Larry and Joy met while in the army and before they left for Afghanistan in February, they were married in a small ceremony. They came home this November (Praise the Lord!) and decided to do a vow renewal ceremony so that all of their friends and family could be there and bless their union. I was absolutely floored when Joy asked me to capture this special day for them. We decided to get together before the ceremony to get some photos with their dogs and the two of them together. We met at the St. Francis Retreat center in DeWitt, Michigan on an amazingly beautiful December day. The sun was gorgeous and Larry & Joy looked amazing and so in love!

My favorite of the day!

Larry & Joy had their hearfelt vow renewal ceremony and a small reception at Christ the King Church in Dewitt.

Joy surprised her Step-dad, Jerry, with a dance while her cousin Andrea sang...it was a very touching moment for everyone.

Larry & Joy, thank you for asking me to document this day for you. I loved getting to know you as a couple better! Kyle and I wish you the best that marriage can bring with lots of love and support always!

Yesterday, I got to do something you would only think happens in movies. But it was real...and amazing, fantastic and the most perfect Christmas moment. Yesterday, a few of the women from the farm where we board our horses, got together to go Christmas Caroling on horseback. We tacked up, decorated the horses with scarfs and bells and rode around to the neighboring houses to sing. One neighbor family brought out apples and carrots for the horses, another gave us cookies and it was an absolutely fantastic time. PS. Check out how adorable Vinnie is!

I am going to apologize right now because this may be the longest wedding blog post I have ever done. I struggled to get my favorite selections from Gary & Catherine's wedding down to a reasonable amount. I love photos that tell the story, evoke emotion and portray the day in a way that, even if you weren't there, you will still be able to feel like you were through the photos. Gary and Catherine's wedding was so full of excitement, emotion and love that every.single.photo held moments that I nearly squeeled over! Gary & Catherine were married on Saturday at St. John's Catholic Church in Utica, NY. Their love and committment to each other and God was very evident in the beautiful ceremony that they put together. You can tell that these two are some of the sweetest people ever by the people that they surround themselves with and how they interact with their families.

I started the day hanging out with the girls at Catherine's parents house. I was giddy over Catherine's choice of shoes and dress...just gorgeous!

I LOVE this set of shots. Her bridesmaids had not seen her dress yet so we did a little unveiling in the living room. Their reactions...priceless:) And that's Gary's mom in the last photo...again, awesome reaction to how stunning Catherine looked.

And while us ladies were having fun, Kyle was with Gary getting ready. Catherine got him cufflinks that had a photo of him and his dad on them. Awesome gift.

One of my favorite moments of the day was driving to the church and the girls praying for Catherine and Gary in the limo.

Once at the church, you could feel the tension and the excitment as everyone got ready.

When Catherine walked down that aisle, the smile on Gary's face was so big.

Gary and Catherine put so many special touches into the ceremony including the Braid ceremony. Ecclesiastes 4:2 says "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."The braid symbolizes how, with Christ, a couple is stronger together than they are seperately.

Seriously you guys, you looked so amazing on your wedding day!

After the ceremony, the bridal party went bath to Catherine's parents house to hang out. Kyle and I grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed over. I walked in to find Catherine's mom still in her dress, doing dishes with an apron on. It was awesome!

The reception was held at The Roselawn. They took really good care of everything and the food was to.die.for!

The toasts were funny and touching and just a perfect fit for the night.

The dance floor stayed packed the entire night and Mark Richards kept the energy up. Everyone had a great time!

Gary & Catherine, we cannot thank you both enough for allowing us to document your day. We loved meeting your family and friends and experiences such a wonderful day in your life together. We will pray for you in this new chapter you are beginning and for God to bless you both in everything you do.

I don't know if you have figured this out yet, but I love stories. Love stories, life stories, adventures, folktales...anything that can capture the imagination. I recently was introduced to Japanese folktale called The Crane Wife. Basically, a very poor man finds an injured crane and nurses it back to health. He releases it and the next morning, a beautiful woman arrives at his door step. They fall in love, get married and fall into a pattern of married life. Being poor, the wife begins to weave cloth to sell at market but she has one condition, that the man never watch her work. As the cloth begins to sell very well, the man pressures his wife to weave more and work harder. Her health begins to deteriorate but he hardly notices, his greed overwhelming him. One day, he breaks the promise to his wife and peak in the room to see what it is that makes the cloth so desirable. He is shocked to find the white crane sitting at the loom, plucking feathers from her own body and weaving them into the cloth. When she notices him, she flies away to never return.

There are so many lessons to learn from this short folk tale. As we look towards Christmas, I know I will think about this story. I will be soaking in every moment I can with my family, trying to save every moment as a memory file in my mind and remembering what this season is about. It's not about the gifts or all the things...but about the people. It's about the new life, Abigail, that just joined our family. It's about remembering those who are no longer with us. It's about giving, but not giving of material things. Giving the gift of time, of care, of listening, of laughing...of loving.

One of my favorite families of all time, I got the chance to spend Sunday with the Shoemakers at the Botanical Gardens. There was a cool train setup there that Juliana just loved and we got some great Christmas photos with all the poinsettas! Juliana had fun running around (we did a little 2-year-old wrangling) and she looked adorable in her cute Christmas dress.

After the Botanical Gardens, we went back to their house for pictures with their tree. It's the first Christmas in there new house so these are super special!

I don't talk much about my full time job but tonight, I got to spend some time with some of the amazing students that I work with. I am challenged daily by them to look at life in new ways. They make me laugh until I cry and I genuinely enjoy each and every one of them in  their own ways. I am blessed to be able to do something I love, work with students in a college atmosphere, and impact their lives in some way. I can only hope that I am as significant in their memories from this part of their lives, as they will always be for me. Tonight, we had our annual Holiday Party. Basically, I spend all day cooking yummy homemade food as my way of thanking them for what they do for us all year long. We ate, played games, talked and laughed. I may or may not have confused Bill Gates with Steve Jobs during apples to apples (oops).

It's wonderful when you find people who you can feel so comfortable with that they feel like family.

2011 has been such a great year for us! I am so thankful to our wonderful clients who have been so amazing to work with and our friends and family who have been so supportive. None of what we do would be possible without you! We are planning for 2012, meeting with clients and have some exciting things that are going to be happening including a new website and blog. It's good to look forward and to talk about goals (of which we have a lot for this next year). But it's also good to look back at how far we have come. So after looking back at this year and being amazed at everything that has happened, we have decided to give back in a couple of ways. This post will be one of three so look forward to more over the next week!

I am excited to announce that we will be giving the gift of a Lifestyle Equine Session to someone who is willing to share their story with us. We love to hear the stories of how people found their horses (or how the horse found them!) and how that relationship with their horse has changed their lives. And we want to hear more from you! In order to be considered for the gift, you need to send us a story of you and your horse. It can be funny, emotional, loving, or anything that you want to write about...it just needs to be about you and your favorite 4-hoofed-friend. Submissions need to be emailed to us, ilcavallophotography@gmail.com, by Christmas Eve (that's December 24th). The winner will be announced on Christmas Day!

So here it is in a concise form:

* What: We are gifting a Lifestyle Equine Session which includes 4 - 6 hours of shooting, a 20 page leather bound album of your images, a 20X24 canvas print and 50 digital images for you as a keepsake
* Who can enter: Anyone who has a special Equine friend in their life
* How: Send us an email with your story to ilcavallophotography@gmail.com, make sure you are also a fan of our facebook page
* Deadline: December 24, 2011
* Fine Print: Session must take place within 2 hours of the zip code 14228 or winner must be willing to pay appropriate travel fee, session must be completed within the calendar year of 2012

So that's it! We can't wait to read your stories!

Miss Emma is 1 year old this month. I cannot believe how fast time has flown by! I have seen her grow from the time that she was a newborn and it has been such an amazing experience! Enjoy the photos below and I will be posting a slideshow so you can see exactly how fast she has grown soon.

She has always had big beautiful eyes from the day we met.

Our trip home was very relaxing and fun. It's always a treat when we get to spend a siginificant amount of time in Michigan seeing all of our family and friends. Thanksgiving dinner was delicious and although the Lions lost, it was a good day! My cousin Amanda went into labor on Thanksgiving day and had her beautiful little girl, Abigail, at 2 am on Friday. I helped my friend Becky find her wedding dress - she is going to look stunning! We also played a couple intense games of train dominos...things got a little competitive.

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving and as most people are, I've been thinking a lot about thankfulness. We often ask, "What are you Thankful for?", but I prefer to ask, "Who are you Thankful for?" I could say that I am thankful for so many things...but they would just be that, things. Instead, I started thinking about the people I am thankful for. The people who have been there through thick and thin, people who have been my cheerleaders, my shoulder to cry on, my filter, listeners, advice givers, accountability partners, pushers, rebukers, lovers, huggers, commedians, family and best friends. I am blessed beyond anything I can even imagine to know all the people pictured below. Thank you for your prayers, your friendship, your love. Thank you for being you and loving me, it's what matters most in life.

Thank you Kyle, Mom, Uncle Paul, Diane, Susan, Jeff, Mark, Marj, Andrew, Alex, Jen, James, Rick, Jeanette, Jessica, Becky, Marie, Carrie, Margaret, Dave K., Scott, Ashley, Kristen, Ben, Liz, Jeff, John, Paul, Keith, Karla, Dave S., Kerri, Andrea, Dave (aka Ralph), Mike & Brenda.