Exploring the Rockies...

Last Wednesday morning, Steve and I flew to Denver to explore just a piece of Colorado and to shoot a wedding on Saturday. The groom has been a family friend since long before I was born and had asked us months ago if we'd be interested in shooting their wedding. There was no way we could turn this experience down...beautiful couple, great friends/family and a gorgeous setting made for the ideal experience.

Flying over the Cascades en route for the Rockies

We spent Wednesday and Thursday night in Breckenridge - experienced the craziest thunder/lightening storm either of us have ever been in, shopped, ate great food, drank beer, checked out Vail, avoided a late night rainstorm by going to the local 'Speakeasy' to see Inception and relaxed. Breck is definitely my new favorite ski town...can't wait to go back in the winter.

Golden, CO - home of the Coors Brewery...and my favorite beer - Blue Moon



Brewery tour



Crazy boot-campers at Red Rocks Amphitheater. Personally, I'd take the Gorge over Red Rocks.









Beautiful view from our hotel room in Breck





Loved this pup at one of the many stores we visited while it was raining



Riding the gondola in Breckenridge



Lots-O-Self-Portraits...



Riding the SuperSlide at the Breckenridge Fun Park

On Friday morning we took off for Boulder - checked into our cottage at the lovely Chautauqua, met up with my parents, Megs & Branden. All of the guests were invited to the rehearsal dinner at Old Chicago on the famous Pearl Street. After dinner, the guys went out to a few of the bars on Pearl St. with the groom and the girls went out with the bride. Saturday morning, me, Steve, Megs and Branden went tubing down Boulder Creek and then got ready for the the wedding. Sunday, Steve and I drove to Estes Park and then onto the Rockey Mtn. National Park - we wished the weather had been better, but it was still beautiful.

My mom and her best friend, Julie, who was the maid of honor at my parents wedding 37 years ago.



Megs and Branden



The Rocky Mountain National Park









The GORGEOUS bride and groom at the foot of the Flatirons in Boulder - more photos to come soon

3,000 Photos Later...

...And my weekend slowly came to an end...
Since my entire weekend was filled with photos, here is a bit of a photo montage of the past three days. If I were to keep a diary, this would have been my Sunday night entry...with just a few less details that probably need to remain a little less public.

Friday night was spent with these two hooligans (Brooke & Megs) in the town that Megs seems to think is the furthest point west in the state of Washington...a little place you may have heard of - Ballard.

This much anticipated night was a blast - lots of laughs, beers, wine and never once a moment of silence. Already looking forward to our next get together.

Dani - thanks for outing yourself as an official stalker - please stick around!




Steve was in the area with a buddy so he met up with us for a drink

Saturday was spent shooting the wedding of the gorgeous Allison & Bert Vigeland. These two along with their families, friends and 20 person bridal party were so much fun. Steve and I snapped photos for an entire 10 hour period and honestly loved every minute of it. There will be many, many more photos to post from this wedding, but here is one of my favorite shots of the day.

photo by Steve

After wrapping up at the wedding in Bellevue, we headed over to the Tap House and Rock Bottom for Rauh's 30th birthday bash. Despite the exhaustion (the bloodshot eyes show it all), we had a great time hanging out with the birthday girl. Happy 30th RAO Sleepwagon - so happy you were able to stay up for the entire nights festivities!

Sunday - Left the house at 10:30am and didn't return again until 10:30pm. First, I was off to Susy's house in Kirkland for Lauren's baby shower with our college girlfriends to celebrate the upcoming arrival of baby boy #2. As always, Lo looked beautiful and it was great catching up with the Pi Phi girls. While at the party, I also took a few photos of Jess' new baby boy, Johnny - love his darling little face and his hair.

Susy's stunning girls - Addy and Eden

baby Johnny

After the shower, I stopped by my parents house to wish P.Coff a happy birthday and give her the rest of her birthday gift. Megs and I are sending P&J on a weekend away to Walla Walla to do some winetasting and check out one of the few WA towns they have yet to visit.

Yep, I really captured my entire weekend - even my parents in the kitchen getting ready for their friends to come over for a BBQ

Next up I was off to Seattle to take family and newborn photos of my friends, the Thielman's. Their baby girl, Saylor, was born on Tuesday and is darling! I knew she'd be beautiful because her older brother, Kaden, is one of the cutest boys I've ever seen. Loved catching up with this wonderful family.

Finally, I was off (just five blocks away) to the Kocher's house, to enjoy a delicious dinner prepared by Mike and to take some maternity photos. These two are expecting their twin girls in the next couple of months and I can not wait to meet them - they're going to be beautiful and spoiled to pieces by all of their friends and family.

One of my favorite things about the past 10 days was having two of my bff's in town, Stacie and Megs - if I had it my way, all my girls would live in Seattle...preferably in the same neighborhood, but that may be a bit far-fetched. However, I don't mind that they both live in wonderful travel destinations...we can't get enough of Stacie and Kevin so we're off to Boston in Sept and I'm sure there will be another trip to Bend sometime in the near future. Loved having you girls in town!

Kevin, Stacie, Peanut & Tucker - please come back to Seattle again soon...we already miss you.

photo from the Mullin family mini-photoshoot last week