'Tis the season to be jolly... Fa la la la la la la la

Solea Photography and the Olea family would like to wish you and yours a wonderful and safe holiday season. Thanks to everyone for another fabulous year. We'll see you in 2009.

Welcome Baby Shelby

Introducing the newest member to the Olea family, Shelby KR Olea. I am the proud aunt of a new baby girl. Shelby was born August 28, 2008 and 11:25 pm. She weighted in at 7 lbs. 5.6 oz. and was 21 inches long. She already has the Olea spunk. Congratulations Kelly and Raul on your new baby girl.

Walk In The Park

Last weekend was quite an event. It took me about a week to recover. Last Sunday was the annual Walk In The Park event for the Down Syndrome Association Of Greater St. Louis at Busch Stadium. Everyone that participates gets to walk around the field at Busch Stadium before the game and then the top fundraisers get to go out on the field with the players for the national anthem and the top fundraiser throws the first pitch. I felt so lucky to a part of this event. The kids were so excited it was hard not to be excited for them. I can't wait until next year. To view more photos from the Walk In The Park go to http://www.photobiz.com/portfolio/gallerylogin.cfm?eventID=164373. Or to learn more about all the other wonderful events held by the Down Syndrome of Greater St. Louis visit their website at http://www.dsagsl.org/.

Happy Birthday Cameron

My son Cameron turned 10 years old this Saturday. He came to me one night in March with a baseball schedule and informed me that the Cards were playing a home game the day of his birthday and he wanted a birthday party at Busch Stadium. Well, after lots of planing, we pulled it off. Saturday we took Cameron, seven of his closest friends and a few adults ( I'm not that crazy!) to Busch Stadium for the Cards Vs. Marlins. Leading 9 kids through a crowd isn't as easy as it sounds so of course we got to our seats after the first inning started and we missed the first home run by Pujols. All in all it was an exciting game. The kids had a great time and we didn't lose anyone. I'm still waiting for my "Coolest Mom Ever" award. Maybe it got lost in the mail.

Happy Labor Day!

Those of you that know me know that I am a huge fan of the Blues. This weekend was a special treat for me. The Muddy Blues Festival took place this weekend down on the landing. It's a great opportunity to see fantastic local talent as well as musicians that come in town especially to pay tribute to one of the best blues towns in the country. There were three stages so it was fun to just walk around and see how different each band grooved to there own beat. I was only able to make it to one night and had the privilege to see Kim Massie (a local legend). She really got the crowd moving as she closed out the night with a little Led Zeppelin tune called "Whole Lotta Love"!

Family bonding at its best

I know, I'm extremely late in getting this post up. Well here it is...my family vacation. This is a special time of year when my family gets together for the weekend and rents a rustic little cabin off of the North Fork river. No t.v., no video games, no phones and no other people. Just good ole family bonding and a river. I lost the watermelon seed spitting contest, but that's no surprise. The kids caught lots of lizards (and eventually let them go). I was a little disappointed because we never roasted any marshmallows. It was the hottest weekend of the year so a camp fire sounded like a prettysilly idea. There's always next year!

Happy 4th of July weekend!

Happy 4Th everyone. We had a wonderful weekend. First, my family has a long standing tradition of going to the Fair of St. Louis parade down town. The kids had a blast catching all the candy and getting covered in confetti. My uncle, Bill Griffin, designs the floats and directs the parade and this year was one of his best. The dance teams and musicians that were on the floats added real pizazz this year. As a finale, the last float had Drake Bell ( from the hit Nickelodeon TV show Drake and Josh). My kids went crazy... And me too! Afterwards we went to the Drake Bell concert, which was full of screaming 13 year old girls. Another long standing tradition is fireworks on the Arch grounds. The crowd this year was much smaller than it has been in the past. The Fair was moved to Soldiers Memorial Park due to the flood waters that reached half way up the Arch Stairs. There were still a good sized group of "die-hards" that went to the Arch grounds and we were one of them. It made for a fun packed family weekend, but I still found time to fit in a few family portrait sessions at McNair Park. Can't wait until next year.

Welcome Baby Ian

Congratulations to my uncle Ben, his wife Ann and their son Jimmy. They welcomed the arrival of

Ian Manual Kershman

at 10pm on June 9Th. He weighed 7lb 3oz and measured 20 inches. He is an adorable addition to the family. Here are a few photos of him on his first full day in our world. He was surprisingly alert for about 10 minutes. Follow the link to view more photos of baby Ian. http://www.photobiz.com/slideshowbiz/slideshow.cfm?slideshowID=20577&photographerID=1673

Buddy Walk 2008

My husband and I had a full and exciting day at Forest Park for the 2008 DSAGSL Buddy Walk. This is their biggest fund raiser of the year. We met dozens of wonderful families. It was especially fun to see how all the teams were unified by the creative shirts and banners. Everyone had a different slogan. A few of my favorites were "real friends don't count chromosomes" and "many more ups then downs"! Even though it was HOT all the kids had a great time dancing and playing. Here are a few photos from the day. To find out more info on all the great work that the DSAGSL does for Children and families with Downs Syndrome go to http://www.dsagsl.org/

The Final Tribute

Today we attended the Flag Retirement Ceremony for the Boy scouts at Frontier Park. Our son, Cameron, helped retire the first flag. The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning. It was an amazing. The ceremonial burning of the flag is a final tribute. The burning of a Flag should take place at a campfire in a ceremony separate from the Ceremony of Final Tribute. The fire must be sizable (preferably having burnt down to a bed of red hot coals to avoid having bits of the Flag being carried off by a roaring fire), yet be of sufficient intensity to ensure complete burning. I hope you enjoy these photos of such a meaningful tribute to our flag.

What a day!

I want to extend a big thank you to everyone that braved the weather to come out last Sunday for the DSAGSL Portraits in the Park. It was a little cold and rainy but we had a great turn out and it was a pleasure meeting such spectacular kids. Take a look at these faces. They'll melt your heart. We have scheduled a second day for Portraits in the Park on May 18th from 1-5. Please call to reserve your spot, we're filling up quick! Remember to check out the DSAGSL website to learn more about the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis.

http://www.dsagsl.org/

Solea Photography Gives Back

I had a wonderful shoot today with a charming little boy named Matthew. He was so full of joy and ENERGY! If only we could bottle it. Our shoot was to prepare for wonderful fund raising event that Solea Photography is involved in for the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis, which will take place this Sunday at Tower Groves Park. To find out more about DSAGSL please visit their website at http://www.dsagsl.org/. And to Matthew, thank you for being such a pleasure.

What A Great Success

I want to thank everyone who came out the wedding show at the St. Peters Holiday Inn this Sunday. It was wonderful meeting all the new brides and seeing some familiar faces. I want to give a special thank you to Karen at Mexico Road Florist for providing such a beautiful arrangement of tropical flowers. Make sure to check them out at http://www.mexicoroadflorist.com/.

Calling All Brides...

Solea Photography would like to invite you to visit us at the wedding show this Sunday, April 6th. We'll be at the St. Peters Holiday Inn from 11-4. Admission is free and the event is sure to be a good one.

New to blogging

Hello everyone

Welcome to my new blog! Please be kind to me as I figure this blogging thing out. My intention is to keep every one up dated on up coming events and specials. Any input would be greatly appreciated.