooms to do it this way if possible. They not only had that “wow” moment, but they had an hour of that moment. They had time together to just be… to talk, kiss, pray, hug, and really enjoy those moments without the masses. And then when it was time to face the masses, they were ready to party and enjoyed every moment! 

I love the softness and emotion of this one… 

This is Gabe saying something like , “CHECK HER OUT! Ow ow!!!!” Or something along those lines. :) 

And then he got a little frisky. You will have to ask them the story behind him picking Andrea up like this. :) 

 

  

 

The Ceremony:

 

The wedding party:

Although we did tons of couple shots before the wedding, we did steal them away once more during the reception for some “just married” shots. So glad we did!

 

 

this is such a perfect capture of these two…. pure happiness… pure bliss… and I just have to say that their kids are going to have the most killer smiles ever!

the Liveretts + Sedona = mmmm, mmmm good.

Posted on May 21, 2009

These are some of our dear family friends. We love them and miss them and covet their place in Pagosa Springs, CO. Its true. If you are looking to locate yourself to Paradise (i.e. Pagosa Springs), Chris is your man. He can hook you up in a big fat way there. We always seem to hook up on the tail end of vacations and such, and it was no different this time. We flew in from a long weekend in Arkansas (shooting and being in a wedding there…. post to come this week!) on Monday and Chris and Rach and the kids headed over our way for a day and a half. We decided, last minute, to do some Liverett family pics on Tuesday morning. The heat, bright sun and lack of creative options for picture locations at 9am presented us with a fun alternative - drive to Sedona to look for some shade and have some fun. And it was fun! After completely wearing the kids out, dunking one of mine in the river to rid her of her “chocolate” coating (i.e. completely covered in dirt from her older sister), getting homemade ice cream and then promptly having multiple break downs, we headed back to our respective homes - them to paradise, and us to hell Phoenix.

And here are just a “few” of my faves…. I know, I need to redefine the word few, don’t I.

And just because every shoot has “a story,” I have to leave you with this one:

My girls were with me on this shoot… Adelaide and Sierra are friends and of course wanted to play once these dang pictures were done. So my girls were “supposed” to be strapped in the double jogging stroller so I could shoot in “peace.” Well, Adelaide apparently got out and proceeded to cover and I mean COVER her little sister in dirt… you know the red DIRTY kind you find in Sedona. And apparently Sydney didn’t mind so much since there wasn’t any screaming involved. I didn’t even notice this until Cedar, the two year old, said something about Sydney being “chocolate.” And she did indeeded look chocolate covered. Thankfully we were right on a river and could dunk her in and clean her up a bit before the long drive home.

my mother’s day…

Posted on May 12, 2009

was fantastical. how could it not be with these little baby dolls smiling, laughing, picking out the BIGGEST balloon in the store and the hubby getting flowers for me (”not the cheap ones!”) I wanted to just have some good, old fashioned fun on Mother’s Day. and that we did. a $5 slip ‘n slide goes a long way in the fun department. i can’t help but smile when i look at these…. every time i look at these… they are moments i will cherish forever. come to think of it, maybe i need to print this one really, really big and put it right in front of me on the wall. so on those not so fantastical-and-fun-beyond-measure-so-much-so-that-you-start-thinking-your-kids-are-perfectly-wonderful-all-the-time days, but rather the-omg-who-are-these-little-terrors-who-call-themselves-my-kids-but-really-i-dont-think-i-know-them days, i will remember this one fantastical day. and i will smile, just remembering it. and perhaps i will stop pulling out my hair one strand at a time and go and turn on the hose and slip into some fun!

Wedding at the Valley Ho! Haute!!

Posted on May 4, 2009

I had the pleasure of assisting Adam Nollmeyer of Acme Photography, as he second shot for Fred Ferguson Photography. It was such a great experience to watch, assist and even shoot for these two fantastic photographers. Thanks for the opportunity, guys!

The wedding was at the swanky Valley Ho in Scottsdale and the details of this intimate and full filled wedding even out-shined the hotel itself. My main job was to assist Adam, but I was given a shooting assignment much to my surprise and pleasure. I shot the rooftop cocktail hour. The view was priceless to say the least. And the timing? You can’t possibly get a better view of an Arizona sunset. I was particularly mesmerized by the absolutely adorable flower girl. Check out her two pairs of shoes. Cuteness personified! Here is a small compilation of the wedding details….. but be sure to check back on Fred’s blog for some amazing photographs of the wedding soon!