I hope you’ll enjoy these pictures of baby Cameron and her family. There is just something about babies. Those tiny toes, the little yet strong finger… Cameron’s family is certainly enjoying their newest addition, and you can clearly see why. She’s as sweet as can be.

As for motherhood, I know this… that until I became a mother myself, I had no idea how much mom mother loved me. And how truly deep love could go. I’d like to wish Cameron’s mommy, and all the other mommies out there a truly wonderful Mother’s Day.

A Mother’s love is something
that no on can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away . . .
It is patient and forgiving
when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
even though the heart is breaking . . .
It believes beyond believing
when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty
of the rarest, brightest gems . . .
It is far beyond defining,
it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendoured miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God’s tender guiding hand.
-Helen Steiner Rice, A MOTHER’S LOVE

I confess that I’m not able to get our family portraits done as often as we’d like and should. Like the expression of the Cobbler’s children being the ones without shoes, I’ll use the excuse that we’re too busy taking other families portraits. That, or before you know it, life gets in the way. Well, the Goodales had finally scheduled our own family portraits session. We determined a date and a time that would work out perfect, when a couple days before… Life stuck. Charlie was sitting at the bottom of the ladder of his bunk bed when he stood up only to learn that his feet decided not to help. He fell face first on the edge of a Rubbermaid box that he keeps his Legos in. My poor baby. At least he didn’t get seriously hurt. Now our family portraits have been postponed, but we WILL get them taken.

Charlie's scratch

SPEAKING OF CHARLIE…
A little over a month ago, my little guy decided to go from a long-haired surfer boy, to a buzz-cut buddy. He told us he wanted to have his hair cut like his friend’s father, who happens to shave his head. He said he was sure that’s what he wanted, so Chris took care of it for him. Here are some pictures from it. Personally, the one where he’s in the middle of the new do cracks me up. It looks like he’s got a bad case of mange. LOL

Take a look at the lovely Anne and her 3 handsome boys! As if being cute wasn’t enough, these boys are also the sweetest kids around. Anne and I became close when I was photographing Aliah & Travis’s wedding in Mexico a couple years ago. We had a great time then, and the time has finally come when we would be able to make Anne and her young men the subjects in the camera. It was an ideal session, lots of fun, with real smiles and happy hearts captured in the images. Now, I just need to hope that perhaps Anne’s boys will be willing to play with my little munchkins so some of their extra good manners will rub off on my guys.

It’s that time of year again. The Lakeside Rodeo is about to get underway in my hometown of Lakeside. Along with the pageant for the Miss Rodeo Lakeside 2010. I’ve had the pleasure of photographing more than a few of the wonderful people on the rodeo circuit, and it’s such a treat. This year, Donna have been honored with the getting to take the portraits of ALL the Miss Rodeo Lakeside 2010 contestants.

I confess that when I was a kid, I thought the entire Lakeside Western Days that come with the rodeo where all happening for my birthday. Can you say egocentric? Don’t worry, I’ve gotten better. And besides, my parents feed that idea to me. Since it all happens around my birthday, I think my parents used the parade, carnival and the rodeo as my birthday party activities. It was a long time ago, and long before the jumpie parties of today, so you can’t blame them.

Good luck to each of the contestants. Any of them would be a wonderful representative of Lakeside.

To see this even larger, go to http://video214.com/play/dtx1FfDZsDsGUYg70SCltQ/s/dark?res=hq

Miss Rodeo Lakeside 2010 from Geri Goodale on Vimeo.

Some days are just blessed, and that’s how the wedding day of Mike & Kathleen seemed. Perfect day, a couple deeply in love, all wrapped up in the warmth and tenderness of family and friends. Their wedding was beautiful and took place a Point Loma Nazarene University, and their wedding reception, held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, was one of the best. Not because it was the biggest, because it wasn’t, it was simply and sincerely a lot of fun. Capturing priceless moments between people is what gets us excited about what we do. Moments between the bride and groom are beyond exquisite, but there’s more than that at a wedding. Like the moment below of Kathleen and her father. When a father sees his baby girl on her wedding day and has to hold back the tears… that’s that kind of moment that bring a tear to our eyes too.

Here’s to Kathleen & Mike and a Marriage Blessed!

Donna and I went out for a day of play with many fabulous San Diego and Orange County area photographers. It was a great time having the chance to join up with the San Diego Photog Shootout for their January outing. Interacting with this community of photographic artists, and having what has to be some of the hottest models on this earth to work with… how can you have a bad day.

Donna and I, like many San Diegans, love our home town. The weather is ideal and each area of the city has it’s own vibe. I (Geri) grew up in Lakeside, and have watched it grow and change over the years, and I’m proud so many people are doing so much to make this an even better place for everyone.

This last Saturday, we were proud to photograph the Once in a Blue Moon auction and dinner fundraiser for the Lakeside’s River Park Conservancy. It’s mission is to preserve and restore the San Diego River while integrating recreational, educational and cultural opportunities for all to enjoy.

The Conservancy’s Executive Director, Robin Rierdan, and her team have worked hard to make the local stretch of the San Diego River something everyone in Lakeside can be proud of. Lakeside’s River Park Conservancy is also supported of by many others, including Supervisor, Dianne Jacob. I’m not sure of any other supervisor who gets more involved in their district than Ms. Jacob does for our community.

Personally, I was proud to see the efforts of people whom I have been looking up to for years, continue to be driving forces in the improvements of Lakeside. People like my next door neighbors and high school teachers; and new positive people in my life like many other parents from my son’s school that supported this event. It was a blast sitting down with them and enjoying some fabulous food from a great local restaurant, Mario’s (which happens to be my son Charlie’s favorite), while supporting such a special cause for our community.

Jean Echelberger with the Observation Deck in the background that was made possible with a donation from her family trust.

Supervisor Dianne Jacob addressing the crowd, and again below with Robin Rierdan

Last night, I (Donna) had the pleasure of photographing the Honselaar hotties…the intent was to photograph the youngest for her birthday pics and the older two in their dance costumes. As a photographer, I believe that I have the responsibility to not only capture smiling faces but also to catch those single moments in time that you can never get back. Every once in a while I capture a moment that says what words can’t…the pleasure that Cindy gets raising three gorgeous, sweet little girls. I have photographed Cindy and family for almost 10 years and watched her girls grow from tiny infants into the sweet things they are today!

This was an impromptu shot of Cindy and Addison I came across while editing. I think it is my favorite image ever of Cindy! Thank you Cindy for trusting me to capture your daughters as they get older and more beautiful every year!

Enjoy!

Donna and I are both football fanatics, and Donna gets to feed that hunger this season photographing many of the Grossmont Griffins football games. Enjoy the slideshow.

It was a beautiful day at Harry Griffin Park in La Mesa. Not only was the weather great, but the people in front of the lens were a blast. The Davis boys were perfectly wiggly, and the parents were relaxed enough to remind us to focus on the things that really matter. It’s always a treat to be around people who can reflect the depth of enjoyment a family brings.