Stanley Cup

I have been a casual fan of the Anaheim Ducks since day one. I went to their very first game back in 1995, as well as a few other games over the years and watched games occasionally on T.V., but did not really follow the team, until 2006. I could not have picked a better season to watch, because for the first time in franchise history, the Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup.

The Stanley Cup is the oldest trophy in professional sports in North America and is a bit of a celebrity in its own right. It has appeared in television shows, beer commercials and has several handlers that accompany it everywhere it goes all around the world.

One of the perks of winning the Stanley Cup is that each member of the winning team gets to have the trophy for one day. Usually, this time involves taking the Cup to their home town, celebrating with family, friends and the community as a whole and, of course, lots of photographs.

The team owners, Henry and Susan Samueli, shared part of their day with the Cup with the members of their temple, and I was fortunate to be invited to photograph. In about two hours, over two hundred people posed with, hugged, kissed and even licked it. It was a crazy experience and I could not have done it without the help of my friend, and fellow photographer, Erika.

Though there was not much time to think, let alone talk with anyone, I did get to hear the story of one boy who came with an 8x10 photograph of his grandfather posing in the locker room with the Stanley Cup just after winning the championship. And then there was this little charmer, who won the hearts of everyone there.



The Ducks play their first game of the 2008 playoffs tomorrow night. Go Ducks!

Look What I Made

Continuing my review of some of the highlights of 2007, in June, we hosted a party at Look What I Made, an arts and crafts play space in Long Beach. It is a great space with lots for kids to explore and create, all at their own pace. There are four large craft tables, each with a different project, three easels, and a dedicated play area.

Aviss (the owner) and Eva were great at making everyone feel comfortable, assisting and encouraging the children, ensuring the materials were available when inspiration struck, and carefully packing up all of the art for the children to take home. Everyone had a great time!

One of the things I love most about Look What I Made is that there is lots of room for creative exploration and expression, without all of the set up and clean up. Look What I Made is open for parties on Saturdays, or you can drop-in any weekday that you and your child need a break from the daily routine.

Baking

I have photographed the Bachman's every year for the last seven years. Our portrait sessions usually include spending some time at their home and some time playing at a local park, but when rain forced us to stay indoors last year, they rolled up their sleeves, got out the mixer and made chocolate chip cookies. The kids loved it and mom and dad got great pictures of their children enjoying a rainy day at home together.

There are many ways to say I love you

There are many ways to say I love you,
There are many ways to say I care about you.
Many ways, many ways, many ways to say, I love you.

There's the cooking way to say I love you,
There's the cooking something someone really likes to eat.
The cooking way, the cooking way, the cooking way to say, I love you...

In this simple song, Mister Rogers talks about a few of the things parents and children can do to show their love for each other.

I sing it to myself when I am performing some of the more mundane (or challenging tasks) of parenting, and am reminded why I am doing them. You can easily substitute nearly any parenting chore - "there's the changing diapers way to say I love you", "there's the driving you to soccer practice way to say I love you", "there's the disciplining you way to say I love you", "there's the potty training way to say I love you", "there's the spending time with you way to say I love you", "there's the packing your lunch way to say I love you."

While photographing at Great Beginnings preschool last year, I was fortunate to spot the scene above, demonstrating the care with which the teachers set out the children's lunches each day and the love of the mom who packed one with a special note.

Here is a link to the song, with slightly different lyrics than the CD version.

Girl Scout Cookies

Ahh! Thin Mints. The perfect balance of chocolate, mint and cookie crunch. So refreshing, direct from the freezer on a warm spring day...

Somehow last year I missed Girl Scout Cookie Season. No one ever called, e-mailed or came to the door asking if I wanted to buy some. I never saw the familiar boxes on tables in front of the bank or the grocery store. I even photographed at the Girl Scout house in Seal Beach (Sun-N-Fun Preschool was temporarily meeting there), and still the season came and went with nary a care for my Thin Mint craving.

To make sure this does not happen again, I will give the first person who sells me a new box of Thin Mints a free portrait session!

UPDATE: I have a box of Thin Mints chilling in my freezer and one lucky girl scout has won a free portrait session for her family.

Caleb

One of the biggest highlights of 2007 was also one of the smallest. Our new nephew Caleb was just 3 lbs 14 oz when he was born in October. "Small" does not adequately express the size of this sweet little guy. One of the first photographs his proud father took was of Caleb's tiny hand grasping his wedding ring - it looked more like a large bracelet in his hand than a ring. Caleb is doing very well and we are in love with this new addition to our family.

Looking Back on 2007

Is the end of February too late to look back on the previous year? I hope not, because there are many things that I wanted to share last year, but did not have the time to post. So, in the next few days and weeks, I will post some of the highlights of 2007.