For their daughter's 18th birthday, our friends Jamie and Dave threw their daughter a murder mystery dinner party. It was VERY cool, there were about 40 guests all with assigned parts. The story: the wedding of the daughter of a mobster family marrying the son of a gold-digging family. Someone dies.... August is always our slowest month here in Miami due to debilitating heat, tropical storms etc. So we have been enjoying some time off and these opportunities to play with friends. The birthday girl, Elle - also the bride. Check out that rock.... Wedding guests The bride's parents (he's a mobster) during the toast. The murder.... That's me, the grandmother of the bride (an old italian lady - I'm old-school mob). I'm also a bad actress.... The groom discovers that his bride is murdered. He's the most obvious suspect. The investigation... By the way...the groom was set up, his brother and father were trying to collect on a life insurance policy they took out on the bride. Dirty.

Not because of technical prowess or any artistic ability really, but just because it summarizes what Shaleen and I have been praying for now for over a year. A picture does say a thousand words.

Back in May, while Alex and I were on vacation we hired April Greer to shoot photos of us. She's an awesome photographer in Seattle. We had an amazing time with her - not only is she incredibly talented but she's also just ridiculously cool. So we NEED YOUR HELP. Below you will find four of our favorite photos that feature the two of us. We would replace the pictures of us that are currently on the blog with one of these. You, our readers, need to VOTE AND TELL US WHICH ONES TO USE IN THE BLOG. NUMBER 1 NUMBER 2 NUMBER 3 NUMBER 4 These are some of our other favorites: Look how handsome my hubby is! She captured his playfulness but also the fact that he is really a deep thinking intellectual (which he is!) Thank you April - I am still blown away by your work and I have to admit that I look at the photos all the time. I can't pick my favorites because they are all so different and I love them! Now we know how our brides feel when they have to try to pick their favorites from so many good images! Check out April's work at: aprilgreer.com and on her blog.

I am continually thankful for being blessed with Alex. Today is our third anniversary! And while it seems that so much has changed in the last three years there is also so much that hasn't changed. The constant throughout the years is that he is my best friend. Our friendship has such depth that stays fresh and new time and again. I love those moments when we are watching TV and one or both of us begins to sniffle and we realize that we're both teary eyed from something stupid, and we both laugh at each other - like that Humane Society Commercial with the dog. I love you so much for the great, big heart that you have! I am so excited to see what God has in store for our lives! I love you so much! Wifey.

Here are some more pictures from Alaska. It is a beautiful and peaceful place. That's my beautiful wife looking like an eskimo!

If you've noticed that we haven't posted lately its because Shaleen and I just took a two week vacation to Seattle and Alaska. It was a blast! There is so much to blog about, that I have to take it in phases. First we hung out with some new friends and photographers Gerald and Airika Pope in Seattle. Then we took a cruise all through Alaska. Then we had a professional photo shoot of us! That was a change. April Greer did an awesome job with us. Each of these phases will have its own pictures and articles so that I don't cram too much in here. Please check the blog often in the next two weeks because there are tons to write about. Here is a teaser from Alaska: More to come soon.

Sorry for not blogging for a while, Alex and I have had a couple of weekends off - which has been really nice. Although, we have ended up really, really busy trying to do all of the things we normally can't do on weekends because of weddings. Not that I'm complaining. Plus last weekend was Easter and we always shoot family portraits for our church before their Saturday evening service. This is fairly time consuming, but a lot fun. Anyway, that's not what I wanted to blog about. At some point in the next couple of weeks we will be shooting the engagement session of Ana and Javier at the Youth Fair. Aside from the fact that I LOVE the Fair and have since I was kid, I'm just excited to do this session. Usually, Alex is the one who heads into a portrait session with some kind of vision in mind. This is because he is the creative one and I'm not. But this time, I have a vision too. My inspiration for what we want to do there is this photographer in Vegas, John Michael Cooper. We love to do portraits in unusual places and situations. The fair would satisfy our hunger for doing something different and exciting with our engagements. I can't wait to post the shots of Ana and Javi! Shaleen.