Happiness is the beach.  My family LOVES the beach.  We go a lot.  The crashing waves, the sand between your toes, the warm sun on your back with the cold water on your feet…ahh…we just love it.  Lilly is never happier than when she is at the beach…ESPECIALLY when she is running around in the water with me or her daddy.  She LOVES it and thinks it’s hilarious when the waves come and we get soaked!

Happiness is this girl.  Haley is such a happy baby.  She is happy almost all of the time.   People notice and comment on it all the time..she really is one of the happiest babies I have ever seen.

Happiness is newborn smiles.  Nothing is more sweet than a newborn baby.   Even in your sleep deprived, not sure what to do state that you are in 99% of the time, nothing makes me smile or be more happy than your newborn baby….my heart seriously swells up just thinking about those sweet snuggly moments with my two baby girls as newbies.

Happiness is telling your toddler in the car that we are going to stop and get some ice cream

Happiness is your wedding day.  And all those special moments it includes.  There are so many highlights to a wedding day and so many moments that you’ll never want to forget.  One of those many moments, for me, is the father-daughter dance.  There is just something super special and sweet about that moment.  And in the image below, happiness just exudes from Kira and her dad.

Happiness is finding your true love…

Happiness is finding your true love and being as in love as the first day you met, 60 years earlier.

Happiness is dancing and twirling around in your Aunties 1989 dance costume.

Happiness is family.

Just writing this post and looking at all these images makes me smile and I hope it does the same for you.  To see more happy posts, follow this blog circle and head on over to the amazingly talented Cincinnati Portrait Photographer – Samantha Sinchek Photography to see her take on “happy”.

San Jose Portrait and Wedding Photographer

San Jose Children’s Photographer

San Jose Family Photographer

I still need to go out and grab a few more 1 year shots since this was literally a 10 minute shoot but I do love what we got!  I LOVE this location.  I was a little sad that the cherry blossoms were not in full bloom…I think we had just missed it but it was still pretty nonetheless.  Last year when we took Lilly here for some portraits, Haley was just 3 weeks old and asleep in her car seat!

San Jose Children’s Photographer

Morgan Hill Children’s Photographer

San Jose Family Photographer

Los Gatos Family Photographer

San Jose Family Photographer

Ann had many cute ideas and props for our session and I think we got the shots just as she imagined!  She had her veil from her wedding day and we wrapped it around little Kimberly in a few different ways and Kimberly even flashed the SWEETEST little grin while in sleeping with her mama’s veil draped over her.  I about melted right there in their living room…SO sweet!

Ann and Steve are also huge San Jose Sharks fans and they had a little sharks beanie and miniature Stanley Cup to put right next to her in one of our composite shots.  Ann also had a bee hat which matched her bee themed baby shower and vikings hat which is a little running inside joke within her family.  Oh yes, and a pearl necklace that belongs to Ann as well. I always think it is really cool to incorporate things that are really meaningful to you into the photos….it just makes them that more special.

San Jose Newborn Photographer

San Jose Family Photographer

Little Gunner also sported some new up-cycled pants and hats I had made the night before our session!

Gilroy Newborn Photographer

Gilroy Family Photographer

First, I photographed the Lattner family in January…yes, I’m that far behind on blogging!  We headed out to the Japanese Friendship Gardens in San Jose to get some pictures of the adorable little Zac who had just turned one!  He was such a cute little guy and like most kids, loved Goldfish!  He’d munch on some goldfish, be happy as a clam and I’d snap some shots.  He really was such a cutie and mom and dad are just smitten…it’s written all over their faces.  I had a lot of fun with this family and was so glad to be able to capture some great candid moments of the three of them!

San Jose Family Photographer

Japanese Friendship Gardens Photographer- San Jose

This year Michelle messaged me and wanted to set up a session to get some pictures of her and her grandparents, mom and dad.  Another gift to them.  How sweet is Michelle…seriously!?  These are gifts that will last a lifetime.  It was absolutely the most amazing session I think I have ever had.  It was inspiring.

This family was so fun and so loving.  Especially Michelle’s grandparents.  The love I saw between this couple was seriously amazing. Magical. At the end of the session, I told them that I hope that my husband and I are as much in love when we are their age and been with one another for 60 years….and I meant every word. Their connection…their love…it was inspiring and really was something special to see. I’m so glad I was able to capture that love. I seriously can’t even explain how much I just loved these two. I loved watching them and seeing them interact…the love was just AMAZING. He even picked some flowers from the grass and gave them to all the ladies in the family!  Seriously!    Grandpa was just the absolute sweetest.  Chivalry at it’s finest!  I’m not gonna lie…I even got teary-eyed while photographing them. Their love is something truly special. 

This session was seriously so much fun..and inspiring. As a photographer and as a wife. And even as a grandchild. I now must go out and get images of my grandparents like this. They are both 75 and in love and I would love to capture that for them and for me as well! 

Los Gatos Family Photographer

Vasona Lake Family Photographer

Oak Meadow Park Family Photographer

Anyhow, we headed over to History Park and San Jose, took some pictures, and had fun catching up!  They were both quite the naturals in front of the camera!

San Jose Family Photographer

San Jose Engagement Photographer

Anyhow, I headed on into their beautiful home and was loving the beautiful white vaulted ceiling and large windows!  A newborn photographers dream!  Little Ethan was absolutely adorable….he was absolutely happiest all tightly wrapped up.  Every time we’d try and remove a wrap, he’d wake.  So wrapped it was!

I actually got one of my favorite newborn photographs this session too!  As I was taking pictures, I saw the book “A Christmas Carol” on their table and I thought that it would make for a cute little prop being that this cute little guy was born a few weeks before Christmas!   I hope you all enjoy the newborn images as much as I had taking them!

Union City Newborn Photographer

Union City, CA Photographer