a fresh new start...

I needed a change...a little revamp...a little dressing up if you would...something fresh and new...so here it is...

www.tonyajoy.com/myjoy

this blog will stay active...but all future posting will take place there...please update your bloglines, link lists, bookmarks, and feeds...

I feel a little sad to leave this little blog I have felt so at home at, but I am excited for the new memories, stories, people, and photos that will breath life to this new site...

I'd love it if you would stop on by...

xoxo

Tonya

I just got in from a wonderful and very long day...it was actually a wonderful day spent with family at Disneyland. While I should be working on getting some sleep, I am much too anxious to share some images from my session with a very special family. Jeff, Denise and their 3 beautiful girls are visiting from Utah and booked me for a session. I was honored and I loved the chance to spend some time with them...

Mom and Dad are both brilliant...and very talented. Jeff works in investments and is a very gifted golfer ( I am certain that I don't know anything about golf...I try to swing that club like I am playing softball...BUT I am very certain that Jeff is an amazing talent and loves the game...). Denise is an Osteopathic Doctor who not only juggles motherhood, but staying active in her profession as well. They have 3 beautiful daughters...Shannon, Jessica (she says it is OK to call her Jess), and Danielle.

we started out in this gorgeous collection of these bright yellow wildflowers...it was bright...and very warm...but they were troopers. Jeff went ahead and stomped down all the thorny bushes so all his beautiful ladies could stand together in this location. Danielle said, "that is because he is such a sweetie..." I agreed and was impressed by his chivalry....

speaking of sweetie...here is pretty Danielle...

and cute as can be...Jess

and sweet shannon...

there is nothing like sisters...

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when we had enough of the sun and these beautiful flowers, we headed over to my favorite little town...full of charm and color...

I stole Mom and Dad away for a second to catch of few shots of the two of them together...don't they both have pretty pretty pretty (and handsome *wink jeff*) blue eyes...

At Danielle's request..."Kiss her Dad...Kiss her!" I agreed it was a must...

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Nothing like a little "front and center" for these 3 gorgeous gals...

***

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You guys are great...

your girls are beautiful...

each...

and every...

one of them!

have a safe trip home!

xoxo

Tonya

pink flamingo & a smile

Yup...that is right...when the extremely RARE occurance of my 4, 2, and 1 year olds all falling asleep all at the same time...this is the type of stuff I do with my free time...

I spotted these 2 driving home from my session today...

I totally knocked on the door of their owner's home to ask if it was ok to snap a pic of them...

but nobody was home...oh, well!

****

what can I say...I like my new shootsac...maybe my little flamingos will get lucky & show up here...then they would be *like* famous...I thought they were pretty cute! Anyways...it's got me smiling...

{*Please note: NO...I have not been drinking..(in fact it is against my religion...really..it is, but anyways...) just a little history here in case everyone thinks I am crazy...Jessica Claire (shootsac designer and photography genious) loves flamingos photographed with her shootsacs...check out the shootsac blog for proof that I have not lost my mind! lol!}

stay tuned for some pics from my session today with an amazing & beautiful family...

ok...now for my nap...

what NOT to wear???

I give in...I give up...today, I am just a loser...yup...that is right...somedays I just assign mysef to wearing that crown.

I just gave in and let her win...who am I to tell her what to wear...(smile).

I mean, what rule is there really? Who can say you really can't sport 1 red shoe and 1 blue sandal?

Like I said...I just gave up on that battle today...

I love your individuality Ava. Your character is wonderful and you are brimming with originality and a personal charm I adore!

So...next time you see a little person with shoes on the wrong feet, a totally clashing outfit, mismatched shoes...or whatever...Just smile at them...and their mommy!

Love ya Ava...you are original and unique and I cherish that!

xoxo

Mommy

singing it like Barney...

"colors make me happy..."

"everywhere I go..."

"the world is like a Rainbow..."

"putting on a beautiful show..."

"hey...putting on a beautiful show!"

(yes...I have been watching Barney a little too much lately...)

****

Have a great weekend!

"please I can have this?"

{just for my brain to remember all her cute little anecdotes}

I started out the day with a little bit of the business side of my...well...business...delivering products, answering questions, collecting payments...yadi yada yada. Well, after we returned home, I placed my checks in my little office on my desk and went to work on a few emails.

We had just gotten all 3 girls dressed and ready to go to the "jogging center" (a nearby park that has a small track I let the girls get out and run on after my jog). Ava had donned these sweet tapered bright red sweat pants and a hot pink shirt and was having fun dancing around the room while she waited for us to load up my jogger. Then I hear this..."please, I can have this?" I looked over and she was holding a small peice of paper all folded up into the size of a quarter...it looked like an old receipt, so I said.."sure."

I finished up my work and we headed out with my blue jalopy of a jogger and had a great run. The girls did their usual running around the grass, doing somersualts, and stopping at the drinking fountain. It was a great time...

A few hours later, I was cleaning off my desk and putting my payments together for deposit and I could not find my check...I asked Ella if she had seen it...and before she could answer...Ava reaches into her red pockets and pulled them inside out and holds up that small folded up peice of paper (and some red fuzz) and said.."Here it is!" She then slowly unfolded it, and sure enough...there was my missing check! I can't believe that it stayed in her little pocket all the way on my jog and through all her crazy little movements! Next time I will pay more attention...ya think! That could have been bad...

Here's to my silly little girls and all the joy they bring...you 3 are beautiful friends...(Mia was a little camera shy..actually, she was too busy pushing around her little pink stroller and cabbage patch dolls to stop in for a photo...)

{hold them tight}

Tonight I have been up late editing pictures for a few different clients. While I sit here in a quiet home...I am thinking of my day. The girls and I had a wonderful day...we went shopping...had lunch...played in the backyard (I discovered Ava has an amazing acrobatic talent and can do this awesome somersault-cartwheel flip thing...it is hilarious)...we had dinner together in the home...and chatted over a nice warm bath...

now they lay beside me...their sweet little breaths ebb and flow...I can hear Ava's little snore next to me...Ella is breathing quietly...and Mia is in her crib. I barely notice it all until an email comes through...a link to a new photography blog...I am happy to click over and take a break from Photoshop...

I wasn't prepared for the tears that would follow...this blog is beautiful and reminds me to just simplify and open my eyes...there is clarity here...

Her voice seems so humble...her posts almost seem to whisper... she is quietly wishing for all mothers to understand what they really have by sharing with us someone she has lost...{Mommies...love your little ones...cherish them...hold them...play with them...don't ever take them for granted}

This struck me...to quote her directly...

"It's something you can't possibly realise fully until it's gone..that every person out there who has all of their children does in fact exist in their very own Xanadu. We didn't know that our happiness was so completely and utterly tied up in the simple fact that all of our children were here and healthy. That the ability to feel true, untainted joy would also be lost the day Ava left. I can't ever go back and live in that perfect World, I can't ever again experience happiness not tinged with sadness. I didn't know it when I had it and I can't have it now I know what it is.All I can do is keep sharing what I have learnt..to remind every person out there who does have all their children to just be so, so thankful, to let go of the small stuff and to trust me when I say you have absolutely everything you need."

so tonight...their little breaths...their gurgly snores...the pure fact that they are here...I can hear there giggles...feel the softness of their skin and hold them when they are sad...it means everything to me. I feel refreshed. I feel ashamed of moments I spend worrying about who or what is bothering me at any given time of my day. I feel ashamed that I get angry and tired sometimes. I am determined to reprioritize how I spend my time during the day.

I feel blessed. My babies are breathing. They are here. I am their mother. I am so thankful.

I love you girls. I can't imagine a world for any Mommy without her children. My heart aches tonight...