Stephanie & Todd's Wedding

Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Gragg!!
These two joined their lives together last Saturday in Collinsville, OK. Family and friends gathered from all over the state, details were planned down to the tread, and Stephanie and Todd's love for each other shone through it all. Thank you for letting me take part in your special event and thank you for loving each other as the Lord love us. Todd, I hope that you were able to enjoy New Orleans after your shot that night, and I pray that God blesses the rest of your life together!

Details

Girls vs. boys


Stephanie and Todd chose to do a 'first look', and it was an emotional moment :c)

















The ceremony was sweet and Christ centered










Now I'm headed to shoot another wedding tonight.. so more to come!

God is soo good!

God is so good.
Do you know that? Do you believe that?
Sometimes I wish I was more eloquent with my words so I could share with you the glory of God in a profound way. But I'm not. All I can do is can share with you my story as it unfolds, and I know that the Spirit will bless it and use it as He wishes. Today my story intertwined with another photographer's, Amy Wenzel, who is much more eloquent and is truly living each day by the Spirit. I've mentioned her family on here before (they were a prayer request last year when they discovered her husband has brain cancer). I have been following her since (yes, blogger stalker-wise, I do not know her personally), and a post I read this morning went right along with my bible study today. I'll let her tell the rest, please enjoy!

http://www.throughthefireblog.com/?p=128

In a land far far away..

Big News!!
(No, I'm not pregnant.. I realized as soon as I typed it what you people would think!)
But it does have to do with family... Ray and I booked tickets last night for Ghana!! This will be his first trip back since he left Africa when he was 10. It will be my first time there ever. I am so excited to see the area that my husband came from and where my children's heritage will be. We will be visiting Ray's mom, who lives over there now, and other family members that Ray has not seen in a long-long time. I am excited to be immersed in a non-western culture and see Africa first hand. Of course we will be taking plenty of pictures, and I will share when we get back!
In other over-seas news.. I want to take a moment to brag on my little bro. He is over in Europe right now playing goalie for the United States soccer team. How cool! He is 16 and has already won nationals, and is now playing at the international level... I'm so proud of him! He didn't allow any goals in either of his games today... I just wish I could be there to cheer him on in person :c)

Back to the US, here's some of the pictures from our kickball game for Ray's bday. You can see the beautiful weather we had.. but we still had a blast!


Connor rockin' out some sweat bands


The winners, with the bday boy as a trophy


The #2 team

Stephanie's Bridals

Congratulations Stephanie & Todd! I'm off photographing their wedding today, but here's some images of the beautiful Stephanie from her bridals that we took in Tulsa a few weeks ago. This girl can work it in front of the camera! enjoy-

Ray's 26th Birthday

Last Sunday I hosted a surprise birthday party for my husband.
I've thrown several surprise bday parties for Ray since we've been together, and he has yet to ever catch on.. I'm just that good :c)
This year, I wanted to have a kickball/sushi party on the 4th, and even though the rain tried to give me a hard time, it held off on us just enough so that we could have a slick and super fun game of kickball! Too bad for Ray he was on the losing team.. but we enjoyed ourselves decked out in sweatbands and all. I (being a poor photographer while hosting) didn't take my camera out there, so I'm still waiting to get pics from another camera. I'll share with you when I get them!
Then we headed back to my house for some good 'ol homemade sushi (pizza was there for the non-sushi people). I was a little nervous about making sushi for ~20 with it being my 3rd time to make it, but I had all the ingredients prepped, we had some delicious meats, and I had help from Nhu, a Vietnamese friend who is a pro at sushi. It turned out great, the sushi tasted fabulous and people had a blast. We ended the party with fireworks (yep, I can throw a bday party that big ;c). Thanks to all who came and made the night fabulous!

Some friends from Tulsa

Nhu and our sushi spread


A ginormous roll full of every option we had.


I made Ray a homemade ice cream cake.. yumm! It wasn't pretty, but it tasted good!


Edmond's fireworks (the rain made me keep my big camera inside..)


Ray and I (and chris)


Braden enjoying the show!


I love friends :c)

Elyssa's Quinceanera

It was my first Quinceanera to attend, and I just happened to be shooting it.
I was told it would not be a typical quinceanera, but that it would honor the tradition of a 15 year old young woman dedicating her life to the Lord. At this point, I didn't even realize that is what a quinceanera was for! I thought it was similar to our sweet 16 parties (which have no meaning), but apparently, I was wrong. And so glad that I was. Elyssa is the daughter of Rosa and Sam, and as I said in their wedding post, this is a family that I just love and admire. The day was beautiful and the event was glorious, as Elyssa promised to be a women of God in front of friends and family. After the ceremony, everyone enjoyed some delicious Mexican food and a dip in the pool. With a big thanks to the family who let us borrow their home, we had a fantastic location!

The girls got to spend a couple hours in a limo

Like I said, a beautiful day at a stunning location

Details




While some were hard at work..


Others were hard a play!


Girlfriends


Being girlfriends


Sweetness

A true princess ;c)


The ceremony





Let the fun begin!