To say I don't deserve this is an understatement. Because I don't. I am sitting in Kauai right now, sun soaked and so grateful. I don't want the time to end, but like all good things, it will soon.
So we are creating the best of memories and storing them up.
Aloha from the Stones! Although we want to stay forever, we will see you back in Chico soon :)
K and K
Many thanks to my hubby's amazing self portrait skills!
It is always incredible to photograph weddings and people, but there is something different about photographing an event. Especially an event that is working to change the world. On Saturday, I was honored to team up with Bridging the Gap and capture the 4th Annual Walk for Water event here in Chico. The event works to build awareness of water deprivation and raise funds to provide safe water around the world. To call this a life changing event, is an understatement. People begin the day in Bidwell Park with empty water buckets. At the start of the walk, the crowd fills their buckets with water and completes either a 3k or 5k walk with full water buckets. Along the way, they may stop at different stations, each station educating people a bit more on the water problems across the globe. It is pretty amazing to watch the park fill up with people carrying water buckets.
To learn more about this event and see what Bridging the Gap is doing in our world and how you can help, please visit their website here. It is quite incredible!
We had some great corporate sponsors of this event. Many thanks to all the businesses that helped make this possible.
As everyone finished their walk, we saw the fruition of so much hard work come together. Shirley presented over 30,000.00 worth of checks to both World Vision and Individual Organizations helping to make a difference in this world.
And at the end of the day, we have these amazing people to thank. As founders of Bridging the Gap, Shirley and Grant are doing amazing things in an effort to provide water to so many around the world. You guys are awesome!
Life is unexpected. Sometimes it may seem like chaos and all we can do is hold on tight. For Karen, her life changed drastically three weeks ago when she learned that her fiance would be getting deployed, and very soon. This also meant JP would be gone for their already planned September wedding. It created a lot of change, and quickly.
As I talked to Karen over the next couple weeks, everything shifted. Rather than fight with everything in her, to hold on to a dream, she had the courage to accept this new season. This new dream.
And for that, she danced.
She put on her wedding shoes this past Saturday, and in the smallest of celebrations, yet most meaningful days of her life, she walked down the aisle to JP. She was stunning. And there was determination in her eyes. She could do this.
I am thankful for Karen and the example that she is. There will be more from their wedding ceremony held at the White Ranch in the coming weeks. And of course, I can't wait for the big celebration in the future. Thank you Karen and JP for being you. For taking this season of life and making it beautiful. Much Love, K and K
And after that quiet moment, the dancing began...
Megan, You are beautiful, inside and out. Thank you so much for being you -- and inspiring others by the way that you live. So excited to edit the rest of your photos!
Much Love, K
Happy Monday everyone! Look for some posts later this week -- featuring the Walk for Water Event that we photographed this weekend and a small wedding tease...
I am finishing up this family's photos today. But for now, I just had to post these two of the stunning Alli. She is a courageous woman and so beautiful. The way she serves others doesn't go unnoticed. Each day she pours so much love into her hubby and three little ones while also working full time as a flight nurse at Enloe. So today's post is just for her. Thank you for serving your family and the tons of people around you so well. I am blessed to know you. So blessed.
Much Love, K
You are gorgeous Alli and yes, I love your style...
Y'all better get excited because this man comes back into the country tomorrow! I have been missing him :) And for those of you don't know us and might think this post is very strange, Kenny has simply been in Mexico building homes with about 90 other people from Chico. I can't wait to talk to him and see him later this week!
Life is full. Full of ups and downs, good days and bad. Full of both the mundane and the exciting. Full of new opportunities and opportunities to waste. And In all of this, we have a choice. A choice regarding our perspective. I have been mulling this around in my heart and mind a lot lately. And just today, God gave me this word picture as I was going upstairs.
You see, I can easily look at life from the bottom of the stairs. Sure I glance up, but what lies ahead of me seems hard -- most of the time it looks more challenging than it even is. A daunting climb for sure.
This kind of perpsective comes with fear, indecision and stagnancy. It can paralyze me and keep me from moving at all.
And yet, there is a different way to see life. We can see life from the top of the stairs. Here, things don't look quite the same, the walk is a little bit easier. We have motivation to move forward because there is an end in sight with new doors and new opportunities. We want to get down the stairs.
And because I believe in God, I believe He sees my life this way; the whole picture from the very top of the stairs. He knows what will be coming next and He promises never to leave me and even to carry me down. Life at the top of the stairs is much less paralyzing.
So these are my thoughts: I definitely believe that our perspective, makes a big difference in how we live. And as I climb up and down these stairs in my home, I will consider this word picture: Praying that my life won't be stagnant and that God will use me to do great things for Him!
Much Love friends! K
I LOVE it when our clients send us an invitation to their wedding. Seriously, it makes my day! And, I keep all of them just as a reminder of how blessed I am to work with some of the most amazing couples in the world :) This week, I received this invitation in the mail and had to share it (with permission from the couple :)) It reminded me of how much creativity and personalization goes into a wedding. I am constantly inspired by the details that our couples choose to implement into their day. And this invitation goes to show just how much of a statement the little details can make. Ok, and I may be a little biased seeing as their color schemes match our brand :)
As I was thinking through this blog post, I realized that it has been over seven years since I designed our wedding invitations. So, in keeping things fresh, I asked Kelsey and Stephen to share a bit about their own process of creating this beautiful invitation.
From the very beginning of our engagement, Stephen and I knew that we wanted to put love, thought and energy into our wedding invitations. Paper crafting is one of my favorite hobbies, so the task was definitely an exciting one for me! However, the process of actually finding the right design was much longer and more laborious than I thought! We wanted something that reflected our style and the vibe of our wedding--something unique and fun. After spending hours upon hours on various wedding invitation websites, we finally found one that was just perfect! But that was only the beginning. I then began to work on designing some RSVP, accommodation, and registry cards that would go with the invitation we had chosen. I had also seen really cute things done with baker's twine, and a friend had designed us a monogram stamp, so it was like a puzzle trying to piece together all of the elements into one invitation. But the best part about the invitations was the loving help I received from some of the ladies I work with on our Chico State Campus Crusade for Christ staff team (and my future cousin-in-law!). I am so thankful for all the time they put into working on the invitations, even doing all the intricate cutting by hand. It was so much fun to see the invitations come together, and by the time I had addressed and stamped the last one, it felt like quite the accomplishment! The process of creating these invitations involved a lot of love, conversation and laughter, and that is exactly the thing I want to share with every person who opens one.
Planning a wedding can definitely be a lot of work, but I love that the possibilities for creativity are endless. And, I know that there are so many people willing to jump in and help. A big thanks to Kelsey and Stephen for showcasing that today!
Oh yes, and many thanks to Love vs. Design for helping Kelsey and Stephen implement this creativity into their invitation.
Have a great weekend friends!
Don't you just love these details?
Dear Mitch and Amanda, Ok, you two are awesome! You laugh a lot and make our job way too fun! Joy just oozes out of you and it is contagious! Thank you for being so wonderful! We LOVED working with you and can't wait for your August wedding. Thank you, Thank you! Much Love, K and K
We scheduled their session for early March on the coastal town of Mendocino. It turned out to be a beautiful day, which made for a very busy beach town -- but we managed to find some quieter spots and get lots of sweet photos! These two are so great together!! I love how happy they are!
Mitch, you rock!
Amanda, you are so beautiful!
Amanda and Mitch have two sweet puppies that we may have chased around the beach a bit :)
How can you not love these two?
Well, it is Sunday afternoon, which means my hubby may be napping on the couch right now, while I am dreaming of the same... I am telling you, losing an hour of sleep last night was not good for our family :) As for this tease, what a bunch of cuties:) I LOVE this family and am so grateful to work with them again this year. The twins turned two yesterday, so it was perfect timing for some photos!
Enjoy your Sunday evening! We are about to have some fun tomorrow -- headed to Hollywood to see our brother perform on Jimmy Kimmel! Tune in on Tuesday evening for Allen Stone's live performance. We can't wait!!
Oh dear, this post is very, very late. Infact, I wasn't sure I would even post it. However, as I sifted through the photos of Carsten's birth, I knew they were too breathtaking not to share, even when it is five months late. Baby C was born in the middle of our busiest season. While I finished his newborn photos long ago, the photos of his birth were never completed. Until now. That is not something that I would ever do with clients, but in this case, it just kept getting pushed behind a lot of other projects. And being that it was my sister, I knew she would understand. Thank you sister, times one hundred, for all of your patience. You and your boys are the best!!
For the sake of their privacy, I am only sharing a few. But oh my gosh, it is amazing to look back on the thirty hours of labor and the joy that results. I may be biased, but he is an incredibly handsome newborn baby!
Just a few details...
The first few moments of little C's life... He didn't really cry much and he was so alert -- just checking out this new world.
Brandon was overjoyed!
All of his little features... so amazing!!
So perfect. He is a beautiful boy for sure!
Kenny and I have been concentrating mostly on weddings this year, but if you ever desire photo journalism like this, please don't hesitate to ask. It is not everyday that we get to photograph miracles and we are honored to do so :)
If you live in Chico, then you will know that each month, Upgraded Living distributes an awesome magazine that features almost everything local. Kenny and I are big fans of their work and even more excited this month, because we got to be a part of it! This month's edition is all about Weddings! Our photos are featured with some of our favorite vendors, M Creations and the Chico Event Center. I placed a few screenshots below, just for fun!
Whether your engaged or not, I would highly recommend this magazine. I get excited everytime a new issue comes out. There is something timeless about looking through printed work. In this day an age, where almost everything is digital, I SO enjoy reading magazines. Upgraded Living has done a great job of producing high quality here, for sure!
You can read the issue electronically by clicking here or pick it up nearly anywhere in Chico!
Oh yes, and the Chico Event Center will be hosting an open house on April 21st. We are thrilled to be joining up with them for this event as well! It's free to the public and will feature some great vendors and a beautiful venue. I think you all should attend :)
AND... in other news, I know we launched our new brand this past fall, but we really still had some work to do on the website. Since I am on a roll with screen shots, I thought I would post a few of our newly revised and finished site. It has a lot of the same features, but is a bit better to navigate and we love the simplicity of it. It feels like "us" and we like that. Many thanks to Stephen Diaz for the awesome video and Kyle Walling Design for the some of the graphic work! So thankful to work with such amazing, talented people! You can visit the full site by clicking here.
Have a great day friends! So thankful for all of you!!
I think we all blinked and suddenly March is here! What a crazy year it has been so far. It seems like time is going by very quickly. Either that, or I am getting older. People used to tell me that time moves faster, the older you get. I am starting to believe them :) So here we are -- Kenny and I are in the midst of preparing for a mission trip to Mexico. Well, Kenny is preparing and I am trying to provide moral support because this will be the first year that I don't go on the trip. Which means that I am actually even more worried about it. How will Kenny survive the trip without me? Oh I am totally kidding, I promise :) I will be the one pacing the halls of my office wondering if he is still alive and well in Mexico. All that to say, I will miss him and the team like crazy!
And since it is March, that brings me to the point of this post, Senior Photos. Every year, we take a handful of senior photos. Mostly because we love high school students! I want to make sure you know we are doing this again and definitely want to work with as many of you as possible! We are getting busier as the weather continues to be incredible! So please schedule your session as soon as you can :) I can't wait to hear from some of you!
Have a great evening everyone! And if you don't mind, please pass this on to the high school families that you know! Cheers! K and K
Incredibly honored to work with Mitch and Amanda on Saturday. Thank you both for letting us capture this season of your life -- your love is sweet. More to come soon... I promise. Happy Sunday! We have had a crazy weekend and are SO looking forward to a day off together tomorrow :)
Dear Kyle and Megan and Blaine, You are incredible people: Talented and generous. Thank you for loving God and loving the people that come into your lives. We have definitely been blessed by you. And Blaine, well he is so cute and lucky to have you as parents :) Praying for you guys as you prepare to become a family of four!
Much Love Friends, K and K
PS: Kyle and Megan are the amazing designers who did a lot of the graphic design for our new brand this past fall. Let's just say, they are the best!
Megan, you are beautiful!
Kyle and Megan have a sweet love for one another...
We finished near the fields with some of these shots....
And this last one of Blaine and his Dad, I love it!
Like always, I want to show you more and more of their photos, but I must get back to my cleaning :) I have clients coming over too soon :)
He's the best -- simply the best... I found this photo today. It is from a Stone family outing this past summer. There were about ten of us and this photo is taken at an arcade. Why yes, we still like to venture into bowling alleys and arcades for a little bit of "family fun" every once in awhile :)
Anyway, I love his smile in this photo: It is so "him"! If you haven't met Kenny yet, you should know he is pretty outgoing and full of energy. He rarely worries and doesn't complain. He loves life, living for the present, not the past or future. I wish I could be more like him.
Well, once again, Wednesday's post certainly turned out to have words, but I can't help it. Too much to say about Stone. He is awesome!
Have a great evening everyone!
Ok -- You are going to love this family of three: soon to be four! We are so grateful for them -- They are genuine people who serve others endlessly! Here is just a tease from their session. Happy Monday Friends!
Megan and Kyle are super sweet to each other. A blessed marriage, for sure.
And their son, Blaine; he is too cute!
Since working in the photography industry, I have become a little more interested in fashion. I will be honest -- I am not very fashionable. I prefer sweats and t-shirts. Infact, I am currently wearing my sweats as I write this to you :) I will say that deep down, I want to have some sort of style. It's a puzzle, and I am always trying to figure out just what that is for me. I will let you know if I ever figure it out... One of the things that I tend to swoon over, although not always purchase, is jewelery and accessories. I actually really encourage my clients to accessorize their outfits. Jewelery adds another layer to portraits and it tells us a little more about a person; their preferences, style and even quirks. I don't know, you may disagree, but as an artist, I love it!
And thanks to my very stylish sister, I have added a few more of these elements to my wardrobe. They are showcased below, in an effort to inspire you.
Cheers to the weekend! Maybe you will find yourself in the accessories aisle at Target this weekend. Who knows, maybe I will see you there :)
And yes, I do kind of have a fetish for big, funky rings. Believe it or not, Kenny picked this one out :)
Kids are the best, huh? When I saw this set of photos, I thought it has to be a blog post. It shows how quickly things change within a matter of seconds. And in some ways, it shows the array of emotions that come with our ever changing lives. So here's to Ethan, who's emotions run deep just like all of ours. Thankful to capture the wondrous spirit of a child -- something we all should aspire to be more like.
And if my blog seems a bit empty lately -- I am taking some time to work on bigger projects within K Stone Photography and some personal projects as well. I love blogging, but is definitely the off season for us. With that, I want to take advantage of some extra time to invest in relationships and bigger projects. Look for blog posts, but not everyday for just a little while.
Thankful for so many of you who follow our blog. We are blessed to have you in our lives!
Oh yes, and Ethan, I'm not sure you could get much cuter...
Kenny took this photo last evening. I know, kind of strange to post a photo of myself. I guess I just hope the photo tells something about who we are. Kenny brings out the best in me. It is a different side of me -- different than who I was before being married. I have changed a lot in seven years. And I am still changing. Every day. Because that's what loves does. I am still outgoing, but quieter. I am still outspoken, but learning to hold my tongue. I am still ambitious, but enjoy down time now, more than ever. I am still impatient, but growing more content. I am still happy, but know that true joy doesn't come from my circumstances. I still move the furniture around in my home all the time, that may never change. I still sing at the top of my lungs, but now I know that the voice lessons in junior high may not have helped. I still make grilled cheese for dinner, but only once a week. I still process life outloud, but have grown to appreciate silence too. I am still a wife, but have gained a best friend.
And one thing that hasn't changed. Love. Yes, love deepens with time. It is richer with each memory. But love remains. And this kind of love, that pours out of a person because they have encountered God, this kind of love changes the world. One person at a time. I am one of them.
More than anything, I hope you will be loved, by God, through people, because I know this will change your life...
