Sarah & Rob: Engaged!

Saturday I had so much fun hanging out with my friend Sarah and her fiance Rob while I shot their engagement pictures! I'm so excited that Sarah has found such a perfect match! I think my sides still hurt from laughing so much Saturday!

I can't wait to shoot their wedding in September!! In the meantime here are some of my favorites from the session! The rest of the images will be up by the end of the week.

A little hay loft lovin'--and I love it!

Brave!

A love their sweet little white barn on their property--it has so much charm!

Rob pulled off a few serious faces for me but check out what happened in the next second below...

It didn't last for long!

One of my FAVORITES!

Thanks again Sarah and Rob! You guys are awesome!!

Why it pays to stay home sick...

The other day I was sick so I stayed home from the day job. Little did I know the action and entertainment that awaited me at home! I went outside mid-morning (no indoor plumbing...) to find Diesel (our dog) heading across the road to join a bunch of high school kids in the field across the street. I brought him back home and headed back inside. I went outside a little later because I heard quite a bit of yelling and commotion. To my suprise, this is what I saw:

With help from our contractor who had been working on our house, some jerk straps and a bigger truck the students finally freed the truck from the field.

I believe a lesson was learned--while releasing baby salmon for a school project it is best to leave two wheel drive trucks out of the soaking wet, recently rained on field.

For Andrew...

*Photo courtesy of Andrew's health update website, http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewvanmersbergen*

Some of you may know that a great cowboy and our neighbor was in a serious wreck this past weekend and is currently at Harborview receiving medical attention. Andrew is a fun-loving, caring, strong young man who with God's help is on his way to recovery to fullfill the plans the Lord has in store for him. I always loved seeing Andrew on the horses he has trained--he does a fantastic job, is light-handed and knows how to work with them well. My favorite memory of Andrew was when I was driving home one day and I found him out in the surrounding fields ridding his young grey horse through giant puddles of water after a big rain. It brought a smile to my face.


To help with the mounting medical costs several groups have put together some fundraisers. If you'd like to help out check out the following activities:


Saturday 4/11/2009: Car Wash at the Lynden Whatcom Farmers Co-op from 10am-4pm


Sunday 4/19/2009: Benefit Gaming Horse Show at the Lynden Fair Grounds. The show starts at 9am with Cowboy Church before hand starting at 8am. There will also be a chili feed and silent auction throughout the day at the show.

A benefit bank account has also been set up at Peoples Bank in Andrew's name. Donations may be made at any Peoples Bank.

And lastly and most importantly, your prayers and thoughts are deeply coveted at the moment as this healing process will be a bit of a roller coaster ride for Andrew, his family and friends. To check out Andrew's progress you can head to http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewvanmersbergen/journal.

Have a great Friday and be sure to tell your loved ones how much they mean to you today!

Kent & Jessica

Last Saturday I got to hang out with two fantastic people on their wedding day. Kent and Jessica are perfect for each other and I was so excited to see them finally get married! Check out some of my favorites from the day below! Thanks Kent and Jessica for being up for anything, easy to work with and all around adorable! Thanks too to Kent and Jessica's families who made me feel like a part of their families who made me feel like family. It is no wonder that Kent and Jessica turn out so wonderful they grew up with a lot wonderful people in their lives.

The day started out at the Haircutting Establishment where Amanda did an amazing job on Jessica's hair and makeup. Amanda is the sweetest thing ever so if you need a good stylist look her up!

I loved Kent's face when he saw Jessica for the first time! Kent and Jessica chose to see each other before the ceremony which gave them a few minutes to enjoy each other and allowed for ample time to get some great photographs in a relaxed, unrushed afternoon.

You may have seen Kent's awesome Chevy truck in their engagement photos--well check out this perfect little spot to photograph their rings. The first person to correctly guess where on the truck I photographed the rings in the comments below will receive a $5 Starbucks giftcard...be sure to leave some contact info so I can get it to you

(if I've already showed you the picture and told you where it was taken I'm afraid you can't win because that would be cheating).

Beautiful flowers by Courtyard Garden Flower--so pretty and reasonable too I hear. I would definitely check them out!

Don't these ladies look amazingly beautiful?!

Kent and his men rocking the 'mafia' look...do mafia men smile?

The handsome groom!

The gorgeous bride!

Workin' it!

I LOVE this picture--these two are so cute together!

There was some serious garter action


Quite a few ladies were ready for the bouquet too!

Classic cake smashing of a stunning cake created by Mechealle DeVries. Every cake of hers I've seen is perfectly crafted and tastes amazing and this was no exception! I love the little one watching the smashing...something tells me he was taking notes and wants to try that at home!

A perfect first dance.

And a whole lot more fantastic dancing as the evening went on--check out these moves below! Please note that the "break dancing" little one standing on his hands is only around three years old. I'm still trying to figure out how he can dance so much better than me. I think everyone who was on the dance floor should try out for "So You Think You Can Dance"! There were some serious moves out there!

The rest of the images will be up on www.stephaniestremler.com/clients/Kent&Jessica in 1-2 weeks. I'll let you know here when they are up!

Creative Stoneworks

Last week I got the opportunity to do some more commercial work for Creative Stoneworks for use on their new website--http://www.creativestoneworksnw.com/. I took some pictures around their show room, fabrication shop and stone yard. Here are a few of my favorites!

The quick way to dry stone--heat it up!

A stone prepared for a rod to be inserted into the underside of the slab in order to protect it from cracks.

A whole selection of samples to sort through!

The finishing touches on rodding the stone--a steady hand pouring in the epoxy to hold the stainless steel rod in place.

Polishing pads also make great wall art!

Check out these bright colored stones--I think the red one would also make great wall art!

An overview shot in the fabrication shop--two CNC machines for perfect fabrication.

Slabs waiting to be fabricated. See that bright tricolored one in the middle? I call it the "the CRAZY stone" and I sorta want to put it in our new kitchen...

I can't wait until this baby rolls up to our new house with a delivery for us!!! Only a couple more months...

Thanks for letting me come photograph your great business!!

P.S. If you are looking for pictures from Kent and Jessica's wedding, they are coming SOON! So keep checking back in the next couple days for a sneak peak.

Jared - Part 2

All of Jared's pictures are now done--you can check them out here or by clicking on the Online Ordering link above. Thanks again Jared--you were awesome! Good luck with the rest of soccer season and med school!

Senior Pictures--Jared Part 1

This Sunday I had a great time hanging out with Jared and his mom at Whatcom Falls Park. Jared is super talented in many areas and has a great sense of style. Here are just a couple of my favorite pictures--it's after midnight so I'll post more when the rest of the session images are done!

This new house we are building keeps holding me hostage as I stain, paint and clean resulting in very few hours of sleep each night--I'll post some house update pictures soon!

Thanks for being so awesome Jared--you were up for anything, even sliding through the mud and it resulted in some awesome pictures! I can't to show the rest!

PS--I told Jared he should skip medical school and start modeling! Maybe he can do both?