Over the years, I've laughed, cried, laughed some more and helped create some sweet memories with my clients. We've gone to tons of parks in the Los Angeles area and the west coast. But some of those sessions stick out to me more than others.
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I don't know if it was because of the location, the cute little squishy faces, or the stories of these little families that I just can't get over. So, to commemorate these little squishy faces I can't get over, I've put together a list of my Top 10 Holiday Mini-Session Moments that still stands the test of time.

I met Natalie at the bottom of a hell of hike in a park in Sylmar, California when I nearly passed out from what i believed was a heatstroke. (Luckily, there was an old man with tiny water bottles in his backpack to help me. But that’s for a whole different story.)

Since then, I’ve had the privilege of photographing Natalie and Miguel’s wedding and other important life moments. Part of what I do as a photographer that I love, is when I get to see my clients’ families grow and watch how they evolve as people. They’re story as a family is unique as everyone else’s is, but that doesn’t make their story any lesser than another’s.

I can’t wait to watch them grow and see where life take them...but for now, let’s just let them be...young and in love as they are right now.

It was a beautiful Sunday on a December morning. I got up super excited to be shooting my last holiday portraits of the year. The weather was gorgeous, the location was really neat and my clients, The Molacek family was on their way to meet with me.

They chose the location Mentryville Park in Santa Clarita, California; a historical location tucked away up in the mountains with great historical back drops that just added fun layers of interest. It was the perfect spot for our portrait session.

With three generations of Molaceks, we were sure to get a nice variety. Here are my favorites from my last session of 2016!

Fabiola and Juan asked me to photograph their pregnancy last year and so I did. A year and a half later, we all got back together for this really fun holiday session. 

With the holidays already over, I still feel warm and fuzzy from looking through this session. The golden sunset light, the festive wardrobe choices, and all the love this little family has. 

Meet Mateo (or Matthew--whichever their parents like to call him).
He's a one-and-a-half year old wild child full of adventure and wonder. He definitely had me working out running around the hill tops of Veteran's Park of Southern California. The amount of energy Fabiola and Juan have, I have no idea--but good thing for little Mateo!

Here are my favorites from this day's holiday session. Take a look!

Adventure time at the park with Mama Bear Deanette and her twins, Penelope and Phrankey. It was a Sunday morning, the rain had just stopped and all the girls wanted to do was have fun. 

As I was preparing for this family session I made sure I had everything I needed for the shoot. But the only thing that I kept thinking was---"I hope I can tell these girls apart." Being the first set of twins I've ever photographed, I was worried that I was going to call one of them one name and mistake the other. Not gonna lie, this was a little daunting just moments before they arrived.

Funny enough, the moment I saw these two, I knew immediately that I had nothing to worry about. Immediately, their personalities was so distict that I had not problem telling them apart!

There were lots of ups and some downs, but it always ended with smiles, a few rounds of hide and seek (mostly me hiding, lol), and a few "Yes, I promise we'll go play after!"'s. 

And this is how it all went down...

Holiday portraits are in full swing this time of year and it's so exciting!

The Bustos family were full of smiles, laughs and random pebble-tossing. It took only but a good five minutes to have this little boy warm up to me. A few "I'm gonna get you"'s coming from behind the camera was really all it took for him to start giving me those precious laughs. Only a year and half years old but with so much spunk!

What a great little family. I could tell there was a beautiful element of warmth and love between the three of them. Thank you to Angely and the whole family for allowing me to spend the evening with them.

Here's the best shots from our session:
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