Ruh-Roh!

Yikes! Look what happened at my parents' house today:



It's crazy! I haven't seen it in person yet; my Mom sent these to me by email. The timing is ridiculous! They just had, like, 30 trees cut down all around the yard just a few weeks ago! And this tree, along with half a dozen more in the front yard were scheduled to be cut down in a week or two. They were waiting for the ground to freeze so the trucks wouldn't completely tear up the lawn. Oops!



In the photo above--the downstairs window pierced by a limb is the family room. The couch is right next to that window. Finn plays there all the time and my Mom sits on that couch and watches him. The windows above the front door is Finn's bedroom--where he naps. Luckily no one was home when this happened.

Below is the bedroom where Finn sleeps when he stays at their house. Talk about scary!





Well. They saved the lawn and lost the roof. And the siding. And the windows. Man, that sucks.

Merry Finnmas

We had a blast on Christmas. It is actually Finn's birthday, too. (Poor guy!) He has been dying to turn four and was sooo excited to wake up and finally be the same age as his cousin (and "best buddy") Nathaniel.

"This is the biggest lollipop ever! Is this a toy?!"





Finn asked for a Hot Wheels Haunted House that he saw in a catalogue, but when I saw this castle I just knew he had to have it. Trust me--this is much cooler. Of course, it was Santa who brought it.





I mean, how cool is this?! I think Tim likes it as much as Finn!



I already nailed my foot stepping on that knight who is holding a crazy mace. DOH!



My sweet baby's face.





This just reminds me so much of being a kid. Laying on the floor and playing for hours...




Finn got a Manly Toolbelt. He was very proud and very serious about it.



Here he measures Mazey:



Mazey just loves Finn. He can make her smile every time. Look--they're holding hands!



Cake time!







Finn is so cute--he gets so genuinely happy about the little stuff--just check out his expression as he waits for us to cut the cake:



Finn is painting pictures for his cousins with his new paints:









Building a city from the clay he got for his birthday:

Dear Santa,

The other night Tim sat down with Finn to draft his letter to Santa. He decided to make Finn really work at it this year! Almost every word that follows is straight from Finn's mouth with little or no "cleaning up" by Tim. We prodded him with questions and suggestions like, "Santa doesn't know you so why don't you tell him about yourself..." Here it is:

December 17th 2008

Dear Santa,

Hi Santa, my name is Finn Patrick Broderick. I live in XXXX, Connecticut. I am three years old, but I am going to be four years old on Christmas Day!!

I am best buddies with my cousin Nathaniel. He lives in Massachusetts.

Some days a week I go to XXX. XXX is a place where I go and do crafts, play, work, eat lunch, clean up, make good friends. Some of my friends are Shelby, Jimmy, Erin, Kaiden, Jake, and Cassidy, and Allison.

Other days I go to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. And I meet Mazey and Sophie. And I eat all my food at breakfast. I eat meatballs all day! (Random embellishment.)

Me: What kind of boy are you?

I am half-medium. That means I’m short. I watch movies like Bigfoot. That is a Monster Truck.

Tim: You need to tell Santa about what a good boy you are. What do good boys do?

I say “please”…I say “thank you”….and I also don’t want to talk about this anymore.

I sleep all night, almost all the time. I throw up sometimes, but not all the times. I get a Kleenex at the night when I need a tissue. Kleenex is another word for tissue. I always say “Kleenex Town” when I see a Kleenex in my room.

I flush the toilet and always wash my hands. I do good listening. When grow-ups do what they tell me to do, I do it.

I play hide and seek whenever I don’t make noise.

I don’t talk with food in my mouth….I don’t put my elbows on the table. I wait to get off the table until everybody else is done eating.

I would like to have a Spyglass….a Transformer vehicle…..a Haunted House that has toys to hunt with.

Santa, may I please have these things.

Sincerely yours,


Finn Patrick Broderick

Rachel And Gary: Engaged

Just over a week ago I got together with Gary and Rachel to visit and shoot their engagement photos. I had met Rachel a few months back when she was working on the wedding planning. Gary was not around for that since he was overseas playing professional baseball! Pretty cool, huh? I don't know very many people who get to grow up and live out their childhood dream like that.

These two are an amazing couple. For so many reasons. First of all--they have to spend so much of their year apart due to Gary's career but Rachel loves to travel so she visits him for much of the summer since she is a teacher. They've done and seen so much together already! They talk about possibly ending up in Italy for a spell and I am doing my best to convince them that they will need a professional photographer on hand to document the whole experience. ; )

My friend Traci from TruBlu Photography came along for the shoot. We met up at their house and made tracks to a local tree farm, Dzen's, in South Windsor to pick out a Christmas tree. Lots of couples feel a little funny when they first get in front of my camera and they need some prodding to get started. Not these two! They were totally themselves, laughing and snuggling and doing just what I wanted them to do--pretend I wasn't there! I had so many favorites I am afraid this post may be over the top--but how can I cut it down when they're so darn cute?!





I love getting in close with my 85mm. Just getting glimpses of their faces and expressions can be so powerful.






Look at her smile!









How good-looking are they? Come On!











Poor guy. I was all, "Wait! Let me get a picture! Hold it--gotta check my settings...Yup. Okay. Stay there..." Luckily the man works out for a living so I don't think it hurt him too badly!



A favorite from the day:



Doesn't it look like we're in Colorado or something? Gorgeous late-day sun.





I love this grab of Traci getting all Safari-Sniper:



Don't you just love Rachel's laugh? That girl could melt an iceberg with her smile!







After dropping the tree off back at home we headed out for some dinner at an awesome spot near their house and then on to the city to grab some shots with holiday lights! Of course, we had to stop in the parking garage for some shoe shots:





Constitution Plaza. It was beautiful. But did I mention that it was, like, minus 200 degrees that night?



















They were such good sports about the cold but by the end we were all dying! My hands were working in slow motion. I'd go to change a lens and be all clumsy and forlorn! Rachel's toes were pretty much frostbitten so it was time to call it quits.

But not before a quick pit-stop at the local bar, The Pour House. This is where Gary and Rachel first met.



Gary and Rachel--I had such a great day with you two and am twice as excited to shoot your wedding in 2010! I hope we can hang out again soon. Happy Holidays.