a few months back, we received the most awe-inspiring email inquiry seeing if we would be able to travel to the desert to do a portrait session and after reading this email i responded an enthusiastic “YES! YES! YES!” and we began making our plans for a little trip.  heidi bonnell said she was happy for them to share their story and also set up an annual charity event (Hope Live)  to assist others facing challenges post cancer.  heidi and joe are really super amazing!  so, here’s her initial email to me, i promise you won’t be able to read this without getting goosebumps, too:

    ”Hi Joy, here’s our story and what I see as the title of the shoot for us: “welcome to our happy ending”.  In brief – Joe and I got engaged in Rome after an amazing three year friendship which turned into a courtship and co-parenting a dog which then turned to love. Three weeks after that proposal I got unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer. Three operations and eight rounds of chemo later – we got married. One year after that we miscarried followed by a collapse at the gym which was a sudden cardiac arrest and I ended up in a medically induced coma for a week. Coming out of that (without impairment) was a miracle. That said, my bucket list has always been singular – having a child – thus the road to surrogacy. We had been smart enough to freeze embryos prior to my chemo. That’s how we ended up in California all the way from Canada!  Even with our wonderful surrogate, this took three attempts and now here we are – almost at the finish line with two beautiful boys almost ready to join us!  So I gave you all the mushy background not to overshare but to give you a sense of a long journey and this most wonderful ending. I chose you as your work beautifully uses light to show warmth and brings to my eye an instant happiness – that kind of never-ending Saturday afternoon feel we all enjoyed as kids.   It’s going to be difficult for me to imagine how it will roll given I want intimate, warm images in a destination that is currently unfamiliar to me and a home I don’t own without our personal belongings… but from what I have seen of your work – you can create warmth anywhere!  I do hope this works and we all get to spend an afternoon together in what they call the “Gem of the Desert”.  It has been quite a journey and we are looking to capture this incredible happiness early. So given the travel and late booking – Is there any possibility you might be available?”

so we went to the desert and we spent a lovely dream of an afternoon with them at the parker hotel in palm springs.  we fell in love with the bonnell family.  and we received this little note from heidi just after they returned back to canada the following week…

    ”It’s like I first told you – this is our “Happy Ending”.  Just being home with these babies, surrounded by family and friends – there are no words!  Life is beautiful.”

this luggage was what the hensons used as their “guest book” at their circus themed wedding, it was covered in vintage labels with the guests well wishes – such a great idea!  and it was just the perfect size for little jackson to curl right up in…

yep, that’s right… i will be giving away a free portrait session to one very lucky winner! (to be more specific, the winner will receive a $500 gift certificate towards a super creative themed shoot with me). all you have to do to enter is post a blog comment on this entry!!! the contest will end thursday, july 29th (the winning comment number will be drawn at random through random.org) and i will announce the winner on friday, so stay tuned!  now just scroll down, leave your comment & have yourself a happy day!  

and because it is almost impossible to look at two babies as cute as this and not feel happy, here’s a little extra sweetness for your day…