Amazing Grace.. or How Chinny once was lost but now he's found..

We have a hermit crab at our house that is Paige's pride and joy. We got him for her because she was begging for a puppy and at the time he seemed like a cleaner alternative. She got him soon after I told her the story of the three little pigs which is where he got his name, you know, as in "not by the hair of my chinny chin chin"? Anyway, she loves the creepy little guy and carries him everywhere, often builds him homes, draws pictures and tapes them to his aquarium so he can enjoy them, and tries to call and check on him when we are traveling. He has become a part of our family because she loves him. (Now I should preface this story with the admission that Chinny is actually Chinny the Second, but she doesn't know it. The first Chinny died while we were out of town and after seeing her reaction a few months before that when Mickey her fish passed on, I sent Mike immediately to the store to find a replacement before she noticed)

Last weekend she was playing with her beloved pet and set him on the counter without putting him in his cage. We didn't notice and left the house for a couple of hours. When we got home, Mike noticed that he wasn't in his cage and asked Paige where he could be. She immediately started to panic, and cry. Loudly. "where could he be? This is all my fault. He is such a little guy, he doesn't have any food, he doesn't have any water, we have to find him.." We grabbed a flashlight and started hunting. We looked under every piece of furniture, pulled out the washer and drier, checked behind the couches, we were all over the house, even Mia put some time in, calling out, "sinny, sinny, whay ah you??" to no avail. Finally after an hour, I told Paige it was time for bed. She began to sob. I have never seen her that upset before, her little body shook as she lay on daddys lap. It was heart wrenching to watch. I felt so helpless. Mike and I were sure we would find a dead Chinny in a few weeks while we were cleaning out the closet or something but I didn't want to tell her that. Finally, I suggested maybe we could say a prayer to help her feel better. She said "ya mom, but you say it, I need to rest my voice from all the crying", so I did. I prayed that Chinny would be blessed, that he wouldn't feel hungry and that Paige would be able to sleep well despite her heartache. She finally cried herself out and I went to spend a few minutes updating my status on facebook to announce that we were missing a brother at our house. All of a sudden I heard a tap tap tapping on the floor at my feet. Sure enough, there was Chinny, underneath the computer tower. How he got there I will never know, it was only a quarter inch off the floor, and how I didn't find him when I looked there earlier is beyond me. All I know is that we couldn't find him, we said a prayer and then we found him. Now, as I sit here, a few days past the event, I cannot say with any certainty that we had a miracle in our home, but that night, as I set Chinny in his cage and ran to wake Paige and let her know that he was safe, I felt very strongly that even though losing a hermit crab seemed to me to be very insignificant in the grand scheme of life, it wasn't to her. And it wasn't to Him.

Save Brett Picture Playdate previews and Update

Hey ya'll!

I just wanted to post a few of my favorite pictures from the Save Brett playdate we had last week. I had a great time so thank you for attending and supporting Brett!

Update: Brett is doing well, he is still pretty tired, but the tumors are still shrinking (HOORAY!)

He is supposed to start his third round of Chemo this week, but there have been a few complications with some of the medications he has been on, ie, he has a really bad cough that doesn't seem to be going away. He has seen a pulmonologist and they think that one of the meds is burning his lungs and leaving scarring. We will find out more tomorrow, he has another catscan and if all comes out well, will resume chemo on Wednesday.

I cannot express how 1)grateful and 2)amazed I have been at all the support that you have shown to him during this time and it is with a humble heart that I say that thanks to donations from family, friends and sometimes total (but much appreciated) strangers, we have almost enough money to pay his living expenses for the next several months so that he doesn't have to worry about those things and can focus on getting better. I will be staging a few more Picture Playdates during the summer but I would love some feedback, should I do an evening playdate? If you simply cannot do a morning playdate, holla back and I will try to schedule an evening one to accomodate. Also, along those lines, I am considering making playdates a monthly event to support other college students faced with similar health issues as Brett, but only if the interest of the community is there, what do you four readers think? Think it would work?

Stay tuned for a post about our crab, Chinny, until then, happy viewing!!

Keddie Wedding

Kacey and Eddie, what can I say? You guys sure know how to P-A-R-T-Y! That was without a doubt one of the best weekends ever! From seeing Kacey dance with Selena in drag (to clarify, Kacey was not in drag, selena was, please see previous posts) to hanging out with Eddie's Grandma and Aunt at Seaport Village, we had the time of our lives. The wedding was beautiful, warm, meaningful, emotional. The reception was a dream, the vibrant colors, the setting sun creating an amber glow throughout the room, the bride and groom running through a tunnel of sparklers compiled of family and friends that love them to board the boat adorned with twinkling lights to take them to their honeymoon, it was amazing. Thank you thank you thank you for letting me document your exquisite wedding.


(as a side note, for anyone photographing a bride and groom who are having a boat send off at Marina Village, be sure and bring a key with you down on the docks, because man those guards are unhappy about having to come rescue trapped photographers in the dead of night..)


We love you, Kacey and Eddie, heres to a long life of incredible San Diego weekends together~





Worlds best made of honor, right here, ladies and gentelmen, lets hear it for Mal!!

Is that your daugther, Carrie? the one with a nickel in her eye and her dress all covered in dirt? why yes, yes it is...

Dom, this was for pictures only, Tony wanted me to inform you that this cannot be used as a continuous shoe rack:)

A big thank you to the trolley driver at Balboa Park for accomodating us on our picture taking quest! And thanks for letting them ring the bell!!

To see a slideshow of more of my favorite images of the day, please visit www.carriebutlerphotography.myshowit.com/kaceyandeddie and stay tuned, the rest of the wedding pictures will be coming to a gallery near you (aka, my website..)

Picture Playdate for Brett

Hey all, I have Wednesday the 22nd in the am blocked out for a picture playdate. If you are interested please email me at carrie_butler@msn.com to reserve a spot. The location is still tbd. I am going camping until Sat so if I don't get back to you I apologize! Hope you all are having a wonderful week!!

Carrie

Jessica and Kenny

I just got back from one of the best trips ever to San Diego and I brought with me a new not- so -secret -since -I- am -posting- it- for- all -the- world -to- see ambition in life that I share with my older sister Dom, and that is to one day become performers at LIPS. Now, I know what you all are thinking , "but Carrie, isn't LIPS an all male dinner theater type show in which a few select men dress in drag and lip sinc to specially choreographed music done by both living and dead world renowned divas, all while telling jokes and saying funny things on stage?" to which I must reply "YES!!! Thats the one! What is the point in dreaming if you can't dream big? It was so, so fun and I highly recommend it to anyone celebrating in San Diego.

I also finally got to meet Jessica and Kenny who are getting married in October. I have been speaking to Jessica for a few weeks by phone hammering out some details of her wedding and was so happy to spend some time with them in Carlsbad at the very spot they met. They are such a vibrant couple and so in love. Here are a handful of previews from the evening!

Christine

I met Christine a couple weeks ago at her engagement shoot and to be honest, I wasn't sure at all that she liked me. I liked her instantly of course because she has an amazing sense of style and can pose like there is no tomorrow. Turns out she didn't feel well, which is why I thought she didn't like me, because my jokes aren't funny when you have a head ache, as it turns out. I am glad we had a chance to start afresh for the bridal portraits because she is an amazing girl, and so was her mom, who incidentally would make a killer assistant, in case she wants a job...So without further ado, here is Christine, and PS if you are reading this, sister, I cannot wait to shoot your wedding it is going to be Ah mazing!!!

Incidentally, Brett will be starting his second round of Chemo this morning, please keep him in your prayers. It seems like it may actually be working, he can now button the top button on his collar when two weeks ago he could not because of the tumor. So YAY for chemo. And BOO that he has to do it three more times. Love you, Brett.

Angela and Spencers wedding and Save Brett picture playdate announcements..

I had never been up that way in Draper before so I was astounded to be in such a beautiful location for Angela and Spencers wedding, although the astonishment came second to absolute panic because when I got out of the car my shirt was immediately blown all the way up over my face by the crazy south mountain wind. I am no exhibitionist but I was silly enough to leave the house without a jacket of some sort despite the enormous black rain cloud billowing over head and despite the rumors that I had heard that the Draper temple is the windiest place on earth. Silly me. I solved the problem by tucking in and pinning up but not before flashing a few very old men and women along the way. (I am sure that is the LAST thing they expected to see when they woke up this morning..) As I was waiting to start the shoot, the storm blew through and the clouds went from pitch black to billowing white, or "bart simpson clouds" as my second shooter Linda called them. It was remarkable, the sky was unbelievably blue and the back drop was unbelievably green, I felt like we had been transported from Utah to the set of Sound of Music. Later that night we were once again acosted by the wind and rain, but the most beautiful and complete rainbow came out after it passed through and I think it was worth getting wet. As a matter of fact, I pulled the couple out of their line (sorry again about that people that had been patiently waiting) and took them to get some shots under it. People were oohing and aahing and remarking how lucky it was for the couple. One of Spencer's grandma's pulled me aside when I was done and said "you are the best photographer I have ever seen" and I had to laugh and remind her that although I was good, I did not actually create the rainbow, that was God...I crack myself up sometimes.

Also, if anyone is still reading this, I am going to do the first Save Brett picture playdate on Monday, the 6th in the AM at wheeler farm. I can take 12 kids, and I think I am going to do a first come first serve type thing, if we don't fill up with more the 8 kids I will postpone for a couple weeks till I get back from San Diego. Does that sound ok? If you would like to reserve a spot, please email me at carrie_butler@msn.com and let me know how many kids you will be bringing. Thanks again, everyone for all of your support, it has been tremendous! Also, we created an event on facebook to have a central location for donations, and also to track his progress. If you would like to recieve an invitation to this virtual event, please email me or facebook me, whatever is easiest.

Angela and Spencer, I hope you are having a wonderful time in Mexico, and I hope you LOVE your pictures, I sure had a wonderful time with you two..

This first is one that my friend and back up extraordianaire took, don't tell her but she is way better then me and woefully underpaid:)

The wind kept catching her vail so we decided to just let it fly..