Last night Jen and I had a chance to go out on a date.  What is a date??  Can someone please tell me what that is?  Give you a hint on how long its been since we have gone on a date.  Our good friends Ben and Lauren offered to watch our kids for us and we took them up on the offer.  On top of going out, I wanted to get Jen’s wedding ring fixed.  It had broke about a year ago and she hasn’t been able to wear it since.  I even bought her a replacement ring for the time being but it just wasn’t the same.  On Tuesday I went over to Kenny G’s Jewelry store and was referred by another good friend of ours Angela cause her dad, Fred, works there and will give you a honest quote and truly help us out.  He did just that.  Not only was I able to give him the ring on Tuesday, he had the ring fixed and looking so much better by Thursday!!!!  THURSDAY!!!  That is crazy service.  So before we went to dinner, I wanted to take Jen over to get her ring, but little did she know that I was going to propose to her all over again and ask if she would Re-marry me again and renew our vows for our 15 year wedding anniversary.  So we get the ring, it looks amazing but before Jen puts it on, I grab the ring from her and tell her “just hold on a sec I have something for you”

I give my point and shoot camera to Fred  and ask if he can take a few pictures of this.  Jen still doesnt have a clue whats going to happen.  So I have the ring in my hand and I tell her ” so I have something for you and its something I have been wanting to give you.  babe you are a awesome wife, a terrific mom to our children, you complete me in every way and I am so blessed to have you in my life.  And I know when i proposed to you 12 years ago it was nothing romantic or fancy, but I want to give you that”  So i got down on one knee in front of her and I’ll admit i almost started crying cause she was tearing up.  I got down on one knee and had the ring in my hand and asked her “babe will you re marry me again and re new our vows on our 15th anniversary?”  She said yes!!!  I was worried there for a second.  NOT!!!  One of the ladies in the store that worked there starting crying, Fred gave us a huge hug, and the night was great and Jen’s ring looks fantastic.  We went and enjoyed a nice dinner together, and then came back home and had a great night visiting with Ben and Lauren till like 1:30am which we love cause when you have great conversation going on, you don’t want to stop. I am truly a blessed man with a great wife and I cant wait to grow old with her and continue our journey together.

THANK YOU SO MUCH BEN AND LAUREN FOR WATCHING OUT KIDS AND GIVING US A AWESOME DATE NIGHT, AND ANGELA THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REFERRING YOUR DAD TO HELP US GET JEN’S RING FIXED!!  HE IS A  AMAZING PERSON!!   Here are the pictures from the proposal.

This is where i was telling her how much I loved her and how special she is to me.

The ring placement.

The kiss.  I like that!! 

Have a great day everyone!

Chris

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Today I was picking up the living room after the boys were off to school.  As I was cleaning, I noticed a few toys on the entertainment center shelves. Then I noticed that I had just walked into a sniper scene! Oh the things you find in a house full of boys.

Do you find funny things while cleaning?  Would love to hear from you in your comments!

Well back to work… enjoy your day everyone!

Jen

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We need to give a HUGE shout out to our good friend Kerri McConnell from KMcConnellPhoto. Back in March we went to WPPI in las Vegas for one of the biggest photography conventions around. While we were there we met up with Kerri McConnell, David & Kimi Baxter from Ohana Photographers for David’s Thirst Relief mentor session. Kerri had bid on him and won so she got to shoot with David for 2 hours and learn from him. Pretty cool in my opinion. David had asked if we would be models for the shoot, and if you rememeber from The last time Ohana photographed us for our anniversery shoot, it was a blast so we were stoked to be apart of this.

Kerri you ROCKED these shots of Jen and I, and we are so blessed that we finally got to meet you in person and got to hang out and just have fun. We can’t wait to hang with you again!!! Check out the shots she got of us, and then go and check out her SITE and BLOG Shes super talented!!!

LOVE THIS SHOT!!!! JEN IS SO HAWT!!!

MY FAVORITE!!!! SO SO SO SO SO SO SO LOVE IT!!!!

Love this shot too!!!

Its crazy to think that its MARCH now and that spring is here. Its also crazy to think that my little ones, Bella, and Aiden are growing up TOO QUICK!!! Seriously, they have sprouted up faster then a Chia Pet!! Since the weather has been nice lately, I got to play with my new camera, and just shoot for fun and follow my kids around in the backyard. My kids are adorable and just growing into their own personalities. I am seriously dreading them being out of the house when they are older, cause believe it or not, I enjoy the chaos, most of the time. I know its a long time from now, but that time will be here faster then I know it. Just have to cherish each day, one day at a time and build memories forever.

Look at how big Aiden is now!!

Whatch you looking at willis????

Thats aiden for you. Always has a goofy face nonstop.

And then theres miss Boo, so cute, so innocent……

And a goof ball like the rest of us in the Stewart household.

Miss Boo always has the best outfits around, you know, Pj pants and polka dot boots. Yup rollin deep in style….

Love this!!!!!

A fun day for sure and quality time with my kids. Being a parent ROCKS!!!

Man it feels like WPPI came and went so fast. This year Jen and myself were able to go to Las Vegas for WPPI, a convention for Wedding and Portrait Photographers. There are classes to learn from industry leaders, opportunities to network, and a trade show to see what is new in the industry such as new products, software, hardware etc, and of course LOTS of good times!! Its a experience to go to a event like this, because there is so much to take in and just absorb. Plus if you have never been to Vegas before, that alone is overwhelming, but fun too. This was my second time going and Jen’s first time.

From the trade show at the MGM, to the people you meet, old friends, new friends, being able to work with our vendors, and meet them face to face, there was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!!!! We litterally came back exhausted, but in a good way. We are applying a lot of what we learned, powerful information from some of the best in the industry, to our business and are excited continue to build and improve what we offer our clients.

While we were there, we photographed our good friend Blair from Blair Nicole Photography some of you may recall Her session posted not too long ago. That was tons of fun!!

We didn’t shoot a ton at night because it was like FREEZING THERE AT NIGHT!!!! Literally it was like super cold when the sun went down!! The last time I was there, it was hot and muggy but this time I dont think we saw the sun most of the time, except on our last day. Figures huh.

We also celebrated Jen’s Birthday in Vegas because it fell on the 10th while we were there. We ended up celebrating her birthday 2 days with different friends. We had taken her out to dinner and surprised her with some of her close friends showing up, (even though it wasn’t a huge surprise because she found a email with all that were going to be there) then from dinner we went out to STUDIO54 to dance and have fun with our friends. We can’t wait to go back next year. And then on her actual birthday we went out to dinner with a super awesome friend and a new friend, filled with yummy food, and awesome conversation.

On Monday night, after an off camera lighting class, we decided to go out with some old and new friends and practice some of the tricks we had learned.

This is our new friend Stella who was awesome to photograph!! We went out with her, Jennifer from Jennifer Moon Photography, and Caryn from Eikon Photography. It was a blast!!! Even though like I said was COLD!!!(***P.S. Note from Jen- It WAS cold, but Chris was SUPER cold, because he refused to wear a jacket, and only wore a T Shirt!)

What????? No flash????? Wait for it………………..

BAM!!!!!

Jen got this shot of the strip. Pretty cool!!!

My fav from our shoot.

Jen has been lately giving me the film bug and for Christmas she got me a Holga Camera. This camera is very inexpensive, but you can do so much with it. I finally took my first roll in to get developed, and let me tell you I was excited and nervous for some weird reason. Shooting film for the first time, without using anything digital, adjusting ISO, all that stuff felt really weird, but rewawrding and relaxing at the same time. I like a challange, and this definately was. Anyway I wanted to share with you what I got. Dont make fun, I know their not great but I LOVE IT!!! The fell in a film photo has so much emotion and feelings in it, I cant describe it.

Brian, my 10 year old took the picture here on the right and I just cant help but be drawn to it cause it looks so old. Thats way cool.

Wow what a crazy few months/year we’ve had here in our family & business, as I’m sure it has been for so many of you as well.

The economy has affected all of us in different ways. Some have lost jobs, some have seen cut-backs in their businesses or wages (while bills have gone up), some have even lost their homes. It is so easy to get caught up in the media firestorm of doom & gloom and worry. There is so much going on in our homes, our communities, our states, our nation and the world!

And yet, through it all we have personally seen so many blessings. Sometimes they are blessings in disguise (a job lost by a friend who now can focus on and pursue their passion) sometimes they are clear as day (the exact dollar amount needed to pay a large bill provided by a new unexpected job).

Chris and I are continually challenged to not stress on all of these things out of our control, but know that it will all work out, and we just need faith to get us through. These last few months we have really worked to get back on track with our priorities and focus on those blessings we are seeing around us than just the negative.

I have to tell you, it’s so freeing to give up that control of the un-controllable. To look for the blessings and seeing them all around you, both big and small.

I encourage all of you, our family, our friends, our clients who become like family & friends, to look around you for the blessings. Or better yet, be a blessing to someone around you. Call a friend and see how they are doing- how they are REALLY doing. Take someone out to coffee and just re-connect, be that person who will just listen and support if that’s what they need, or someone who can help brainstorm answers (if that’s what they need) but I encourage you to first find out what they want, an open ear, or a brainstorming friend? Or maybe you know a family that is struggling, can you drop off an annonomous gift card to the local grocery store (hey even $20 helps, if that’s all you can afford yourself!), can you help repair that fense that fell in the storms?

Let’s come around each other during these challenging times and support each other, and help each other!

Happy Monday everyone! Enjoy looking for the blessings around you, the blessings are there, all we have to do is look!