Archive for the 'personal' Category

Addison’s Birthday Shopping Extravaganza!

Published

on June 6, 2010

. 0 Comments

I am a girly girl, and God knew that although I love to go camping and fishing with the best of them, I needed some pink bows and nail polish in my life. So God blessed me with four little shopping partners! I have trained them well in the ways of the mall, and one day they will go forth on their own and do my proud! My eldest shopping partner just turned 11 and is now calling herself a pre pre teen. This is quite fitting considering she is 11 going on 17. Addison is the spitting image of me. From the color of her hair, to her posture, all the way down to her attitude, we are one in the same. This being said, we can spend entire days butting heads, and having long “discussions” in which we are both always right! However when all the pre-teen drama is set aside we are best friends. We are best friends who love to shop! So every year on Addison’s birthday her and I take a day just the two of us. We wake up early, get all dressed up, and hit the malls from sun up to sun down. This has become one of our favorite days of the year. Addison gets a new wardrobe and I get priceless time bonding with my oldest daughter. This was the third annual mommy daughter birthday shopping extravaganza! Although it is usually a day for just the two of us, this year we decided to celebrate with our two BFF’s Debbie and Adele. It became a mother daughter shopping trip for two. Which of course ment double the laughs, double the shopping, and double the fun. Knowing that our BFF’s are moving away at the end of the month this day was bitter sweet. But for right now in this moment I am only going to think about the sweet. I am going to cherish the day and all the great memories we made. I will focus on the sweet and let my husband worry about the bitter when he gets his credit card bill. For me this day was all about my sweet daughter, our sweet friends, and most important the sweet deals we SCORED! We scored good food at Macaroni grill, we scored fantastic deals at Macy’s, and most of all we scored the best friends, and daughters these mommies could ask for!

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Addison is rocking her first pair of designer jeans. Happy 11th Birthday! I love you!

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Aven please stop GROWING!

Published

Alyssa

on May 19, 2010

in family and personal

. 1 Comment

Well it is time for Aven to grace my blog with her adorable little face again! I cannot believe my little baby is almost 10 months already. How did this happen? I mean it has to be entirely impossible that ten months have gone by since her birth. I know this because my butt is no where near fitting into my pre pregnancy jeans yet. So either she is still only two months old and just large for her age, or I need to face the reality that while she continues to grow up, I continue to grow out! I had better head straight to the gym without passing go, or collecting $200. Unfortunately she really is 10 month, and I really am still FAT. Either way both points are just a little disturbing and I might need to down a tub of Ben and Jerry’s and a bottle of red wine to numb the pain of this reality. The fact that Aven is growing way to fast is hitting me a little harder this time then with the rest because this time I know, with out a doubt, that this is my last baby. This is the last little squishy, chubby, diaper wearing, dimpled kneed little baby that will be joining our family. Thankfully I will at least be blessed with tons of grandchildren one day, but that is several years down the road. For as long as Ben and I have been married we have always had a baby in the house, and I cannot believe this is going to be the last time. I love every stage she goes through even better then the one before. Right now she is crawling all over, gives out a belly laugh when you tickle her, raises her arms when you go to pick her up, and lights up when you come in a room. I love this stage! I cannot stop time but I can capture this moment in time and make it last a life time. So here she is at 9 months in all her dimpled knee glory. I love this kid!

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Thanks to Irene for capturing this photo of Aven and I!

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

Published

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!