We've been talking about doing a family session for sometime-but with the unpredictable weather and busy work schedule, we have had to wait. But oh how perfect the timing of the session was though! The weather cooperated, the time of day, the weather, and most importantly everyone was there and ready and excited for the session. Including little Ellie. Now, let me tell you about photographing little kiddos-most often time, I get their attention for only 10-15 minutes. But with Ellie, wow, was she a delight! She thought I was funny almost the entire shoot and kept giving me the most expressive look-Ever! What a happy little girl she is. Well, it's not hard to understand why she was such a happy little camper when having loving and wonderful parents like Ken and Shaena. Thank you all of you for coming out to play in the sunshine with me and for letting me document your precious family.  

Check out Ellie's little face!! I never laughed so hard watching a little child's expresions!

Happy sunny Monday!  
 
Just a quick blog post before running off to shoot another beautiful wedding this weekend. I love weddings and I can't wait to start sharing the images from the weddings, engagement sessions and portrait sessions I"m shooting this summer. For now, this one image is all the time will allow for today. Enjoy the sunshine!

Soooo---this post, I"m going to share with you one of my favorites recipe-EVER!! Well, as you know that i've grown up for 13 years in Thailand, my food taste palette, of course, is hugely influence by the Thai culture. Lucky me, Thai cuisine is one of the most popular foods all around the world right now---and rightfully so with all the potent blends of spices and flavors. When people asked me to teach a Thai cooking class (one of my favorite things to do) I always tell my students-when making Thai food-well, for the dishes that I know anyway, is about using the 3 most important tastes-sweetness, sourness, and saltiness, to create a perfect blend of flavor balance. (Does that make sense?)  
Before going on to the recipe, I've made a lot of changes in my eating habits in the last 3 months and I"m so completely happy I did!! I've seen a lot of changes in my energy level, dropped a few ponds-- hollaa---and I"m truly loving the new lifestyle change in diet I"m making.  
So back to my recipe, one of the most common dishes in Thailand is the papaya salad. I LOVE, let me say it again, L.O.V.E. my papaya salad- or as it is known in Thai as "Som Tum". Now, when I go visit Thailand, for every single day that I"m in Thailand, I will have me some Som Tum-every day- I"m not kidding you. My friend Lana can attest to this addiction-she once asked, "Seriously, are you going to eat Som Tum every meal or what?". I just can't get enough of it. Do you ever have a food dish that you just can't get enough of? And guess what- with the new eating habit-I've really indulged myself with papaya salads-almost everyday--here in my home-in America. Why not? But I've switched up the ingredients a bit because well, if you haven't noticed-I"m in Spokane, Washington-along way from a tropical place where fresh papayas grow. So instead of trying to hunt for the perfect green papaya to make my salads, I've substituted the vegetable with green beans and English cucumbers. My favorite lately has been the English cucumbers.  
So without further distraction, let me share the most tasty salad recipe---on the planet earth---right here on my blog. By the way, the dish is vegetarian and vegan friendly too. Here is what the dish should look like -- or similar to---  
 
 

Here is the recipe-serving 1 person:  
: 2 cloves of garlic  
: 2 hot chili peppers (optional)  
: 1/4 cup peanuts  
Lightly crush these 3 ingredients together in a mortar and pestle  
:1 tbsp. lime juice, sugar or 2 packs of splenda, & fish sauce (the 3 flavors).  
: Half of English cucumber- Shred into long thin slices (or 2 cups of green papaya or green beans.)  
: 1/4 of tomatoes-sliced into bite-size piece  
Add all the ingredients into the mortar and pestle. Keep meshing them for about 1 minute or so.  
That's it!! So simple and easy and you can serve the dish on a bed of lettuce or sweet Thai Basil

I have to add a really great story to this post due to it's timing. As I was eating the salad yesterday for lunch and opened a letter I received in the mail. Check out the highlighted area of the note! I now have a proof that my difficult to convince friend Lana-who's working in Thailand at the moment-wrote to me!  
 

So readers be warned-the recipe is extremely addictive! It might not be on your first or second try but the third time, it will get ya!  
Enjoy!  
 
Whewww....what a long blog post!

I have a few wedding albums waiting to be picked up this week and just want to show case some of them. These are the parent albums, a popular option for parents of the bride and groom. These albums are filled with a custom layout of the bride and groom's favorite images from the wedding day. These photos are from Carrie and Tyler's gorgeous wedding!

The actual design on the pages

Here's a Friday randomness- While photographing the talented people of The Purple Turtle I also had to get a shot of their newest member of their team, Gibson. He was just the most handsome dog I've ever seen and when I saw this shot of him looking at me, making funny noises, I just couldn't resist. One of my favorite shots of a dog!  
 
Happy Friday!