maddy's home from college

my niece came home from college weeks ago and while the boys were in
florida, we met up for coffee to catch up on life.  we also had a little photo shoot.
maddy's girlfriend bella joined us at paradise point and the two were my models
until the sun went down. the location has it all - a wooden footbridge, a little pond,
tropical plants and even ducks which the girls had fun chasing around the grounds. 
it was easy and as always with their youth and beauty,  i didn't have to edit a single photo.
it's been so fun watching these girls grow from pretty young girls into beautiful young women.

maddy is back in oregon now and moved into her new house for her junior year.
i'm missing her smile already!

madison rae, 2014, age 20 



beautiful bella, 2014, age 20

magnificent maddy

i found a simple and free collage tool on the internet and tried my hand
at a photo collage {my first ever}. it was kinda fun and made for an easy
way to capture a few photos i took of my niece maddy.



























maddy was such a fun and patient model...
tolerating my two hoodlums who were jumping off
nearby lifeguard towers and rolling {head and all} in the sand.

after the shoot we dropped the boys off at the house with them
promising to go STRAIGHT to the bathroom to shower.
the girls headed to starbucks where we sat until 10pm catching up. 

it's hard to believe this lovely young lady turns 19 next week.
oh how i will miss maddy while she's away at school.

maddy graduates

before this week ends, i wanted to be sure to post about last week's big events.
miss madison rae graduated high school on saturday! 

here she is with her girlfriends. {you may remember some of their faces from this shoot}

i had to snap a photo of the boys with maddy.
when she is graduating from college in 4 years, and we take a photo of the three of them,
it will be fun to see how much they've grown.  it will come fast.   

congratulations to miss maddy! 
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY - here she comes.


~ after this celebration, the boys headed over to auntie jen's house for a sleepover.
they were excited as this was their first time since she's been in her new place. 
c and i headed to marty's birthday celebration. {post and a pix or two to come}

guess who's graduating

i received this announcement in the mail last week:

i'm still experiencing a little bit of disbelief about maddy graduating.  

i remember meeting her shortly after c and i moved to san diego.

she was just a preschooler for goodness sakes! 

has it really been that long? 

i adored this girl's from the moment i met her.
i loved that when she got a little older,

her parents gladly let us take her on adventures and have her overnight. 

we share many memories of sleepovers and drive-in movies. 

i am so so proud of this beautiful brown eyed girl,
and am excited to hear about all the adventures she will have away at college.
{i am also excited about visiting her in oregon} 

maddy rae

my sweet niece madison (maddy rae) turned 17 last week
and following in our little tradition,
i got to play photographer while she and her friend bella modeled for me.

gracious maddy let me select the locale,
and i chose presidio park for two reasons:
1. it's gorgeous
and
2.  it's convenient because, only 10 minutes away from both our homes

here are a handful of images i took of the girls.
they are completely unedited.
i didn't find it necessary for either of these beautiful girlies. 

i can't believe next year at this same time,
maddy will be off in college somewhere (yet to be determined).
i'll miss her but am excited for her too. what an adventure.
my hope is she doesn't go too many cities or states away
so i can come visit her over a weekend.

~ i almost forgot. to celebrate her birthday,
we spent this morning together kayaking through oex in la jolla.
it was so gorgeous (and a great arm workout).
i'll save all the deets for another post.

i hope you had a wonderful weekend!

playing photographer (again)

the last time i photographed my niece maddy, she mentioned she would love
me to take photos of her and her girlfriends. of course i was up for that challenge!

over the christmas break, i grabbed my camera and my new lens
(a christmas gift from my sweet hubby) and loaded up the volvo
stationwagon with 4 always singing sixteen year old girls.
we headed to the cabrillo national monument for a fun photo session.

here are just a few photos from the literally HUNDREDS i took of the girls:

my models for the day
(from left): abby, amber, bella and maddy rae

miss maddy is 16

yes, you read correctly.
madison gerber is now 16 years old - crazy to think!

so everyone knows that i LOVE taking photos.
my sister refers to my camera as my first child
and it's kind of true.

i'm not one to put a big emphasis on material things and my camera
isn't top of the line by any means, but it is important to me and i go to
to protect. simply put, it's my tool for capturing what's meaningful to me.

my niece maddy is special to me and i wanted to capture a few photos
of this this special time of her life. she just celebrated her sweet 16th birthday
and lucky for me, maddy was happy to let me photography her pretty face.

this past saturday, i picked her up at her home before shooting, we enjoyed
a yummy breakfast at the living room, a cafe in the new neighborhood.
we ate, sipped on our cup of joes and talked alot (as always). *wink*

afterwards we headed to bear canyon for an outdoor photo shoot.
maddy was such a trooper.  she followed me around as i trekked on and off
the trails to find places to shoot. she was extremely patient and just easy to
photograph.  unlike me, she is a natural in front of the lens.

i couldn't resist sharing just a few photos of maddy tonight.
these  are straight out of the camera - no image editing was done.
aren't they beautiful?  i thought so too!
(miss m agreed to let me photograph her in an urban locale next - can't wait!).

happy belated birthday miss maddy!!
XO auntie a

unusual acts of devotion

this was the title of the theater production that christopher and i saw tonight at the la jolla playhouse.
it was one of the most interesting plays i've seen in a long time and since i'm wide awake thinking of it,
i wanted to write about it.
 
written by terrence mcnally, the story takes place entirely on a rooftop of a highrise.
its a peek into the lives a few greenwich village residents who gathered there to celebrate a wedding anniversary. during the evening, they confront some uncomfortable truths about their lives and their relationships. the play looks at things done - and not done - all in the name of love.
 
every one of the actors was amazing!

from the first scene, c and i recognized the voice of the older woman who played mrs. darnell.
we knew the voice, but couldn't place her, and since we didn't get a chance to read the program before the play, we opened it right after and learned it was doris roberts. she plays marie, the mother of raymond, on the television show everyone love's raymond. she was amazing!
 
the other actors had impressive bios - veteran stage actors but they had all been in major tv/films as well. some were joe manganiello, the villian who starred opposite tobey mcguire, in spider man 1 & 3, a woman (i can't remember her name) who was in rachael getting married, and richard thomas from the waltons.
 
this was a wonderful and memorable evening for me and i thank christopher for the chance to experience it as he was the provider of the ticket(s). they were a surprise birthday gift to me as he knows i LOVE theater.

he got tickets for the entire season so we will be enjoying an additional date night every month through november. he told me i don't have to take him, but who's he kidding? he enjoys theater as much as i do, and we can always use more date nights.
 
and a HUGE thanks to madison (maddy) for watching the peanuts.
it was her *first* time watching them and it was a success. the boys adore her.
we will certainly be seeing lots more of her this summer. we've been missing her.



scout (23 months), maddy (14) and finn (5)