Life in 2011: The Stewart Family Detectives.

As I sit here to write this post, I'm feeling a little guilty. I know, I know. It's been a long time. Like unacceptably long. But the truth is the month of February was spent learning, growing, and spending some quality time with family and friends. I thought that it would be a good idea to give a little re-cap of what I've been up to this past month, and then we can move forward with some fun things coming up in the weeks to come!
This year for Christmas my family decided that the gift of quality time was more important than physical gifts. So we went on a day trip to Long Beach together and of course I couldn't resist bringing my camera along with me! We had a blast running around the Harbor, taking photos, eating ice cream and just enjoying each other.



I loved this area! All of the colored walls and fun textures.. I would love to shoot an engagement shoot here!





Mom and Dad enjoying some ice cream!



Love my Bubba! :)





We have fun, and LOTS of it!



Bubba loves old cars, and I loved this shot!



Some artsy shots. :)







To end the day, we went on a Murder Mystery Dinner Cruise on the S.S. Grand Romance.





Some of the highlights of the dinner are showcased here. The lady in the top left corner was seated at our table, alone. The first thing Parkar says to her when she sits down? YOU'RE GONNA DIE. {Yeah, Parkar.. a hello would have been appropriate!} The funniest thing was our suspicion was right! And she was a part of the show! {My siblings were said to have been the most nosy of all the people to ever go on the show, they actually followed her below deck! {This was slightly frowned upon...} :P

The two fellas next to her are the hosts of the show, they motioned to me that they wanted me to take their photo through the window, and when I pulled my camera out from under my seat, they busted up laughing and made jokes about my car-camera all night. Underneath our friends is my dad singing in front of an entire boat of people, and a few of the clues from the murder!



When I went home that night I felt so blessed to have been able to spend that short amount of quality time with my family. We are all getting older and busier with school, jobs and life. But I've realized it's important to always keep the main thing the main thing. Don't ever forget to take some time from the craziness to give some love to those around you.

I was going to keep this post going with a few other events, but I've realized this post has already become quite long, so to spare you, I'll be posting a few more catch up posts in the next week. You won't want to miss a pirate themed par-tay,  {YEAH, you're jealous!} and WPPI 2011!

Be Blessed & Be Thankful!
Ty

Nico & Melissa: Married!

It was truly an honor to be a part of Nico & Melissa's wedding. They met at Eternity Bible College, where Nico had a job in the library. He overheard Melissa say that she needed to use the library to study and he offered to open it early whenever she needed. Their early morning study sessions eventually started conversations about their love for the Lord and their dreams of becoming missionaries. There was a connection there, but they were never more than friends until they both ended up transferring to the same college. They knew at that point it must have been meant to be.
They both have a heart to serve, and know that their marriage will allow them to serve the Lord together better than they ever could by themselves.

This wedding was so beautiful and the atmosphere was just so happy. I felt blessed just to be there. You could really feel the love that the EBC family shared.

Nico & Melissa, thank you for allowing me to be a part of your special day. I can't wait to hear all of the amazing things the two of you do together, I know you are going to change this world for the better. It was truly a joy to meet you.  :)

The lovely Kelly & I shot this wedding together and I'm so thankful she invited me along! I love you girl!

I spent the morning with the guys watching The Wedding Planner and football, while Kelly was with the beautiful bride.









I love this shot of Nico hugging Melissa's mother before they gave her away.





















There was a vent in the ground that was blowing Melissa's dress!























A kiss after the toast...

Doull Family.

This family is very dear to my heart. Kristen and I have known eachother since 7th grade. It seemed to be meant to be that we would be friends.. one day she was the new girl in school, and the next she was the newest edition to Travel Group, the performing cast that traveled all over CA fairs performing. To top it all off she lived like a block away. Yes, we became carpoolers, which led to being friends, which led to being best friends, which led to being married. Don't ask about the last part. haha.
So through countless mornings of hurry up, were gonna be lates! and dozens of weekend trips to perform, and many many sleepovers, I have come to know this family very well. And I love them dearly.
We had a great time taking these photos, as you can see they have a lot of fun together. Even brother James started to have fun towards the end. :)
Doull Family, Thank you for everything you have done for me! Mom, I love you! :) I can't thank you enough for all of the fun times we have had, and for supplying Kristen and I with all of the snacks we need to support our Gilmore Girls diet. I hope you love the photos, and I'll be seeing you soon. :)





Trying to take a cute mother daughter photo, when some spontaneous wall climbing erupted... hehe.



























Of course the day couldn't have ended without a cool tunnel shot.. :)