We had a wonderful photo-shoot with Mallory’s two dogs, Evie and Lily. Lily is the cutest little Welsh Terrier. She is full to the brim with life and spunk, jumping around happily the moment we arrived for the photo-shoot. Lily was still picking up her toys wanting to play even when it was time for us to leave. Her little sister Evie would love to play with toys too if only Lily would let her. Evie’s story absolutely warmed our hearts. She appeared in Mallory’s life on Christmas Eve 8 years ago. Mallory had recently lost her dog and little homeless 4 month old Evie wandered into Mallory’s garage like a gift on Christmas Eve. They have been inseparable ever sense. Evie was so cute during our photo-shoot, every 10 minutes she would go running off to check on Mallory. Once she was satisfied that Mallory was still around and doing fine, Evie would come bounding back to us for more treats and Photos. Evie and Lily are fantastic dogs and we had a great time photographing them.
We found ourselves in possession of a cumbersome pile of old wood, and what better way to dispose of it then with a beach bonfire. We discovered recently that not only does Fiesta Island have enormous fire pits but that it’s also dog friendly. It was last minute and very spontaneous, but we loaded down the truck with our wood, tossed the doggies in the car and headed off for a Bonfire. Luckily it wasn’t too crowded on Fiesta Island so we were able to find a fire pit we liked right away. It overlooked the water Skiing Jumps out in the bay, so we got a nice show from a couple skiers as we set up our spot. The dogs were in heaven, with all the sand, seaweed, and generally doggie smells. We let everyone off their leashes including Brett. Maggie however had to be regulated and put back on leash almost immediately. She’s going deaf in her old age. All the smells were so intoxicating to her that she kept wandering off and couldn’t hear us calling her back. Of if she did hear us (which I think she can sometimes) she just blatantly refused to come back to us. We all had a great time cooking hotdogs, roasting marshmallows, and making a really big fire. Fiesta Island is one of our new favorite places in San Diego. We can’t wait to gather up enough wood to warrant another bonfire.
Maggie was so cute and kept sitting on our wood pile. This, however, was not very helpful.
Piglet was super sneaky and kept stealing our chairs when we weren’t looking.
Everyone wanted a bite of hotdog!
Kita had so much fun running around in the sand, but then again what dog wouldn’t.
Maggie who enjoys the finer things in life, watched the sun set.
Jamie Giffen was the winner of our pet portrait package donated to the Junior League of Los Angeles Winter Auction, with the proceeds going to Kids In The Kitchen. We were very excited to donate this year, and even more excited when we got to meet Jamie. She has the cutest little Yorkshire Terrier named JD. We arranged to do the portrait session at her parents beautiful home in Thousand Oaks. They have 2 Australian shepherds and a Welsh Corgi. We had so much fun with all of their dogs! The Australian Shepherd puppy Fergi was the newest edition to the family at 16 weeks old. She was a total hoot, bouncing around and constantly wanting attention. Thanks Jamie for such a great photo shoot!
This year we spent Valentine’s Day in one of the coldest places Brett and I have ever been, Bemidji Minnesota! We got really lucky too, it’s usually negative 20 degrees with intensely cold wind chill. It got as high as 27 degrees during our stay, which we were told was unseasonably warm! I have to say that I have never loved my North Face jacket more than on this trip. It kept me nice and toasty. Well, it and the other 5 layers I had on. The reason for our adventure to Bemidji at this time of year, was to attend and Photograph our friends’ Tracy and Jake’s Wedding(Pictures coming soon). Tracy and I have known one another from the age 5, so it was truly one of the most touching moments of my life to be at my long time best-friend’s wedding capturing her most precious moments. And I have to say you know it’s a good wedding when everyone is still on the dance floor at 1 am and even the DJ is rocking out and singing along.
Brett and I made new friends on this trip (whom we already miss and cant wait to see again) two of which we stayed with, Leah and Troy. We invaded their home for the weekend, leaving our mass amounts of camera gear all over their upstairs bedroom, playing with their wonderful dogs Joe and Thor, wandering around aimlessly taking pictures of all their horses, and my personal favorite Troy taking us on Mr.Toads wild ride in the front yard, getting the truck stuck in the snowbank and then when we thought all was lost, getting it unstuck. Leah and Troy were the most amazing hosts. There was even home made lasagna and garlic bread when we arrived after our 2 hour drive from Fargo. Leah your amazing!
After all that Leah and Troy had already done for us over the weekend, Leah made my Valentine’s Day perfect by hooking up her 2 draft horses and taking us all out on a sleigh ride through the snow filled woods on their property. And I have to say Tracy put it perfectly when she described our ride in the woods as reminding her of something out of “The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe”. I was expecting to spot a lone lamp post at any moment.
Here are some pictures from our amazing Valentine’s Day sleigh ride!
The horses totally snuck a snack before getting all geared up
Brett caught me making friends
I love the effect the wind had in this picture kicking up the snow. Although at the time I have to say that I was not a big fan of the bone chilling gusts of wind.
Desi and Amanda looking all cute and bundle.
Leah is ready! Lets not keep her waiting.
Tracy and I
Off we go!
Tracy’s horse Kara wanted to come with us. She troted along side the sleigh until she ran out of fence
Leah’s dog Joe
Joe jumped off the sleigh not realizing how deep the snow was, and immediately tired to get back on. It took him a few tries.
Then Jake jumped off.
So we decided it was a good time to stop and make snow angels
Brett totally missed me making my snow angel! And it was a really good one, you’ll just have to take my word for it.
I love my Fargo hat!
The end to a great sleigh ride.
Thank you, Tracy, Jake, Leah and Troy for a weekend we will never forget. We cant wait to come back and visit with you in the fall!
