This Is Us!

Over a month ago we had some family pictures taken of us! I totally forgot to put some up to show everyone!!! One of my lovely friends, Robyn, met us at Granville Island and took these pictures for us. We hadn't had any nice pictures of us as a family taken since Cheyenne was born. Sure we had a few here and there, but non that really screamed "Put me on your wall!!!"

But now I have a large selection of photos to choose from to showcase on my walls! I still haven't gotten around to actually putting them up, but I will!! Here are some from Robyn's blog post of our session!

Enjoy your night of Trick-or-Treating or whatever Halloween traditions you have for this day! We're taking Cheyenne Trick-or-Treating for the first time! I can't wait to take pictures!

My Enemy - The Nut

My thoughts can run wild when I start thinking about my daughter's life threatening nut allergy. I don't allow them to go to the extreme. There's no point. Worrying is proof that I don't trust God with this area of my life. And I do trust Him. 100%. Ok, maybe it's more like 98%, but I'm only human!

To think that one little tiny nut could potentially kill my daughter is just absurd. A nut. Seriously?

It's been about a month and a half since we found out about Cheyenne's allergy and we've been dealing with it just fine. Sure, the day I found out was like a huge punch in my gut, leaving me speechless and unable to breathe for a moment, but I only let it stay that way for a short time.

God is greater than nut allergies. No, really. He is. I can tell you for certain that God has protected my little Girlie in the months before we knew about her allergy. I remember giving her some cereals with nuts in it at one point. God protected her. God loves her. He loves her more than I love her so that says a lot because I love her more than I could even put into words.

I could choose to live in fear. Choose to live in a constant state of worry. Choose to have this allergy consume me and my family. But I choose to trust God. I choose to live life and live it to the full. I will do everything in my power to protect my daughter, but a time will come when I won't be there every minute of every day. One day she'll be in Kindergarden and I won't be able to stop her from eating something that another student offers her. So I trust God. I have to. Is there any other choice, really?

I like to think that having learned of this allergy has actually helped us to love her even more! I didn't think it was possible, but it is! We understand her body more. We understand what makes her sick and what could harm her. She is no different to us now, as a person, than she was the day before we found out about the allergy. So why should we treat her differently and treat her life differently? Yes, we've cleared out our whole house of anything that has nuts in it or might possibly contain traces of nuts in it. My parents have made their home safe for her, as well, and anyone else's home that we've gone to since has been so supportive and understanding of us wanting them to vacuum their floors before we come over and to hide all nut products. So much love for this little person in our lives.

Halloween has made me think about this allergy even more. Think about all the treats that people hand out to their Trick-ot-Treater's. Chocolate bars upon chocolate bars that have nuts in them. I used to be one of those people, too. My favourite chocolate bar is Reese's Pieces. But did you know that 1 in 4 children is highly allergic to nuts? Peanut or tree nuts. We bought a box of chocolate bars that says right on the box that they were made in a peanut-free factory (it didn't say tree nuts but Cheyenne isn't eating any of the chocolate anyway!) But what are other people going to give her? Obviously we'll be going through all the goodies she gets on Sunday and throw away (or quickly eat them ourselves!) any foods that might contain nuts.

Or Christmas. How many of you have chocolates, and nuts, sitting around your place during the holiday season for you and guests to snack on while you visit? Lindt? Ferrer Rochere? Yup, they have nuts.

I feel like people might think that we are now an inconvenience to them if they invite us over. We do ask that who ever is bringing food not bake or cook with nuts and that there's no nut products lying around and that the floors are swept or vacuumed before we come over. (Cheyenne is still into picking crumbs off the floor and eating them, that's why.)

But this is our reality. We had to redefine our "normal". That's all. Life goes on as usual. Our daughter has a serious life threatening allergy and there is nothing that I will do to even potentially put her at risk.

I never would have thought about any this had I not been put in this position, so I hope that I can open your eyes to see this in a new light, maybe for the first time. If you have kids in school, be thoughtful of the other children in their classes and don't pack peanut butter sandwiches or walnut muffins, etc. Us parents of children with allergies would greatly appreciate it!

Anyway, that my food for thought for the day. No pun intended. ;) Enjoy your weekend and don't forget that tomorrow is the last day to get your name entered into my draw for a free mini photo shoot!!!

Burnaby Newborn Session / RYLEE

Last Tuesday I had the opportunity to photograph little Rylee. She was born a few weeks ago to Tressa and Denis and it was very exciting to finally meet her! Such a wee little baby! You forget how small they start out in this world.

Rylee was a perfect model. Hardly any crying, she looked into the camera, she even gave me a smile!

I hope you enjoy these pictures!!

What It's All About

God has given me an artistic eye - to view the world, His creation, through my lens. I am so grateful that I'm able to take pictures. Able to interpret life, nature, people, relationships, in a way that speaks beauty to me.

When I decided to start my photography business in January I told my husband that I really wanted to give it a go. I wanted to see if I could actually go somewhere with it. I said that I would try it for a certain amount of time and if I really sucked then I would just sell my equipment or just continue to do it for myself, as a hobby. Well, it turns out I have some skills. Not the best skills, not all the skills, but I have some skills. Clients are proving this to me. My calendar is proving this to me as I have many days marked with photo shoots, ones that are already done and ones that are yet to come.

It makes me so, so very happy when my clients love their pictures. It makes my day to read comments or emails from them saying how much they like the end result. It's humbling. I always think that they must be exaggerating in the words that they're using because I can't possibly be that good at taking pictures. And maybe I'm not, but I think I capture those moments that make people smile and think, "That's us! She captured us. Natural. Loving. Us." That's my hope, at least, that I've captured moments that you can forever look back on and remember, specifically, all the things you were thinking and feeling at that time, in that moment, with that person.

But honestly, your words. Your words are overwhelming. Words like speechless, love, gorgeous, stunning. Phrases like best picture of us ever, can't stop staring at them, your pictures keep getting better and better, you really capture something special. Every time I read your comments I literally get goose bumps on my skin and a huge smile on my face. This is what it's all about.

The moment I stop getting goose bumps at someone's revelry over my pictures is the day that I will stop taking pictures. I hope that I will never become arrogant or cocky about my work and always offer advice or tips to those just starting out in the business because I too am just starting out and know how much I valued Photographer's time and answers to my questions. You can hold me to this. Keep me in check!

Thanks to all of you, again. I wouldn't be succeeding in this early stage of my business if it wasn't for you.

Family Sneak Peak!

Before I show you what I was up to this afternoon I wanted to remind you all that there are only 4 days left to have your name entered into my draw for a free mini photo shoot! Last day to enter is this Sunday, October 31, 2010, and I'll be picking the winner at some point on Monday, November 1, 2010. To find out how you can get your name entered into the draw click HERE.

Back to today. I was supposed to do this photo shoot on Monday but it was just pouring rain that day. Like, we're talking torrential down pour. So we had to cancel. Which turned out to be a good thing because today was gorgeous! Clear skies and sunny! A little chilly with the wind, but at least we got some pictures!

This is one of my favourite families. On top of that, their daughter is one of the cutest little girls ever (second to mine of course!) so taking pictures of them is not a problem at all! Little Kherington is just about 7 months old now. You might remember her from a newborn session I did of her when she was only 5 weeks old. She still has the same sparkling blue eyes though.

Here's 2 pictures from their session. More to come!

I Went Back

It feels like Winter here in Vancouver. This weekend was the first time I really felt it. The cold air piercing through the thickness of my sweater. Fingers so cold they make your husband jump when you touch his warm skin. Red noses. Socks. I hate wearing socks. They make my feet feel claustrophobic. No, really. I get these random attacks in the evening while I'm lying on the couch and start yelling at my husband to take my socks off as fast. as. possible. (My legs are usually sprawled over his lap when this happens. I don't expect him to come running downstairs just to take off my socks. That would be ridiculous. But the thought has crossed my mind ;) haha)

Cold weather brings rainy days. Rainy days bring cancelled photo shoots. That's what happens when you're a natural light photographer. You need natural light, aka the sun. Which means that I won't have as many shoots to blog about. So now I have to start being creative. Not sure how this will go as my mind is usually a constant state of mush, exerting all my energy and coherency toward my daughter. But I'll work on it!

I came to a realization today. Knowing who are are in Christ is directly linked to your confidence in yourself. I went through a good chunk of time where I really wasn't sure about where I stood in my faith and this so-called "life to the full" that Christ promised us if we follow Him. During this time I was constantly feeling not up to par. Felt like something was missing. I was a little depressed. I didn't have confidence in myself as a person, let alone anything I grew up to believe. It wasn't a fun state to be in. Always unsure and uncertain. About everything.

I remembered a time in my life when my faith was simple. There was no doubting or needing answers to questions that couldn't be answered. There was just faith. Clean and simple faith. Christ died for me. Check. Christ loves me. Check. Christ came and died for me to give me life and life to the full. Check. Done. Signed, sealed, delivered, I was His. But as I went on with my life different ideas and views and questions started to come up. I started needing answers to those questions that really could never be answered. I started doubting the hugeness of God. It happens. Lots of people go through a time of uncertainty in their faith. But God never does. He never stops loving us, never stops guiding us even if we haven't asked him to.

Anyway, long story short, I went back. I went back to my "old faith", back to when life was simpler because the Truth was greater. Having this new found understanding of Christ and His presence in my life has given me a new stance on life and in my confidence with myself. Somehow the two go hand in hand. I don't care if I don't have all the answers. I'm glad that I don't and that I can't. If we were able to figure out who God is and why everything happens the way it does then He wouldn't be God. We can't figure it all out, it's not possible. He's too great for that. His ways are so intricate and above and beyond anything that we could ever fathom that it's just not possible. And I love that.

Anyway, that's my rambling for the day. I've got a sick baby who's catching up on some much needed sleep right now (rough night in the Voth house last night) so I'm going to catch up on some work.

Enjoy your Tuesday!

"Wanna Come to Oz?"

I have a dear, dear friend who lives in Australia. Heidi. We also met at Capernwray Bible School in New Zealand over 7 years ago. She was one of my room mates for the first term and we clicked instantly. She only attended the Bible School for 3 months before moving on but those 3 months were enough to solidify a pretty great friendship.

In February of 2008, my husband and I were able to fly to Australia to attend Heidi's wedding. What an honour that was to be able to celebrate that day with her! Last September she came to me to see my daughter shortly after she was born. Now that's some friendship.

We don't talk often, the time difference is a bit of a bugger, but when we do it usually lasts a few hours. There's no holding back. There's no "how's the weather?" small talk. It's just full on, right away. I love it. And it only costs me 4 cents a minute to call her through my regular phone company. No 10-10- cheap long distance number or anything.

Well, Heidi's sister recently got engaged to a fine chap )who I was able to meet in January when they were travelling around here). I threw out the idea of me photographing the wedding to Heidi during one of our more recent conversations but didn't think anything would actually come of it. This last Wednesday I received an email from her with the subject line: Wanna come to Oz?

Ummmm... heck yes I do!!!!!!

So I am! In March. Tickets are booked. Holy cow! What an amazing opportunity for me! Not only do I get to visit my dear friend again, but I get to photograph another wedding, in a gorgeous country at a gorgeous venue, with a stunning couple! Seriously, could there BE anything better than that? I submit that there cannot! =)

That's all for today. Just wanted to share my excitement with you!

Perfect Gift

Well folks, it's happening. Christmas is coming. It's literally a couple months away. Two to be exact. Plus a day or 2, depending on what day you do your celebrating/gift opening. (I'm a Christmas Eve girl myself!)

So. You've probably already picked your names or have some idea of what you need to buy for your family members. But isn't there always that one person that you have NO idea what to get them for Christmas? It could be your Dad or Uncle Henry or your uber high maintenance sister. Either they have everything, don't want what you're getting them, or are too picky that they give you the barcode of exactly the t-shirt they want leaving no element of surprise.

How 'bout throwing them for a loop and getting them something they would NEVER expect but will love you for? What is this miracle gift? A Gift Certificate for a photo session with me!

If you're interested, contact me for my Rates and Packages!

Have a great weekend!

Vanier Park Engagement Session / KELLY & DEREK

Kelly and I met just over 7 years ago. We attended Capernwray Bible School in New Zealand for 6 months together (the same one where I met Ruth!) Derek and Kelly got engaged this summer while touring some wineries in the Okanagan. Last week (on my anniversary!) I was able to take some engagement pictures for them.

We had fabulous weather and a gorgeous location. Vancouver is unbelievable. You can find such a vast variety of locations for photo shoots, all within a block of each other! I met Kelly and Derek at Vanier Park by the Maritime Museum and we had a great time! I love the results. Kelly and Derek are a Gorgeous couple, with a capital G. Wowsa. I definitely have too many favourites but did my best to condense them down as much as possible for this post!!

Enjoy!