Now on to Hayden’s Bat Mitzvah! Hayden looked so beautiful and I loved meeting her family and witnessing my first ever Bat Mitzvah! The event was held at the Caboto Center and was perfectly and beautifully organized by the amazing Andrea of Soiree Event Planning – definitely give her a call if you’re planning an event or wedding and want some peace of mind that everything will be gorgeous and will run smoothly!

I met Hayden and her family a little before the Bat Mitzvah was set to begin and we took some family photos and portraits of Hayden. Then I grabbed some detail shots and then the Bat Mitzvah began – the singing was beautiful and I loved the beautiful garmets/sashes that Hayden and the Rabbi wore. It was a wonderful experience and everyone was so nice and fun, and I was so happy to work with Andrea for the first time! Thank you so much to Brenna, Hayden and your whole family, and thank you so much to Andrea for contacting me and being so wonderful!! Congratulations again, Hayden!! CLICK HERE for a slideshow from the day!

The family told Walter that a photographer was coming for some family photos, which was completely true, but they didn’t tell him that shortly after that lots of friends would be arriving to surprise him with an early 80th birthday party, so fun and sneaky! Shortly after I got there they did tell him and I loved seeing the surprise and shock and joy on his face, and then we took lots of fun family photos while everyone simultaneously went into high gear with decorating for the party and getting all the food ready. After the family photos I hung around for awhile to take some photos of the party decorations and guests and of Walter interacting with everyone. He was so cute and has absolutely the most heartwarming smile, I loved him immediately!

The whole family was wonderful and so much fun, and I was so happy for Walter being surrounded with so much love! Thank you so much to Jody for finding me, and to Mark, Nancy, Doug, Walter, Margot, and the whole rest of the family (I remember some of your names but this will get long if I start listing everyone, and then I’ll feel bad for the few people I left out!). Mark and Jody also had two cute cats who starred in some photos cause I love cats so much!!! Oh and I also loved seeing the so-cool bomb shelter in their basement straight out of the 50’s or 60’s!!

Here are some of my favorite photos, and CLICK HERE for a slideshow with some more of the photos (it may help to pause the slideshow after you start it to allow it to buffer and then run more smoothly)!

That same night was also the re-opening of the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s newly renovated rooftop sculpture garden. It was so amazingly gorgeous and peaceful, and the light was so beautiful, and the band, Les Six Crockes, was fabulous (and a number of people said the same to me, too!). It’s a beautiful venue, and I found out it can be rented out, too!

Thank you so much to Doren Roberts (Special Events Co-ordinator), Dr. Stephen Borys (Director of the WAG), Lana Siman (who works for Joe Fafard and was wonderful in pointing people out to me), and to Joe Fafard for being amazing, and I’m so happy I’ve discovered his work!!

Here are some of my favorite photos from the night, and also CLICK HERE to view a slideshow.

It was such a fun party and it had been a few months since I’d seen August so I LOVED seeing him crawling all around, climbing all over things, and even standing up and starting to walk! And I loved seeing all the other little babies and children there as well and seeing them having fun and starting to interact with each other a little bit. August had his first taste of sugar in the form of his cupcake with yummy frosting, and he was a huge fan of the frosting, it was so cute and I loved his messy little frosting face and fingers!!! And he got so many nice presents from his baby friends, I’m sure he’s having fun with them!

Thank you so much to Ryan, Sue and August for having me be a part of this very special day!!! And I loved seeing your families again and meeting all the other moms as well! Here are some of my favorite photos!

I can’t believe August is standing and starting to walk, it seems like just yesterday that he was still a baby!

Dorian asked me to take some photos at their shower a little while ago, and it was such a fun and beautiful event! Dorian’s signature color is pink, and their family and friends had the hall decorated so beautifully and with pink everywhere, including a drink fountain with pink punch and little sandwich rolls with pink bread or pink filling! Ryan got to escape to the back with his groomsmen soon after they arrived, and then the guys served coffee and tea to all the women while they ate. What I love best about these kind of events (and receptions as well), is hearing how loved the couple is. Some of Dorian’s bridesmaids gave speeches and there were lots of laughs and some sweet tears, and it was so touching to see how Dorian is so loved by all those who know her!

The whole shower was really beautiful and had so many special moments, and Dorian and Ryan were given so many wonderful gifts by their family and friends. I was so happy to be there to capture it all! And I loved that there were so many babies and little children there, too – they were all so cute!!! Here are some of my favorite photos, and I have a link to a slideshow at the end! Thank you, Dorian and Ryan, and to all your family and friends who were so fun and wonderful!!!

CLICK HERE to see a fabulous SLIDESHOW of the day!!! I had the hardest time narrowing down the photos cause I wanted to really show the spirit of the day, so this slideshow has a lot of photos!

I stopped by Chris and Heather’s Social a couple weeks ago to take some photos, and my first thought was how cute and fabulous they looked!!! And then I loved seeing them interacting with family and friends and surrounded by so many people who love them! They are really, really, really wonderful, and I’ve seen it myself and experienced it in the way that they were so welcoming to me and so excited to see me – they made me feel so special and it was their party!! I’m so looking forward to their engagement session and their wedding this summer, and I’m also happy that I’ll get to know them better every time I see them!!

Heather and Chris, thank you so much for being so wonderful and sweet, I had such a fun time at your social and I can’t wait for your engagement session and wedding!!! Oh and I’m also excited that Chris’s sister Daphne won the session I donated and I am so excited about all the fun and fabulous photos we’ll get!!

I have a link to a SLIDESHOW after the photos so don’t forget to check it out!!!

Check out all the fabulousness in the SLIDESHOW!!!!

The party was hosted by and held at the house of close friends of Kiera’s family, and it was such an incredibly gorgeous home!! I admit I took a few wide shots just for my husband because I knew he’d love the layout and architecture of the house so much, and I loved the decor and just everything about it. The party was catered by Chef Craig Guenther of Urban Prairie Cuisine Catering, and the chefs were all such incredible professionals, the food was so gorgeous, and everyone at the party was raving about it all night. I didn’t get a photo of it, but Chef Guenther even made Kiera’s favorite for her – macaroni & cheese with white truffle oil, how amazing does that sound!!

I want to thank my wonderful future bride and groom, Aimee and Christopher, for recommending me to Kiera and Adam! I so loved getting to hang out with you both and get to know you that much better, and I can’t wait to be taking lots of sweet and romantic photos of you two!!!

At the end of the night, I had a mini session with Kiera and Adam in the basement, and that’s when I really fell in love with how they are together as a couple and how much fun they have and how affectionate they are with each other. I didn’t even have to tell them to kiss most of the time as they already were!

I did something new for this post!! I have slideshows at the end! I bought the program way back last June, but I only used it once a very long time ago and on my old computer, so I downloaded the Mac version for my new computer and had to teach myself again how to do it. I had to redo a few things and it took me quite awhile, and I’m certainly not at all a pro yet, but I’m so excited to be able to have slideshows sometimes now! I’ll teach myself more about timing the photos to the music soon, and also, I didn’t have any blank CDs with which to burn mp3 versions of any of the songs I love, so I had to go to my old computer and try to find any good mp3 songs, and I didn’t have much to choose from at all so I apologize for the songs not being the best fit. But slideshows, I’m so excited!! Also, I had to break them into two separate shows because I didn’t have any songs that were long enough. If anyone runs into any problems with them not working properly or affecting the blog in a negative way, let me know and I’ll take the embedded versions off and just post links to the two slideshows instead.

Here are many of my favorite photos from the evening, followed by the slideshows! And thank you so much to Kiera and Adam, I had so much fun and you were both so warm and inviting and wonderful in so many ways, and you two together were so so so much fun to photograph!!! I hope we can do an outdoor engagement session sometime when you’re in town and it’s warmer!!!

It was such a great day, and thank you to Dea, Milan and all the girls for being so wonderful and fun!!

I don’t remember all the girls’ names, I’m sorry! But first up here is Milan, the birthday girl! And then her little sister Vienna, who is almost 14 – and I love the photos of them together as well!!

I caught Dea doing a little touch-up on the girls’ makeup!

I’m second shooting at a wedding with Curtis tomorrow (today) in Gimli, I’m excited to see all these areas that I’ve never been! And hopefully the rain holds off a little!!

This was the scene when I came back with one of the girls, and they spotted me pointing my camera!