I have known Michael since I began my business in photography 7 years ago. He was a huge mentor to me and helped me to better understand the business. At the time, he had a photography studio in Arcadia and he always had an open door policy for me to drop in and shoot there or just to hang out and chat with his team. Over the years we formed a very solid friendship and I was beyond honored when he asked me to photograph his wedding! It's always a big compliment when another photographer asks you to photograph them/their wedding!

Linda is a classic beauty...and absolutely perfect for Michael. Their love for each other is so strong and was evident throughout the day.
As they joined each other in marriage on Sunday, Michael's son Pierce and Linda's two children, Drake & Lily also joined them united as a new (and adorable) family!
Here are some of my favorite images...

Here is Linda's daughter, Lily. She is such a sweet girl...

These necklaces were given to each of the three childern during the ceremony to welcome them in to the family as one. It was such an amazing moment in the ceremony. Both Michael and Linda took a moment to speak to each child and recited vows especially for the children...I don't think there was a dry eye anywhere.

Mr. & Mrs. Michael Nakamura....

Thank you both for allowing me to capture your day for you. I wish you nothing but love and good fortune as you begin your venture with each other and your beautiful family.

WOW....Zion is absolutely beautiful and was the most anticipated stop on our trip...it didn't end up meeting our expectations, however, it was indeed our most exciting part of the trip and you will soon see why!

We had 3 days to spend here....the mountains are beautiful and so unbelievably huge that you feel like you are at the mercy of these majestic canyon walls. To experience the rush that Zion brings, you need to hike among the towering cliffs and challenge yourself to walk inside of the many narrow canyons, where you can only walk through water to get to the next beautiful sight.

I wish that we had more time to document Zion. The mountain colors range from cream, to pink, to a deep reddish brown. It was so vibrant that I could not take my eyes off of them...there was something to see around each corner.

We traveled all the way up the canyon to The Riverside Walk and hiked through the narrow canyons in the river. I was terrified because there had been recent fires and there were flash flood signs EVERYWHERE! All I kept saying to Aron was, "Where on earth are we going to run if there is a flash flood"? The visions in my head were horrible....scaling the walls in fear...BUT I stuck it out and traveled with the family like it was our last hike....we splashed and laughed and acted like we were kids again. It was so much fun!

After our day hiking, we headed back to our campsite and started dinner. We were all so tired from our long day, but looked forward to our following day and talked about where we were going to hike next!

That conversation quickly came to a halt when we looked outside our window and saw sheriff cars speeding through the park in a panic....Did someone fall into the river? There was a river running through our resort and our first thought was that someone had fallen in...
As we rushed outside to see what happened, we were screamed at by several people to get out of the resort immediately....My mind could not keep up with how fast everyone was screaming...people were literally speeding out of there with their hook-ups hanging out and flying in the air like whips....OMG....it was so scary. We were in the heart of a FLASH FLOOD..yes, my biggest fear had come true. The next 2 minutes literally passed in slow motion trying to grab anything that I couldn't live without. We didn't have time to hook up our RV to our truck, so we had to leave it there and hope that it doesn't float away. At this point, Aron got the kids and dogs into the truck, threw our toothbrushes and some clothes into a backpack, I grabbed my camera and got the heck outta dodge!

As we were driving out of the resort, it was filling up quickly with mud, water, fallen trees and debris. It was so unbelievable how quickly a flash flood can hit. We were just counting our blessings that we had our family.

We drove to higher ground and all we could do was watch in horror as destruction set in. After about an hour or so, the water level dropped and it looked like our RV was o.k. The water level rose up to the bottom of it, but luckily there was no water damage...just lots of thick mud everywhere.

These pictures really do not do this experience justice.

This is BEFORE the flood.....

The following pictures are DURING the flood....

After the first storm cell passed, Aron got clearance from the fire chief to go back into the resort to get our trailer....it was the only one left... The chief had us escorted back into there and told us we only had 10 minutes until the next storm cell came in and we were at our own risk and responsibility while getting it....We took our chances and a couple of fireman helped Aron hook up and get out of there.

WE MADE IT!!!!!

We didn't stick around to see all of the damage, but I am sure it was terrible. Needless to say, we did not get to hike Zion the next day...it might be a while before they can get me back there.

All in all, we had an amazing two weeks of vacation and made priceless memories that we, as a family, will forever treasure.

DON'T BLINK......YOU MIGHT MISS THIS!!!

Just for the sake of saying that we did it, we stopped at the four corners....New Mexico, Utah, Arizona and Colorodo. This had to be the most ridiculous stop on our trip, but it had to be done....in the middle of nowhere there is this little monument and a bunch of Native Americans selling turquoise and frybread. At least the frybread was good....

On the way to Utah, we thought it would be fun to show the kids Mesa Verde National Park. About 1,400 years ago, Ancestral Puebloans had built these stone communtities inside of the sheltered alcoves on the canyon walls. They lived here for over 700 years. It was very interesting to see this and the kids thought it was so cool that people actually lived in these cliff dwellings. We actually got to climb down into these dwellings and stand inside of their little community.

Well, now we are in Durango, Colorado! We absolutely LOVE Durango. It is a cute little ski town with tons of charm and one great brewery! One day we just walked through the town and shopped around and really got a good sense of their little village. We had lunch at Carver's Brewery where Aron and I were perfectly content...it was a bit rainy...not too cold, but just perfect... we decided to eat outside on the covered patio...the kids swung on the hammocks hanging around the perimeter of the patio...Aron and I enjoyed hanging out and talking, watching the locals and the thing that won Aron's heart...soccer was playing on the plasmas. He thought he had died and gone to heaven!

The next day we took a drive into Silverton, a small mining town just a little south of Telluride.
We took our time driving up the mountain and found a really pretty field amongst the beautiful mountains.

After we got into Silverton and had lunch, we decided to head into the mines. Although it was a cold 47 degrees, it was well worth the trip into the mines. The kids really thought it was amazing to take a rickety little train 1/3 of a mile into a mountain. They also had fun panning for gold.

Our next trip will be Zion National Park in Utah. More images to follow!

Thanks for following our journey!