Mark and I feel sooooo lucky to be apart of an amazing, TALENTED, photography community. Because of this we get to meet awesome new people, and admire a lot of different types of work. I found Joy on a popular wedding blog and immediately fell in love with her photography.  I quickly sent over an email to inquire about her photographing our new family of four... next thing I know I start falling in LOVE with Joy and her amazing personality and spirit. What we ended up doing was agreeing to photograph each others families... So two weeks ago we got to spend time with their Beautiful family! I am soooo excited because in February it will be our turn.... I don't want to ruin the fun, so you will have to wait to see what Joy has planned for us... lets just say it involves snow :)

Everyone has their struggles in life, and mark and I definitely have them .... but finding each other was not one of them! We were 16 years old when I first met Mark.... From the day I said "Hi, I'm Candice" to the day we got married we were attached at the hip (except for the 3 month breakup that all teenagers have at some point, lol). You know those weird people that say "I just knew he was the one the minute I met him", well I think we are both those people. After dating for 5 years, we got married at the age of 21 and 22. We had a cute wedding on one of those boats in Newport Beach. I turned the corner to walk down the aisle in my white wedding dress, and there was Mark with a big smile, crying. At that moment I knew I was making the best decision of my life! I know I'm a bit sappy when I talk about Mark, and thats because I'M IN LOVE WITH HIM! Now fast forward almost 5 years into marriage....This past Christmas was amazing! It was the first Christmas we had both of our boys... not to mention they were at the perfect "santa/open gifts" age. Oslo had fun just playing with the wrapping paper. And the $1 gifts I bought wyatt "blew his mind with excitement"! Two days before christmas we celebrated with our little family of four.... then Christmas eve with my family, and Christmas day with Marks Family. It was truly an amazing week! Here are just a few of the images we captured of our new family of four :)

Thank you Molly for taking some of these awesome photos!

Christmas with extended family:

Wyatt got a potty for christmas. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Our little Christmas at our house

I love being a mom... I just got done reading the book "Mission of Motherhood" and it has completely given me a new perspective on life. If any working moms are struggling out their and need encouragement, please read this book!

Mark and I love shooting weddings!... but every once in a while we get the chance to capture a new little one! Kyah is my good friend Amber and Pauls little bundle of joy. Amber and Paul are such amazing people and we know they are going to be the best parents on the planet! Here are just a few photos we snapped the first week of Kyah's life :)

We are almost done posting all of our awesome 2011 Holiday Shoots. It has been super fun meeting new clients and seeing old ones. Chris and Akiko were wedding clients of ours two years ago, and now they are a family of three. Their daughter Brooke is so cute!!! It was so fun to see them again and watch their family grow :) We love Babies!!!

Here are just a few of our favorite images!

Yup, there are lots more Holiday shoots coming your way! We were able to hang out with Kris and Danielle last week for a half hour while we rocked an awesome Holiday shoot. They are super cute newly weds and really awesome people! Here are just a few of our favorite images!

It's been almost 5 years since we started Mark Brooke Photography! The best part about that is we are starting to see our past clients again.... because of their new family members! Melinda and Travis had us do their engagement session for them years ago, their pregnancy photos last month, and now we are excited to share their new little one on our blog!

Here are just a few of our favorite images :)

One of the biggest blessings in my life that I don't talk about much are my friendships. I feel so blessed to have people in my life that I have known for decades! BreAnn and I went to junior high together. So back when I had bad acne, was a little cheerleader, and was trying desperately to survive in my 30 person graduating class, I was also making life long friends. BreAnn is such a beautiful woman, mother, and wife... and let's not forget how awesome her husband is. Last week we were able to do a holiday shoot for them. It was so much fun being surrounded by their two little girls, and their energy. Here are just a few of my favorite images :)

One of my greatest friends from College is Ashley Ann! I was 18 years old, nervous to start my first day of "big Biola College", and in need of some good friends. I met Ash the first day I moved into my new dorm.  I was in some sort of  "absolute" need of some aloe vera (random, college freshman needs)... and Ashley Ann was the one to my rescue. From that moment on I called her "mom", which for some odd reason she started calling  me " Mom" (weird, I know), and we became the greatest friends! Well Mom is Prego with baby Eric!  I am soooo happy for her and can not thank God enough for her, Braden, and her soon to be baby son. They have always been there for Mark and I. They have uplifted us, and help guide us in difficult situations.

It was soooo fun taking these prego shots because just last year I remember a difficult conversation I had with Ashley about how she really wanted a baby. They had been trying for a few months (which is normal, but frustrating).  We sat and just talked about Gods goodness and his faithfulness to us. It was only a few months later she found out she was pregnant with baby Eric. Taking these photos just reminded me of how no matter how big or small our requests are, God listens!

Now that Ashley Ann is 33 weeks pregnant she is having a few health complications. Eric is doing ok, but Ashley's health has been up and down. This has concluded in consistent early labor contractions. Please help us pray for  a fully term, healthy mom, and  healthy baby boy! :)

I could go on and on about how much I love Ashley Ann and Braden, but I will let everyone enjoy the photos...  we love you guys!!!

It's always fun to see clients year after year... about three years ago I shot Carlos and Mayra's wedding, and since then I have seen them year after year for fun family shoots. Its was such a compliment when I got the email that every year they were going to be "gifting" themselves a Mark Brooke Photo shoot.... Well here are the photos we captured this time :)

Last week we got the opportunity to hang with Tamara, Darren, David and Maureen. They are such an amazing family so full of energy, laughter, and love! We have had sooo much fun on our holiday shoots meeting clients family members, photographing children, and meeting new awesome people!

If you are still interested in a Holiday Shoot please email us asap! We have 2 more openings next week :) Mark@markbrooke.com (300$, 1/2 hour shoot in OC, 30 fully edited images delivered 2 weeks after the shoot :)