Archive for the 'personal' Category

My golf score is unimpressive but I can rock an argyle sweater!

Published
by
Alyssa
on January 23, 2010
in family and personal
. 1 Comment

If you are wondering why I have been MIA from my blog for so long it is because I have been busy entertaining guests, climbing rocks, jumping off cliffs, snorkeling with dolphins, boating, beaching, winning at game night, golfing, watching Avatar in 3D IMAX, enjoying the occasional Mai Tai, and of course photographing my wonderful clients. I am sure this sounds like all fun and games to you, and it is, but I am telling you being on vacation is hard work! Ever since Aven was born 5 months ago we have had a steady stream of visitors coming through the Turner hotel, I mean house. In fact there have been a total of 12 people come 2 at a time and take up residence in our guest room. We have another 13 already scheduled during the month of March. We LOVE to host and entertain company, however even this party girl is ready to turn in her noise maker. Vacationing is quite the life but 5 months of spending money like I am on vacation, eating like I am on vacation, staying up late on a school night like I am on vacation, and neglecting my house like I am on vacation equals an empty pocket book, tight jeans, bags under the eyes, and dust bunnies! I am looking forward to February when I can have one whole guest free month to get back to the gym, start eating healthy again, finish all my editing, catch up on all my shows, and enjoy some quite family cuddles on the couch. My list of things I have been putting on the back burner has been adding up faster then my Farmville and Mafia War requests on Facebook.

That being said, instead of staying home and nagging my husband to fix the shower handle that has been broken for 4 weeks, we did the responsible thing and went golfing. So picture this little foursome on the course: You have my dad and his wife that are retired and could golf a game under 75 in their sleep, and Ben and I who dust off our clubs once every 2 or 3 years. Needless to say after the third hole Ben and I’s golf scores looked more like a really good bowling score and we decided to switch to a Texas scramble. So the rest of the game my dad and step mom tried to fix all the shots that Ben and I messed up, and Donna pulled the girls through for a win!  I have decided that the only thing I really like about golf is driving the cart, and rocking the argyle sweater. I also came to the conclusion that a game is not a game without some cheating, heckling,  and some good ol fashion trash talk! That is what I brought to the table.  By the way all these pictures were taken with my new 5D Mark II that my parents got me for Christmas!

 

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Check out that form

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this is what retired looks like

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Dad I know you are in Hawaii but you don’t have to stay in the beach all the time!

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Girls Win! Better get back to the driving range boys!

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Aven 3 Months!

Published
by
Alyssa
on November 19, 2009
in family and personal
. 2 Comments

Why is it that your nine month pregnancy lasts ten years, but once your precious bundle finally arrives the clock moves into fast forward mode?  I cannot believe Aven has been bringing joy to our family for three months already!  I keep telling my kids to stop growing or I am going to ground them, but they never listen to me.  Aven especially.  She has doubled her birth weight already.  She went from petite baby, to mini sumo wrestler over night.  She has creases and rolls all over her pudgy little body.  My favorite is the tiny little fat roll over her ankle.  I am a little upset that everyone thinks her fat rolls are so cute but  mine are not.  Why can’t my double chin be as cute as hers?

Aven once again slept through most of her photo shoot.  I swear she is the easiest, most content, not to mention cutest baby ever!  I know every mother thinks that of their children, but it is true.  She is the cutest Aven Turner I know!  I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.  Can you say P-H-O-T-O-G-E-N-I-C?

 

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This girl does not have a “bad side”

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Special thanks go out to a former bride of mine Kayatana for the adorable pink fuzzy hat.  Here is the picture I promised you!  Also to my great photographer friend Irene Frankhouse for taking the last two pictures of me and Aven.  I can’t wait until her 6 month photo shoot!

 

 

Just call me Martha!

Published
by
Alyssa
on October 3, 2009
in personal
. 2 Comments

I cannot believe it has been two weeks since my last post.  Life has been a whirl wind of events lately and I have been spending my days running in several different directions at the same time.  Between my photography, a new baby, kids homework, visitors, work outs, house cleaning, ex-cetera ex-cetera, I have not had a minute to sit down.  So please bear with me as I try to grab hold of the reins and slow this ride down a little.  My short term goal is to strive to be a better more personal blogger.  After all the main reason I started this blog was so people could not  only get to see my most recent work but for people to get to know me.  When someone hires me to shoot a wedding or capture their special family moments I want them to not only love my work but I want them to connect with me.  So today I am going to let you in on a little secret you may not have know.  I don’t know for sure, and have no way of proving this for certain but I think I might just be Martha Stewart’s distant cousin twice removed.  This would be the only logical reason to explain how I just finished making the worlds most prettiest, most yummiest peach and apple pies.  These pies are so pretty, and so yummy that there just has to be a little Martha Stewart blood running through these veins.  Well that and my mother’s award winning secret pie crust recipe.  Well truth be told it has never actually won an actual award, however that is only because we have never entered it in the worlds most prettiest most yummiest pie contest.  Because if we entered these pies in the worlds most prettiest most yummiest pie contest, my mother’s secret pie crust recipe, and my Martha Stewart blood lines would be sweeping the nation and snatching up awards at bake offs world wide.  A picture is worth a thousand words so feast your eyes on these babies.  Wait you might want to grab a napkin first to whip up all that drool that will be dripping from the corners of your mouth.

 

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Being the next best thing to  Martha Stewart is dirty work but someone has to do it…

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Having the world’s cutest assistant doesn’t hurt either!

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Lip smakin delicious!

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Aven Kennedy Turner

Published
by
Alyssa
on August 16, 2009
in family and personal
. 1 Comment

Sorry I have been MIA for the past few days but I have been busy snuggling my baby girl.  Aven Kennedy Turner made her way into the world on August 3, 2009.  She was a whole 6lbs 2oz of pure precious. I can not even put into words what a blessing she is to our family.  I never thought I would be a mother of five but I cannot imagine my life without these five little personalities in it.  Everyone tells me my babies are not normal because they are so content, they never cry, and they pretty much sleep through the night from birth.  I thought I was really pushing my luck with a fifth child and was sure that this would be the one who had colic and made me endure many sleepless nights.  However I must have a horseshoe in places I will not mention because we have another perfect baby. The only time I have even heard her cry is during her bath.  If bath time is her only complaint then I consider myself  one lucky mommy. Another bonus of having 5 children is that labor was a cake walk.  I labored for a whopping two hours, and strained myself through one push before Aven made her grand entrance.  I felt so good that I was back shooting a wedding just 2 days after I was discharged.  I don’t think I have even sat down since I left the hospital.  Not because I have a new born,  because like I said she is an angel, but because I am in the middle of wedding season and I had to hit the ground running! Aven is 12 days old today and of course we have already had the first of MANY photo shoots.  She slept through the whole thing and was her perfect little self!  Here are some of my most favorite pictures of my precious little Aven!

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The fifth times a charm!

Published
by
Alyssa
on July 18, 2009
in family, maternity and personal
. 3 Comments

As soon as I saw that little plus sign on that little stick that confirmed we had indeed been blessed with a fifth child I told myself that I was finally going to bite the bullet and get some professional maternity pictures done.  However,  when my belly started to grow and grow, and then my rear decided it would be fun to go into competition with my belly I started to change my mind.  Combined with the fact that the camera adds ten pound I decided the last place I needed to be found was in front of it.  Yes people always tell me I have an excuse because I am  pregnant,  but it does not make you feel any better when you squeeze into a pair of maternity pants and then have to give up your right to breath for the rest of the day.  So I told my good friend Irene of Irene Frankhouse Photography that maternity photos were out of the question and she pinned me to the ground and started twisting my arm until I screamed uncle.  I was wincing in pain from all the twisting and finally raised my white towel and gave in.  You would think I would be upset with her for being so rough on the fat girl but all I can do is thank her because the pictures turned out better then I could have imagined.  I thought that she may have used a magic wand but I think she is just the fabulous at what she does!  Here are my favorites!

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My new favorite shoot location

Published
by
Alyssa
on June 21, 2009
in personal
. 0 Comments

One of my favorite places to shoot pictures lately has been the train station.  I have been trying to take all my kids there individually and get some updated shots.  I now have three down and one to go.  Here is some of my favorite shots from Addison and Corben’s shoot.

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Seriously Can She Get Any Cuter?

Published
by
Alyssa
on June 4, 2009
in personal
. 1 Comment

There are just a few more days before school lets out and my house will go from being peaceful during the day to being an absolute mad house.  No longer will my couch be a place to cuddle with Londyn and watch TV, but instead the couch will be masterfully transformed into a trampoline.  Dishes will be piled into the sink, and peanut butter will be stuck in places I won’t be able to find for weeks.  All my conversations will consist of me trying to convince my children that they have every toy under the sun and there is no possible way that they can be soooo bored.  So while the kids are counting down the days to summer vacation I am trying to enjoy these last few fleeting moments of sweet alone time with Londyn.  So yesterday we decided to get her dressed up, put some curls in her long blonde hair and head to the rail station for a photo shoot.  She packed up her snacks and a water bottle and was an absolute doll the whole time.  I am just not sure if she could be any cuter if she tried.  I want to grab a fork, eat her up, and wash her down with an ice cold watermelon lemonade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodbye 2008 Hello 2009

Published
by
Alyssa
on January 10, 2009
in personal
. 0 Comments

Goodbye 2008 Hello 2009

Wow I cannot believe we are in 2009 already.  The holiday season seemed to fly by so fast again this year.  We had a great Christmas and were so happy to have my in-laws here from Texas to celebrate with us this year!  One down side to living in Hawaii is that I always miss the white Christmas I always had when growing up in Canada.  Now do not get me wrong I do not miss winter one bit.  I just miss that blanket of snow on Christmas but am perfectly happy to bid fair well the very next day!  Although we have now lived in Hawaii for 5 years and have begun to come accustom to a warm Christmas.  This year our family got a Christmas gift that we were not expecting.  We recently found out that we are expecting our 5th child.  I know we were just as shocked as you are!  We thought we were finished, but apparently God had a different plan for us.  Now that the news has had some time to sink in we are getting excited about having an even bigger family!
So needless to say we are very excited for the upcoming year.  I am hoping to stay very busy with my photography and this being my 5th pregnancy it will take more then a big belly to slow me down.  Capturing a family’s joy and a couple’s love in the moment is what I love to do and what better way is there to pass the time as we wait for our new addition.  Yes I am expecting great things for 2009 and I hope all you people in internet world are feeling as blessed as I am as we start a new year.  
I will leave you with a few photos from our Turner Christmas!  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Published
by
Alyssa
on November 30, 2008
in personal
. 0 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ok so I am a little late getting these Thanksgiving pictures up but for the past two days there has not been very many moments in the day where I did not have a Turkey leg in one hand and a slice of apple pie in the other. In fact, I am typing right now with one finger as I shove an oatmeal cranberry cookie into my mouth.
This is the second year that we have hosted Thanksgiving day dinner and did all the cooking from scratch. It always makes me feel like such a grown up! This year we got even better at perfecting the meal and did much better at timing everything to be ready at the same time. This is also the day I put my perfectionist tendencies aside and let the kids dive in and get dirty in the kitchen, and boy do they get dirty!
After our bellies were full we brought out all the boxes of decorations and gave our house a Christmas makeover. We have been in Hawaii for five years and I still feel so weird putting up a tree when it is 85 degrees outside. I have to blast the air conditioner and brew hot chocolate to help set the mood!
I think I might be getting used to it though because I am really in the Christmas spirit this year!
Friday, I braved the crowds of Black Friday shoppers and got most of my Christmas shopping finished. It was a long day, but I felt very accomplished when I got home and massaged my sore little piggies. Now I have the tedious job of wrapping!
  

Happy Halloween!

Published
by
Alyssa
on October 29, 2008
in personal
. 0 Comments

Happy Halloween!

It feels like I just blinked once and summer was over and we are rounding the corner on Halloween!  Where does the time go?  My kids are all getting very excited about all the Halloween activities and most of all the obnoxious amounts of CANDY!  With four kids trick or treating we end up with enough candy to build a small island by the end of the night.  Londyn has mastered the fine art of being so cute that she can stick her hand out for seconds at every house and they never turn her down.  We are going to be in trouble with the one.  She is only two and already knows all she can achieve by battering her beautiful blue eyes.
Last weekend I took on quite the adventure and hauled all my kids to the Polynesian Cultural Center for a full day….in the RAIN.  We are not talking about a little sprinkle of rain.  We are talking about cats and dogs falling from the sky and splashing up in our face RAIN.  The kids had a blast, and I being the great mom that I am, I endured!  The whole purpose of the trip was to go on the new haunted boat ride they are hosting at night.  So after sludging though 6 hours  in the rain it was finally time to get in the hour long line up for the boat.  SO here we are with 4 kids, 1 hour long line up, still raining, but maybe even a little bit harder by this point……It just gets better and better!  So we finally make it onto the boat which at this point has a foot of water floating in the bottom.  The kids are  bumping the people in front of them with their umbrellas and they are in return glaring me down.  I better be getting mother of the year for this!  So the boat ride starts and I have to say it was scarier then I thought it would be.  Not so much for me but I had two screaming children with their heads berried in my chest begging me to turn around.  Did I mention that this was about two minutes into a 25 minute ride.  I should also mention that the two ladies in front of me that had been whacked by my children’s umbrella several times were just loving me even more then ever now.  There were monsters jumping out and grabbing us from the water, a guy chasing us with a chain saw, ghosts walking on water.  My two youngest kids were crying hysterically!  Just when I think I finally got them calmed down and let them know that it was all just pretend two zombies come out of the grave yard grab one of the patrons (who was obviously planted) off the boat kicking a screaming, drug her into the woods and began to pretend to chop her with the axe.  Yes this is the point where MY KIDS COMPLETELY LOST IT!  So here we are on a scary boat, in the dark, in the  pouring down rain, soak and wet with our feet floating in a foot of water, two kids trying to crawl back into my womb where they can be nice and safe, two old women glaring at me, my other two girls wanting more, and me clicking my heels together chanting “please take me home!  Please take me home!”  The ride finally came to and end and I carried the kids to the car, each weighing an extra ten pounds in wet clothes.  We got to the car, rang out our clothes, (literally) and  went through the McDonald’s drive through for the second time in one day.  Maybe I do not deserve mother of the year after all.  Moral of the story:  Next time you look out your window and it is raining cats and dogs,  turn around, pull those covers back, and get back in bed!
Happy Halloween!