peppy purple • the ozenne family • palos verdes estates, ca

little ones, we are family

I always get to see Christina when we’re dropping the kids off at preschool. Her handsome boy Aaron has a head full of what I like to call “JFK, Jr.” hair. And her little Sabrina has these thick springy pigtails. Christina is always smiling & full of joyful energy. I love chatting with her at school. What a treat it was to meet her husband James & get to snap some portraits of all of them. Aaron & James looked so dapper with their coordinated ties, & Sabrina & mommy were so beautiful in violet & flowers. I had a great time with this sweet, sweet family!

ariel & kewpie • the hansen girls • palos verdes estates, ca

little ones, we are family

I met Kimberly & her husband Shawn through our mutual friend Cheryl; Cheryl & I had been neighbors for years & years, & Kim & Cheryl had gone to college together. I’ll always be grateful to Cheryl for introducing us, because Kim & I have gotten to share the motherhood journey from the very beginning. Her older daughter Kaylin was born just eight hours earlier than my Zoë. And after moving to the South Bay from the Westside of Los Angeles, I knew no one—until Kimmy so generously embraced us in her circle of mommy friends. She invited us to every playdate, called us, checked up on us, & continues to make efforts in friendship that I have let fall by the wayside as parenting took up more & more time. It is such a treat for me to do portraits for their two amazingly adorable daughters—Kaylin who has a cascade of red hair that is right out of a Disney princess movie, & Ashlyn who is the original Kewpie Doll come to life with her blue eyes as big as saucers & fine blond hair. I love being “auntie” to these two sweethearts!!

radiance, lustre, brightness • the madden-lennertz family • redondo beach, ca

little ones, we are family

Sometimes, I meet people & instantly feel like I must already have known them, & Shannon felt like that to me. She & husband Chris came into our lives via CrossFit when they moved to the South Bay & joined up at Max’s “box” (that’s “gym” in CrossFit-speak). We got to know each other on the beach during Saturday workouts when Shannon & Chris would kick ass while I watched the kids. Their little lady Neave is just a few months older than our second daughter, so we had a lot in common to talk about with parenting. And lucky me, soon I got to hang out with Shannon for playdates, & always I come away feeling like I can’t wait to see her again! Shannon is a humorous, witty conversationalist who is incredibly positive & energetic. Chris is a insanely talented & in-demand music composer for film & television. They are both dynamic, warm, generous souls who make people feel special just being with them. And their home is filled with art, laughter, great food, & comfort. Neave is growing up surrounded by music, dance, & so much love…

gap-toothed grin • the mcdonald-van rossum family • los angeles, ca

little ones, we are family

What a treat it is for me to photograph & blog about this family! I first met Celeste when we were hired the same year at Beverly Hills High School to teach English & attended the new teacher orientation meeting. We were fresh out of grad school & trying to dress older than our age to garner more respect while often being mistaken for students ourselves. For more than a decade, Celeste & I saw each other almost daily, attended the same meetings & after school events, shared lunches, dinners, & nights out on the town as single ladies with our posse of pals. And sometime in those years, Celeste & Pete, who taught next door to each other for years, became Mr. & Mrs. Now, sixteen years later, Celeste & I go to each other’s kids’ birthday parties, discuss the Tooth Fairy, laugh at the foibles of motherhood & marriage, & count ourselves lucky if we can find one afternoon every few months for a “girls’ brunch.” It seems not so long ago that I had the special honor of photographing Celeste & Pete’s wedding…But this month I got to capture these two wonderful friends with their beautiful tow-headed kids, & to make a great session even more extraordinary, got to create some portraits of four generations of the female line in Celeste’s family: Nana, Gramma Sue, Celeste, & Dylan all together. {And on a special note, I owe it to Nana & Celeste that I met my wonderful husband in Las Vegas, but that’s a story for another time!}