Spring has sprung in my horse pasture!

My daughter turned 8! I can not believe I am a mother of an 8 year old! AND that she is growing up so fast! This shoot wasn’t really even a shoot, just her after school as we passed her favorite patch of flowers growing along the road. In the midst of how busy life can be these days, it is always good to take a step back and reflect on the little things…like our growing children! This is so my daughter, nature lover, flower picker, cowboy boot wearing diva! Happy Birthday to you TT! I love you!

What is Girl’s Day!?

Well I asked myself the same question my first year living in Hawaii.  I have learned a lot about the custom in my time here and have been to friends homes for Girl’s Day celebrations where the families set up the most beautiful altars of amazing handcrafted wooden dolls, drank sake, ate arare and yummy mochi and simply celebrated their girls.  The custom derived from Japan and the custom of displaying dolls began during the Heian period.  Girl’s Day traces its origins to an ancient Japanese custom called hina-nagashi.

Although I am not Japanese, and I have yet to get my daughter an actual Japanese wooden doll, they tend to be very pricy, we usually observe the custom by having a Girl’s Day of our own

So no matter where you’re from or what nationality you are, give your girl a big hug today and let her know you celebrate her!

Happy Girl’s Day!

It’s amazing to me sometimes that such natural beauty still exists! I feel so lucky in my life to have spent my days in such beautiful places. To have grown up in one of the most competition rich cities full of culture and inspiration, to have been able to travel to some of the most astounding landscapes and now to have my abode in one of the worlds most beautiful islands.  In a modern world so polluted with greed, man-made toxins and structures, to me I find peace and inspiration amongst nature, its silence, its colors and its beauty.

These two handsome boys were the first Schmidt grandkids!  My how time flies and how they have grown.  These guys had me laughing the whole time photographing them, from the funny faces, silly poses and wrestling matches we had a ball till the sun set! They didn’t hold anything back!!  That’s what is fun about photographing family Noah, the handsome older one, was out for his modeling debut and having a ball posing for the camera…he liked this so much I think he may have a promising career in modeling…when he becomes a famous tennis player, I better have the honor to photograph him for a magazine  Christian, was fun loving and silly, with his striking blue eyes he’s bound to win the hearts of many.  There is nothing like family to make your heart happy and your smile bright!  Family inspires me!

My daughter and I were hiking out by our property one afternoon when she stopped and stared at the formation of mushrooms along a log. “MOM, LOOK!  It’s a hotel for fairies!”  Her imagination and innocence inspires me daily!