I am still exhausted, but I took a few minutes to process a couple of teasers from each event, so that my lovely clients will know how awesome they really made my weekend.

First up—Ashley and Kyle, whose wedding I shot with Jenica of Lemondrops Photography (me being the second shooter). They were absolutely two perfectly beautiful people, and I cannot wait to add more images from their wedding to my blog.

Second up—Travis. Travis is a senior at Mark Morris High School this year. He is an all around athlete and a fun, fun guy. His gorgeous Mom, Becky, whom I had met during one of my cooking classes, told me that it is next to impossible to make Travis smile—really smile, with a smile that comes from within. In the hour and a half that Travis and I spent together I had figured out that it could not be further from the truth—he was smiling, making faces, grimacing, and at times, acting a fool, but it was totally fun. We formed quite a bond with Travis. Here are a few shots as a preview—all the smiling shots are reserved for when I do a post about Travis’ session, so I can really tell you the whole story of how I made him smile.

And finally, an absolutely stunning, super-model couple, whose engagement session I photographed yesterday—Tiffany and Greg. They have quite a story to tell, which I will reserve for their own post. We found a very special location to do their engagement shoot (I was sworn to secrecy not to disclose it, so I am honoring it ). Their gorgeous looks and personalities only made the surroundings look even more interesting than they truly are. I cannot wait to do their wedding—they will just have to hurry up and get married sooner than they are planning… if only to make me happy .

Thank you, Ashley & Kyle (and Jenica), Travis, and Tiffany & Greg for allowing me to be a part of your life, even for a short period of time.

If you love the images you are seeing, make sure to add a comment at the bottom of this post and let my clients know how gorgeous they are !

Two days ago I saw him off to an adventurous weekend.   Here is he is beaming from ear to ear with the group leader, Doug.

My sister and niece were riding in the same vehicle.  You’ve got to love my niece’s pose here

Last minute walk through, to make sure all is well…

And off they went…

The night before I stayed up until 3 am in the morning, getting their food ready…

…so I was too exhausted until today to post any images

The team will be reaching Sacramento CA today in the late noon.  They are absolutely amazing.  To read as to why they are doing this marathon, make sure to visit my previous post here.  I cannot wait to see them get home tomorrow night.

]]> http://www.elenaphotographers.com/blog/2009/06/06/bitter-sweet-departure-happy-birthday-sweetheart/feed/ 1 http://www.elenaphotographers.com/blog/2009/01/08/announcement/ http://www.elenaphotographers.com/blog/2009/01/08/announcement/#comments Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:22:00 +0000 Elena http://www.elenaphotographers.com/blog/2009/01/announcement/ For all of you Russian speaking folk out there: my brother, Leonid Pisarchuk, just started a blog. He is a poet, pastor and an artist. Make sure to drop by and welcome him into the on-line community.

As I was driving to my sister’s house, I was awestruck by the nature. Bright colors of red, yellow, green and brown were sparkling around me in the afternoon sunlight. It seemed as if the majestic hills were whispering sweet lullabies into the ears of the trees, and the trees knew nothing better than to offer themselves in sweet surrender. As they were falling asleep, their leaves changed colors and silently fell to the ground, as if to become a blanket to the trees they grew on. I could almost hear the leaves whisper sweet “goodbyes” and “thank yous” to their mother-trees. They had to give back of themselves to their “mothers”, as they were given sap and nutrients and a chance to live by the trees throughout the year. They also had to let go of their short lives in order to pave a way for their “siblings” to be “born” the next year. They had to die so new life could come.

My heart silently praised my Lord for His death. Death that brought me life. Death that allowed me to be reborn and to be engrafted into the tree of eternity.

The cake was made by my sister Olga. Isn’t it a cutie?
And the inside looks as great as the outside…

Marina and Luba were in charge of entertainment and did such a wonderful job. One of the games they had everyone play was a great ice breaker. Each person was given split seconds (while Marina played music) to try to open the gift box with oven mittens. It was a riot to see everyone try their hardest to get to the gift through layers and layers of paper and a box. Luba gave everyone instructions on what to do and the fun began…
After great food and a games it was time for presents
Jason, Luba’s husband, along with his brother and my hubby crashed our girl-only party, and just in time for presents…
Luba looks so radiant!!! I can hardly believe she managed to stay so tiny.
I am not sure what she was whispering into his ear, but they are absolutely beautiful together, and just to think these two are responsible for bringing a miracle into this world (with God’s help, of course) is amazing. They are going to make me a proud auntie of a baby girl next month!!!
My Mom had knitted this little booties for her grand-daughter. They are picture perfect.

Luba & Jason, you both ROCK!!!

This independence day was like no other for us. Demetrye and I picked up three of our nephews from Vancouver to visit with us, since we missed them so much. They managed to stay up until 4 a.m. watching a movie and talking to each other. In the morning of the 4th we took them to visit with their Grandma. And what a visit it was!!! Mom arm-wrestled with her grandchildren. And let me tell you, she is much stronger than I am. She beat me on a couple of occasions.

Then Sasha decided to arm-wrestle Demetrye. Demetrye is left-handed, but had no trouble making Sasha sweat with his right arm, before mercilessly beating him.

The fun continued when the boys decided to wrestle…
Maxim was the only wise one–he ate fresh raspberries and watched.
Then we headed for the lake, where fireworks were supposed to be fired that night. Our church had a booth, selling Russian food, raising money to buy a new “home” (building).
I caught this “intense” stare-off moment between Yegor and Demetrye. I think Demetrye was trying to hypnotize Yegor into giving him free food.
This part goes to the Unsung Heroes of the Independence Day: people that make things happen.

My beautiful, ever-young sister Olga. She is so full of poise and grace.
The following two shots have something in common. I did not purposefully capture them this way and only discovered the commonality while loading images to PC… Take a wild shot at guessing what it is.
If you guessed that it was a young lady (my niece Luba) eating, you were right. Turns out, poor thing, was trying to get a bite to eat for about a half hour, but was constantly pulled in multiple directions. I think she was finally able to get her food down before getting back to work.
Alla, my niece, hard at work.
My brother Timothy and his beautiful wife Olga.
My brother and pastor, Leonid. He was responsible for making dough for pastries (krebli) and meat pockets.
My ever-gorgeous sister Marina.
And radiantly pregnant sister Luba. She was such a trooper. I don’t think she ever took a break from cooking and cleaning.
Aleksey (my nephew) and my sister Nadia were tirelessly at work the entire day as well.
And here is my sweet-heart at work with Jason, Luba’s husband.
The way Morgan and Gene worked cannot be put into words. They were in the heat of the kitchen on their feet since early morning until almost midnight with no breaks–men that made things possible and kept our cashiers busy.
Jessica… what a young lady!!! She is a superstar when it comes to selling. While I was rolling the dough (not rolling in the dough ) I could often hear her yell out: “RUSSIAN FOOD–SO GOOD!!!” Her voice was etched into my brain. I think that when I went to sleep that night I still could hear her.
Clinton and Zach serving up the last of “krebli” aka “elephant-ears”.
Tired but still beautiful…
And then it was time for the fireworks…
Thousands came out to watch.
God, bless America–our home, sweet home!

We started playing at around 7 p.m. As you can see it was still light out.

It was not long before Garrett caught on to the game and down came his shades and the poker face…

Demetrye and Irina did not want to be left out and wanted to look as cool… (So, I was the only honest face in the house… but I did hide behind my camera a few times to steal away these shots.) Look at Demetrye holding his dominos as if they were cards…
Forget the poker face… Demetrye could not hold his excitement when he scored.
You can see how dark it is outside… We finished playing at…. yep, 10:30 p.m.!!! Crazy, but so much fun. And would you look at these three…
While playing, we got to hear a story about Garrett’s proposal to Irina. It is one of the coolest I had heard so far, and maybe one day I will be able to share it.

Garrett & Irina, we had a great time!!! Oh, and I forgot to tell you this: Team W. (that is Demetrye and I) WON!!!! Yes we did!!!