Ditch Day with Daddy

Anyone that knows me well, knows that I love the snow. I started skiing when I was 4 years old and have been skiing and snowboarding ever since. When Eden was born I was so stoked to have a soon to be skiing partner. Her first lesson was last year when she was 4 and she absolutely loves it. Today was second time this season and she is already on level three. She graduated from the learning area to the big chairlift and bunny hill. I got to follow her on a few runs and had a huge smile from ear to ear.
I never wanted to force skiing on Eden but she wanted to go and liked it from the start. The time spent bonding on the drive up and down the hill and on the slopes is precious and we are making some awesome memories. I'm kinda of scared but I can't wait for our other little monster to join us.
-Scott

Sorry for the congested throat and dorky Daddy voice.

Nine Years and Just Getting Started

I remember the first time I noticed Cheryl. It was at a Youth Convention and she had a bunch of little white flowers in her hair. I thought it was pretty awesome and that she was pretty cute. Fast forward a few years and I'm looking down a long aisle at Morris Chapel at that same beautiful girl only this time she had a veil in her hair.
We were both 20 and did not know much, but we knew we were in love. We didn't have much, but we had love. I can truly say that my Cheryl has become my best friend. Jesus has truly been a Rock and an Anchor to our marriage. The future looks bright. As long as we have love, we have everything.

This past summer we took a trip to New York and had a chance to tour the city a bit. I've been to Manhattan before, but it was Cheryl's first time so that made it extra special. We stayed at the Park Central Hotel in the heart of the city and literally walked our feet off. We would ride the metro to a certain part of town and then just walk and walk and walk. We were able to see so much by doing this and it was fun to feel like a New Yorker for a few days. I'm going back to photograph Tracy and Matt's (the couple who I photographed engagement photos for while in NY) wedding in July and hopefully Cheryl can come along so we can do it all over again. Here are some of the photographs we made while in the city. (on a side note, as a professional photographer, I don't like to carry my big camera around everywhere so we have a great point and shoot camera too. It is a Panasonic Lumix LX-3, highly recommended. Most of the photos you see below were made with this camera).

Across from the Guggenheim Museum.



A dog on Madison Avenue









The rebuilding at Ground Zero. Definitely a touching place to visit.



The Reservoir at Central Park.



Andy Warhol exhibit at NYMoMA.





Dinner at the Red Cat with Tracy and Matt. Tracy's purse was stolen while we were waiting to be seated and it put a bit of a damper on our dinner (which was excellent by the way). To make a long story short, I prayed that night that her purse would be found. The next morning, she called and told us that the sanitation company found it and everything was returned except the cash. So awesome! Photo credit: Tracy Taylor Ward.



The Manhattan financial district coming back from Staten Island.



A photo while waiting at the Staten Island Ferry. This is a "must do" at night time and free. It was our last night and those feet were tired!

Our Little Valentines

Its been a crazy, but FUN weekend as we celebrated Valentines Day!! Eden had a Valentines Party at school and came home with all kinds of goodies. We sent a Valentine message to Eden from Scott and I, one from Huntley, one from her Mimi and one from her friend Ms Jatoria....so she thought she was pretty special. Huntley's message read, "Your the best sister ever. Thanks for rubbing my back at bedtime."



Meanwhile we had a party at Kiddie Kingdom Preschool where I work. Ashlyn (my niece) came up to celebrate with us and her and Huntley had a blast getting candy and of course eating it too. Those two would live on candy if they could!





Scott and I didn't do much this weekend, we will be celebrating later this week for our anniversary, but he did surprise me with a dozen chocolate covered strawberries...that was so yummy! He has only sent me roses once since I've known him, because when we were dating I told him I would rather have something to eat, wear, etc. Something that wouldn't die in a few days. Yeah, I know I'm weird!!

I'm so happy to have Eden, Huntley and Scott to LOVE this Valentines. They make my days just a little bit brighter!! Hope you all enjoyed the weekend with those you Love!!
- Cheryl

We Are the Shoemakes and We are LIVE...

Welcome to the newest blog on the block. This is the first post on the family blog that will showcase the life of the Shoemake family, Scott, Cheryl, Eden and Huntley. We will attempt to update the blog regularly and make sure to keep it interesting (which means a lot of cute kid photographs right?).
We'll start out with a little bit about us. Scott is a professional wedding and portrait photographer and devotes much of his time to ministering in our local church. Cheryl is an awesome mother, a preschool teacher and a licensed esthetician as well. Eden is the brains of the outfit and at five years of age, she's already as smart as most adults. Huntley is two and literally keeps us smiling and laughing all day. We are a close family and LOVE is the center of why we do what we do! Thanks for stopping by the blog and keep coming back for more.

-Scott



Photo credit Bobby Earle Photography San Diego, CA