Wishing you all a Merry Christmas! I hope you get to spend it with your loved ones ; )

Well, we have been back for a week, and I am sorry for not posting sooner! After a week of catching up I am ready to post some pictures from our awesome trip to Placerville, CA. Erik and I had a blast, as always, with his parents Rod & Lisa Souza, and we got to spend some time with Lauren (Erik’s sister) and our almost-3-year-old nephew Jacob. I haven’t been THAT relaxed in a very long time! Erik and I did some of our most favorite things – spending time with his family, driving around and taking lots for pictures of the beautiful scenery, eating at In-N-Out Burger (2 times), watching the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy (extended version), and catching up on sleep! We also had the opportunity to watch the extremely talented Lisa Souza in action – she is one UH-mazingly gifted artist (there will be a future post with images of her at work). Lisa taught me how to knit a couple of years ago, and after almost a year of not knitting, I am SO inspired to knit like crazy after seeing all of her awesome colorways. Yes, I saw her entire stash all in one place – in the guest house/studio where we slept. A color-freaks dream ; ) This is what I do in the off season. Erik plays video games.

On our first day there we headed in to “town” and Erik and I were so amazed to see how much Jake has grown. He didn’t forget us, thank goodness ; )

Jake was trying on hats – his Uncle Erik ended up buying him this one.

We got to play some ball! Here is Lauren sending it home:

Rod:

and Jake!

He eventually figured out that it is easier to hit the ball with his eyes open, but it took some practice.

Then Lisa, Rod, Erik and I drove up to Jenkinson Lake. We found this cool stump:

It was a perfect day! The sky was gorgeous. (especially with my infrared converted camera)

We were walking around a bit and saw a wolf. It was so beautiful. Unfortunately both Erik & I had on our wide lenses to shoot the landscape and we didn’t capture it. We just watched it walking around. I felt so lucky.

Then we headed up into the Sierra. It is so magical there! Here is another infrared:

The moss on the trees was incredible.

I love these trees – they feel like something out of a fantasy movie.

The views up there were breathtaking:

We passed through Silver Lake:

And then to Caples Lake. Apparently they had been draining the lake, which made for a crazy experience! There were many old stumps, and rocks and old objects (Erik found an old Bubble Up Soda bottle which was made in the 70’s) that were buried under the Lake since way back when.

A few years ago Erik and I went to see the Dorothea Lange and Pirkle Jones exhibit at the SF Moma on their documentation of Lake Berryessa before the dam was built. Mind you, the images looked very different, but the exhibit kept coming to mind…Sadly I can’t find any of the images themselves online.

It was like another world.

I will have more to post from our trip for sure. We took so many pictures ; )

Be sure to check out Lisa’s blog for her version – and you can see a picture of Erik & I “chimping“.

Hi Blog Readers! Â I just wanted to share this amazing e-mail I got from Dorothy and Kevin. Â I seriously get to work with the BEST couples!! Â I received this e-mail the other day, and it just reminded me WHY we do what we do and how lucky we are to have the coolest job ever! Â

Â

Vicki and Erik,

        I don’t know how to thank you enough for your amazing work on our engagement photos! When Kevin and I saw our engagement photos for the first time yesterday, we both almost cried. You managed to take the love we have for each other and infuse and reflect that in all the photos that you took and the result just took our breath away. And we are not the only ones who feel that way – in fact, everyone who has caught a glimpse of the photos has voiced the same amazement as we have at their beauty and quality. They’re just…well…perfect! I can hardly wait for the wedding! And above and beyond being great photographers, you both are just great people – and to Kevin and myself, that is hugely important! Unlike some photographers who give the impression that they’re out to do a job, you truly love what you do and you care about each of your couples’ stories and about telling those amazing love stories in photos. Aside from deciding to marry each other, hiring you as our photographers is one of the best decisions we’ve made! Please accept our heartfelt thanks and please know that you’ve contributed in such a positive way to the wedding planning process and to our love story. We look forward to talking to you soon!

Love,Â
Dorothy & Kevin