In January I had the opportunity to serve as 2nd shooting wedding photographer for my sister, of Becky Fisher Photography.  The bride, Crissy, requested us as a team for her wedding, and we, of course, were happy to be working together again. Although I look forward to the weddings where I get to lead shoot, there is something really fun about being the 2nd shooter for Beck.  As my sister is busy getting all of the 'must have' shots and interacting with the bride and groom, I get to focus on the details.  We both strongly believe that the details tell the story of an event, and laying out the story of the day through photography is our goal.  Below you will see a few detail shots of the pre-wedding prepartions from Crissy and Dustin's wedding.  The bride and her bridesmaids not only brought a super relaxed and fun attitude {loved that!} but also lots and lots of hair and make-up products; as it should be...right ladies?!!  :)  And the result...beautiful!  For more from this wedding, check out Becky's blog post.

You can't go wrong when you combine mustard flowers, sweet sisters and an amazing family.  The White Family are my 'go-to's' when I'm trying something new or have found a new shooting location.  Janelle is quite picture addicted so she's always up for family photos.  You should see the mass number of albums she has for her girls!  She puts me to shame, as each of my kiddos have only the first few pages of their baby books filled out.  Now that the craziness of the holidays are behind us we had time to do their annual {ok, semi-annual ...hmmm, maybe quarterly} family photos.  And what a perfect time!  The mustard is out!  This is truly my most favorite time of the year in Suisun Valley.  Thank you Tim, Janelle, Brit, Lexi and Nat for another fabulous photo adventure!

Tiny little Briella made her debut at the end of January and I got to meet her this week!  At just 11 days old she was as precious as could be.  I've been anticipating her arrival ever since Rose's maternity photo session. {scroll through December archives to check out Rose's maternity shoot.} How sweet is this baby girl?!!  Always a treat for me to get my snuggles with a precious little one.  Congratulations Rose, Skip and Brayden!  Your little girl is the perfect addition to your family!

Oh the Sivil boys...LOVE THEM!  They remind me so much of my little Will.  Jumping, running, laughing, moving, shooting...and the list goes on.  These boys are non stop entertainment and non stop movement.  And I loved it!  I wanted to capture Jack and Luke just being boys, and thankfully they were sweet enought to let me track them around Rockville Park as they climbed the trails and trees all while fighting off invisible enemies with their stick guns.  Oh, and Buzz and Woody were on hand for the battle as well.  I felt very safe.  :)  Thanks Ty and Melis for a great afternoon.  I so enjoyed being able to catch up with you guys, and I loved playing with your precious boys.  

To go to my website and register for the R & R Photography Workshop click here!

4.  That's how old Zachy was when I met him.  He lived across the street and often came knocking on our door, for who knows what.  {Oh, and yes; he will forever be Zachy.}  And now look at him?!!  It's been a privilege to watch Zach grow from boy to man, not just phyically but spiritually.  I've been able to serve alongside him on mission trips to Mexico, and have also enjoyed having him in our home for 'D' group over the years.   Zach is currently attending Bible college in Argentina but we managed to fit in a senior photo session {better late then never, right?!} when he was home for Christmas break.  Zach, it's been so cool to watch you grow up and to now watch you pursue Jesus with your life.  Excited to see what God has for your future!

I am especially grateful to the Galgan Family.  I'm not sure if they were aware, but they {along with their extended family} were one of the first families I photographed.  Mandie asked me to do family pics for her and I am so glad she did.  It really was a jumping off point for me in my photography.  So, thank you Galgans!  Fast forward a couple of years and the kids are a bit taller and as sweet as ever.  Hannah {Galgan #3} is on the same gymnastics team as my daughters.  I get to see plenty of this crew between meets, practices and drop offs and pick ups, and I am so happy I get to.  They are a family full of energy and super fun to be with.  I hope for many more years of friendship, photos and cheering on our daughters together.

This week I shot Melinda's maternity photos.  I've been waiting a long time to say that.  I have had the opportunity to see Melinda through many seasons of her life.  I met her when she joined the Bible study I was leading through our church's college group about 10 years ago.  Later, we were blessed to have her live in our home before she got married.  I was able to stand as one of her bridesmaids when she married her sweetheart, Mark.  And this week I had the privilege of taking her maternity photos.  She is a dear sister who I feel so blessed to call my friend...oh yes, how could I forget this very important piece of information...we both share something in common with J-Lo.  Right, M-Lo?!!  ;)  Little Hudson is a bit of a miracle and his entrance is highly anticipated by so many; me included!  I am so thrilled for Mark and Melinda and cannot wait to get my snuggles with Hudson.  The coutdown is on.  Can't wait to meet the little buddy!

This is by far my longest blog post.  So if you're up for a bit of a photo journey, I invite you to continue.  Just a little note before we start...this blog is primarily for the purpose of highlighting my work through my photography business.  However, ocassionaly {as with this post} you will see more of the personal.  It's hard for me to separate 'work' and the personal because so many of my clients are friends, and I like to share my life with my friends.  So, with that said, I would love to share with you, my friends, our trip to Ecuador.  

*photos by Rachel Wurzbach, Becky Fisher and Natalie Polk...yep, 3 photographers in one family.  We've got a thing for pictures :)

If you know me well, you know that I left part of my heart in Ecuador on my first visit now almost 12 years ago. We have been back numerous times, some for ministry with our church and some for visiting family, as my sister-in-law's family lives in Quito.  This particular trip has been in the making for about 6 years now.  We have wanted all of us {parents, siblings, grandkids} to make the trek at the same time.  The logistics of 17 people traveling to South America is not an easy task.  But it finally happened, and it was one to remember.  

Our trip started with a bus ride out to the jungle to attend a friend's wedding.  Karl was to be the best man to his buddy, Higineo, who he met in 2006 on our first ministry trip.  The two have become good friends over the years and it was such an honor for Karl to stand up for his friend on this special day.

But how do you entertain 6 children nine and under on a 6 hour bus trip  through the cloud forest, across curvy roads lined by steep cliffs, up to 12,000 feet and down into the jungle?  How else but with Fruit Ninja!  We had 3 phones, two ipod touches and an ipad keeping the kids {and adults for that matter} entertained for hours.

As you can see William was terribly bothered when I dared interrupt his game for a photo.

When we arrived in the jungle we stopped in Shandia, a community we have served in over the years.  Our kids and the Shandia kids hit the river to cool off.

We also were able to celebrate my niece Reese's 4th birthday in Shandia. 

The next day we headed to the wedding; an hour bus ride from Shandia.  Unfortunately our bus broke down....in 90 degree weather, with 100% humidity.  We were able to contact our friends at the wedding and they sent a 'taxi' for us.  You can see that Becky was thrilled with our conditions.  17 people and all of our luggage crammed into this taxi van with no air conditioning.  Fortunately Karl had his bike, so he pedaled the remaining six miles to the wedding.  Needless to say he was a little sweaty upon arrival, as were the rest of us melting gringos.  Highlight for me at that moment came when the taxi van started up and the breeze from the windows came blowing in.  Hailey hangs her head out of the window and yells, 'This is the best day ever!" This made me giggle and reminded me about perspective.  I love that girl.  :) 

The wedding had a few similarities to what you might see in the States.  Higineo, the groom, had teased about Karl wearing traditional jungle wedding attire including a grass skirt and face paint.  I have to say I was a little disappointed that a polo shirt was adequate dress.  ;)  My brother-n-law Nick {a pastor} officiated the ceremony as the original pastor who was to marry the couple was in the States at the time.  My best friend, Gina, translated.  They were so great about jumping in to a completely foreign environment and serving our friends.   Higineo's father and another local church leader participated in the wedding with speeches and songs in Quichua, the native language of the area.  Our time ended with a traditional meal, which Karl and Gina happily ate with enthusiasm.  I stayed away from the 'wild jungle animal', which the groom's cousin had shot for the wedding festivities.  Thankful I did as Gina and Karl both ended up horribly sick.  Apparently if you are used to how things are prepared in this region you have a stomach of steel...the gringos, not so much.  Fourtunately everyone is healthy and happy now.  Thank you prima Carla and Tia Patty for nursing the two back to health! And thank you Jake, Pauly and Danny for helping Karl out at the hospital.  So thankful for you all.

We couldn't resist grabbing a couple of shots of these adorable wedding guests.

Here's a photo of Tatum and her friend Tailize.  Tailize is the groom's niece.  I met Tailize when she was 7 and now she's 13!  She befriended Tatum on Tay's first trip to the jungle.  As soon as Tailize saw me she asked, 'Donde esta Tatum?" I love that she remembered my girl, and I love that I've been able to see her grow up.  Look how they have grown!

After surviving the jungle heat we headed back to Quito the next morning.  We were stopped in the cloud forest due to a landslide, but luckily it was at the tail end of the clean up.  The kiddos, as you can see, thankfully crashed out on the bus ride.  Our quick trip to the jungle wore them out.

Back in Quito we had lots of family time.  Some highlights included my sister Becky's birthday where she 'bit the cake' {an Ecuadorian tradition}.  Also, my nephew, Matthew, learned to walk!   My precious little Will also gained a nickname:  Dos Coronas, meaning two crowns; representing the two cowlicks on the back of his head.  We must have had at least 10 people point out the Dos Coronas and were informed that this meant he is adventurous and will get into trouble.  Everytime he did something naughty someone would say, "Ahhh...Dos Coronas".  They blame it on the hair.  I think he's just naughty.  ;)  We are growing out the hair and hoping the wild side settles as the hair does.

The absolute best night of the trip {minus Karl being horribly sick} had to be New Years Eve. This holiday celebration will never be the same after experiencing how Latin America rings in the New Year.  Amazingly fun! Some traditions include men dressing as women in the street dancing for coins {don't know how that crazy tradition came about!}, lots and lots of fireworks, and jumping the fire.  The streets are filled with burning dummies at midnight and you are supposed to jump over the fire which represents passing from the old to the new year.  Even Dad got into the fire jumping, despite having to be on oxygen for the entire trip.  What a good sport!  There was great food and dancing until the sun came up...literally!  We were the first group to go to bed at 4am.  Never done that before, but loved every minute of it! 

I wanted point out what I feel is the most significant moment of the trip.  You can see below a huge group of people jumping the fire.  This is my sister-in-law and her cousins, minus one.  Carlitos, their dear cousin, lost his life in a car accident last April.  He was the life of the party when it came to New Years.  This holiday was especially difficult without him.  This family is incredibly close and they miss their 'Tato' dearly.  Locking arms they all jumped the fire together yelling his name in his honor.  It was a beautiful moment and I feel blessed to have witnessed it.  There were tears that night but also lots of laughter...just as Tato would have wanted.  You are missed precious Carlitos.

Whew!  That was long blog post.  Thanks for making it to the end and sharing my journey.  Traveling to Ecuador was a great way for my family and I to end 2011 and ring in 2012.  As I reflect on this trip it reminds me that I am incredibly thankful for family and also for God's provision.  Here's wishing you a fabulous 2012 full of gratefullness to the One who deserves all thanks.

Meet the Wilde family.  Little Kaden and Anne stole my heart with their smiles and giggles...and the expressions...oh the expressions!  Priceles.  I just had to share.  :)  Jason and Kathleen, you are very blessed!