Just wanted to hop on and give a public acknowledgement that the man of my dreams is 25 today!! We are having the best time in Maine. Currently, we are in yet another library working so Justin can do his class work (he’s working on his masters). What a dedicated student ;)  It’s a rainy day, so I am not giving him too much of a hard time…and I think he loves the rain – it’s giving us a reason to visit every bookstore around…and I can’t complain about it ;)

Here’s a few pictures of Mr. 25 himself…

Good ole’ self timer… (taken today)That’s more like it…

And a scenic shot, just for the fun of it.  Taken between Camden & Rockport.

I love you Justin.

Just wanted to post a quick note to let you know that I am out of the office this week…be back soon…maybe.

…the view from our deck this week. It might be tough getting me back to Ohio ;)

One year ago today, we spent our afternoon helping sweet “Honey” (her real name being Cheesecake) keep her babies safe.  She had 11 sweet puppies on the hill in front of our house and they happened to be rolling down! You can read the entire story here, because I have a feeling most of you already know it.

I started going through my files to pick a few photos to blog on this wonderful occasion. Well, you can guess what happened.  An hour later I had picked more photos then I could ever begin to put on the blog, and still wasn’t finished. They are just soo cute.  Who doesn’t love puppies?! Instead of uploading photo after photo…you can go back memory lane on our personal blog…that we haven’t updated since we were taking care of the puppies ;)

So instead of rambling on about 11 adorable puppies…I am going to ramble about one.  One very special pup.

I’ve always wanted a dog.  A really big dog. One that would love to play fetch, that would love to cuddle and that would look at me as if I could do no wrong.  Dogs are amazing.  My dog, Sayid, is nothing short of that. He’s huge, and loves to cuddle and wants to do nothing more in the world than play fetch. Really, if you are holding his favorite tennis ball, he will do anything you ask.

I’m writing a lot…so scroll down, look at a few photos and I’ll get back to praising the name of the youngest member of our family.

Here he is…one day old. Not many people meet their pups on the day they were born. We are blessed that we were able to pick him out the minute we saw him. He was the 7th puppy to be born…the 1st black one :)  (we had 8 yellow & 3 black…and a few that didn’t make it :(

2 months old…see how easily he can steal your heart?

Playing with dad…learning how to play fetch.

4 months old…and one of my favorite pictures.

Some of Sayid’s favorite things to do:

- play fetch. really…nothing there is nothing better in the world to him. I think I’ve gotten that across.

- cuddle with me or Justin…he *loves* to cuddle.

- play with my mom…and tease my dad.

- chase Thomas. too bad Thomas is terrified of him…but can you blame him…he’s huge!

One year old.  Just as adorable as the day we met him.

Here he is enjoying the new fence we put in just for him…he’s a little spoiled ;)

Currently he is 70 lbs (and looks so lean) and really, really tall. I’ve seen most of his brothers & sisters and he’s definitely taller than all of them.  He’s just a really big boy.

We want to wish all of Sayid’s brothers & sisters happy birthday too!! We are so glad you love your homes!!

Sayid, you mean the world to me. Thank you for being you. Cute, sweet, adorable you.  I love you buddy :)

Just had to share the annual (well, it’s becoming annual) photo from this year’s Easter sunrise service.  Have a wonderful, blessed day!!

last year’s Easter sunrise

Remember last year when I asked you all to find any friends or family that might be looking to adopt a new puppy to their family?  Well, I am going to do it again!  You just wont believe how cute these little pups are!  It’s taking every bit of self control that Justin and I have to not take one in (I’ve already picked one out…uh oh!)

My good friends & neighbors have rescued these little guys and have been taking care of them.  I just can’t get over how adorable they all are.  I think they look like little black bear cubs…soo cute!

It takes a lot to take care of puppies…trust me, we know.  We don’t know anything about these little guys except that they are cute :)  My neighbors have been taking such good care of them, and I just want to help them find good homes.  I remember how important it was for us to find great homes for our little labs, and we want these pups to find great homes too.  There is a slideshow below that shows some more photos, the second photo is a photo of the mother (a guess as to how big they may get), but they don’t know who the dad might be. We think there are 3 girls & 5 boys and we know that 4 love to play.  The others are a little shy, but I am sure they will warm up in no time.  The one I picked out is a little shy girl…so precious!

Watch this slideshow to see more cuteness… (the second photo is of the mother, just to see what size they may be)

If you know of a great home for any of these puppies, please email me at cassidy {at} cassidydawn {dot} com, and I will put you in contact with the great people that have rescued these angels.  Please, please help if you can!

Thank you!!!!

Just wanted to post a little note to let you know that we are back and we had the *best* time!  We spent our time exploring the city, eating yummy food and photographing the cutest couple in Washington DC…really, you’ll see.

I’m working super hard to catch up on emails & proofing, so if you are waiting, don’t worry, I haven’t fogotten!

2 years ago today I married my best friend.

Happy Anniversary Justin, I love you more than you’ll ever know.

photograph: melaniemauer.com

I took a few photos of Sayid tonight when I got back from a shoot…just thought I’d share :)

I am so in love with him.

I desperately needed a new headshot for my blog/website so my dear sweet husband took a few of me tonight.  It’s actually a big deal that he even agrees to it, although he is very talented…I’m very, very picky, but we did end up with one I was happy with ;)

Thanks Justin!

Oh, and here is one of my newest love…Sayid.  The most well behaved puppy I know! We just love him!

I was just scrolling though my recent posts and realized it’s been forever since I posted anything other than portrait sessions or weddings…and while that is the main idea of the blog (and wonderful for me…it means I’ve been busy!), I thought I should share something other than that during this summer season.  Although it’s been wonderful chaos around here, I haven’t forgotten to take a few personal art photos…here are a few of the peonies that we had in our yard this year.

There are plenty more sessions & weddings to share, and many, many more to photograph.  On that note, if you were hoping to have a family session this fall, please email soon.  We only have 3 open Saturdays until mid-Oct…no, I am not kidding! Still room on the weekdays, but those weekends are about full!

Also, keep your eyes out for our first mini sessions coming this fall (hint: it will make having personal Christmas cards soo much easier!!!)

I do hope all of you are having the very best summer…enjoy it, August is coming this weekend! As the wife of a teacher, I’m less than thrilled ;)