Just a quick message tonight as I have so much editing to do, but had to let you all know that the Husky Nation discs arrived and are ready for purchase. We had the most delightful shoot on Sunday while Evening Magazine recorded the action for an airing on September 15, before the second Husky home game. We were joined by "our" three Huskies, Alex, Roy and Chris. We headed to the park across the street from my studio and the boys had a little scrimmage with Andrew and his brother Jack. You can see by the postings tonight that we had the best time. My sincere thanks to all the men involved that day for their amazing cooperation and support.
I want to thank our teen volunteer Brenna and her brother Sawyer for staging a very successful yard sale to benefit Soulumination. Brenna has been faithfully volunteering for us and creates the birthday cards we send to each Soul family. She and her family are such welcome additions to our project.
I met a new Soul family tonight and they we so very wonderful. They live near my studio and are parents with heart and devotion. Their son suffers from epilepsy and is one very beautiful little guy. I am thankful to get to meet such incredible people through this project.
I had a few minutes to chat on the phone today with my friend Sarah Mattingly, who lives in DC. She has graciously worked with another family on the East coast and I hope to share the photos soon, as she once again did an incredible job with another Tay Sachs cherub.
I want to mention that I am so thrilled with our first newsletter, created by our Soul mom and board member, Lori Sawyer. The response to this newsletter has been wonderful and I thank all of you who have contributed through the envelope that you received. I got to hug our latest donor as I was shooting their family just an hour after the check arrived. Your kindness and generosity have made it possible for us to move forward and to honor the lives of many new amazing families. In love and peace, Lynette

Its been a busy week here in Ballard and I am looking forward to again working with Stephanie Solomon's crew at a wedding tomorrow. I am sure it will be lovely as they do such a nice job plus I know the bride through soccer connections and she is a lovely person. I returned to Evergreen Hospital on Wednesday after a full day of shooting to speak to their NICU and PICU nurses about Soulumination, but more specifically to give them tips on taking photos when working with patients. It was a pleasure to speak with such dedicated staff.
I worked with two new Soul families this week and loved them both. They were both lovely baldies and had such charm and appeal. I hope they will agree to let me share some of the photos as they are really so full of charisma. The first was a six year old that took over the entire building and was able to fill each space with joy and delight. The second is an 18 year old for which I was honored to take her senior photos. Both girls are real fighters, one has had a stem cell transplant, the other started the process for bone marrow transplant. We will deliver their photos hopefully on Tuesday and maybe after that we can share their grace and beauty.
I was thrilled to welcome Charlotte to my new studio with her mom and dad, nurse and aunt. I met Cha Cha just a year ago and it was time for updating her Soul photos. I am posting two here today of this dear girl. Her entourage loves and cares for her in such a profound way that once again I was dizzy from the strength and grace I see in the families of this project and the amazing people that we call nurses. I am posting two photos today from that shoot. Cha Cha seems to like my courtyard and relaxed and enjoyed some time off of her trach tube.
I am so very thankful to my client Jim Mitchell for working with us again this year to ensure more families can be served through this project by a grant from Corbis. This is the second year they have offered financial backing to help us move forward.
I just received a phone call that the Husky Nation CD's are shipping from the East Coast today and we should have them Tuesday. Our shopping cart will be up on the site by then and your $7.00 purchase of this Husky memorabilia will help further the work of Soulumination. We hope to sell out of the first 1000 and be able to reorder quickly. Funding is always a concern so this small purchase will help us will raising the Husky spirit.
In love and peace on this beautiful sunny morning, Lynette

It was hard news to receive that I lost my little friend Hudson yesterday morning. He and his dad were such great guys, and I share with you today the photo of his hand in his dad's that just melted my heart. Part of the magic to a photographer comes when the shots you take seem to have a life of their own and a meaning that goes beyond that moment. I will not be able to attend his services as my schedule has been full for months, but my heart will be with them and I hope to meet Hudson's brothers sometime when I am visiting our Llewelyn, as they live near each other.

I am also posting a photo of our girls with our friends' twins. You may remember these twins from a posting last summer. This family lives in Japan and the parents have been my dear friends since I shot their wedding. The family lives in Japan and Catherine is kind enough to take a long train ride out of her way in Tokyo to buy paper for the albums we make for each Soul family. She goes to one of my favorite paper stores in Tokyo to supply paper of incredible beauty both for the foundation and to feed the artist in my soul. It has been a great pleasure watching this family grow and I will be so excited to visit them again in the great city of Tokyo.

The Husky Nation project is taking flight with some wonderful PR. There was a really wonderful article in the Everett Herald and tonight there should be an airing by John Sharify and Eric Johnson on KOMO News 4. This Sunday we are privileged to be shooting a piece with Evening Magazine. It is so touching to be on the show hosted by John Curley, as he was the MC at two large fundraisers for Children's Hospital in the past months where I was the speaker. John gave such moving introductions that I feel honored that this project will be featured on his show. We are so hoping that the discs will be made and safely here in our hands to be sold at the first game on September 2nd. Let's sell out and reorder that same day! The players are showing such heart with this project, and Alex Mercier and his family have worked so hard to make this all happen. Christine here in our office has made such great efforts to pull this all together that I am so thankful to her for being so much more than an employee.

I will hopefully be meeting a new Soul family today, and then their shoot will be followed by updates to Charlotte's photos. I hope the weather gets a bit warmer as I want to record them in our new courtyard, and it's chilly today. I close as always in love and peace, Lynette

I am all packed for my third wedding this weekend and am so looking forward to this event, as the mother of this bride won the Nellie Cashman award for which I was nominated. We were not in the same year's nomination, which meant she read my application and has been so supportive and excited about the work of Soulumination. It will be my honor to record this day for this family.

I arrived at yesterday's wedding and before I even started, the mother of the bride handed me a great card, with a very nice donation to Soulumination, stating that she realized that some of our families would not have the joy of watching their child get married. It was such a lovely gesture and the wedding was perfect. Thank you Janet and Don for your exceptional kindness. When I arrived home, there was a request for a new family at Children's, so I will think of you as I go to capture some precious memories.

I was sincerely touched by the fact that one bridesmaid had to attend yesterday's wedding without her fiance, as he is undergoing chemo in New York. I will keep her in my heart and I feel that her future husband has every chance for a grand recovery.

I heard of a wonderful new foundation in our area that will offer college scholarships to students who have survived cancer, which often depletes family finances. My friend Jackie, who coordinated this wedding, is involved in raising funds for this great charity. Her assistant last night happens to be friends with the Parisi family, and together we were delighting in just talking about Andrew and his wonderful family.

Friday I spent a good part of my day working at a beautiful event with Stephanie Solomon. It is always a pleasure to shoot weddings that Stepanie has coordinated. She has become a wonderful friend and she was the biggest help at the opening last year of our first showing at St Marks Cathedral. I work with her again today and its great to be working two weddings in a row with Cory Bogle of Bogle Productions, who is a videographer extraordinaire. He has generously made copy after copy of DVDs for Soulumination.

I started this blog on Sunday and have been so busy I am finishing it on Tuesday evening. I just returned home from a very quick trip to Children's Hospital. I met a lovely family and their pretty daughter and it is the mom's hope that I can return to take photos when her baby is smiling and on the road to recovery. It will be my honor to do that for them, so keep them in your thoughts and prayers, and hopefully things will improve to that point. As I returned home at 8pm, I turned the corner to head down the block to our place to see fire engines and assorted viewers watching a fire in a roofing truck parked right outside my office.

I shed a few tears this morning as Doug and I drove home from taking our dear McKenzie to the airport to return to San Luis Obispo. We are finding that, like the old adage, "We are working our way out of a job" with this parenting. Both girls are so warm and loving yet remarkably independent. They call for advice but they seem to find their way remarkably well on their own. They are certainly a source of great pride. We had dinner with our friends from Japan last night, who have been so very supportive of Soulumination. We celebrated McKenzie's 22 birthday and marveled over the lovely papers of Japan that Catherine has again so generously provided for us to use in making the trifolds and photo albums that are gifts to each Soul family. You might remember their two sets of twins from last year. They are the amazing children who staged a lemonade stand to raise funds for our work.

We are working with KOMO Sports news and the Husky Nation project and we will let you know when they plan to air a piece about the work that the Huskies are doing to help raise funds for Soulumination and spirit for their wonderful football team. My friends and former bride and groom, Stacy and Howard, were kind enough to take little Joshua to the UW dorms to work with the Dawgs for this KOMO piece. My sincere thanks to Eric Johnson and our board member Kelley for their willingness to participate on a Sunday evening when I was busy working at the above-mentioned wedding. I am posting a few of Kelley's shots of from the evening. We will have discs to sell soon and I hope you will encourage your friends to purchase this fun piece of Husky memorabilia.

I am in the middle of my busy season with family and wedding shoots for my business. I am so lucky to have work that is something that I love to do. With all the wedding joy, I am sad to say that we lost our little pal on the East Coast that Sarah Mattingly had so lovingly photographed. Dylan's little body could not take the devistation of Tay Sacks any longer and my heart is with his family. He is pictured today with his mom and dad.

We are proud and pleased to say that we are all approved to work with Alex Mercier and the Husky football team on the Husky Nation project. We will be producing CD's soon and I hope you faithful followers will encourage people to buy this fun and creative piece of Husky memorobilia. I am aware that rap is not to everyone's taste, but that point seems a bit silly since its fun and upbeat and truly just a wonderful way of supporting team spirit and the work of Soulumination for very little outlay of money. I am posting another shot from our PR shoot here today As you can see the spark was emotional and touching. Go Huskies!

I am sharing with you today photos of three little boys that have become part of the Soul families. My friend and former bride Stacy gave birth to little Joshua at 27 weeks gestation. He is finally home with his loving parents who have agreed to go back to the UW hospital to work with families whose children are born premature. He is shown today being kissed by his daddy.

My new pal Hudson is the third of three sons in his family. I met him and his daddy at Children's while his mom was busy with the older brothers at Ronald McDonald house. Hudson was born with Partial Trisomy IQ, facial anormalities, heart complications and he has a trach. He has loving support and a family with faith, so you get the feeling that he will be given support in everyway. He is a shown today sleeping sweetly in a little cap. It is my goal to get to take shots someday of his entire family after he completes some of his heart surgeries.

I wrote last week about the fact that one of our new Soul moms, Cathy was at our work party. I am sharing today her tiny son James who was born and passed on June 14 in the UW Hospital. This beautiful baby was born at 23 weeks gestation and is shown here today nestled in the arms of his mom. Cathy came a spent some time talking with me here at our home in Ballard and shared here desire to make a positive difference for other families and in education about premature birth and loss. I am struck by her genuine goodness and feel so blessed that I have a new friend. Little James was about the size of my dear friend's son Janus and after 22 years it is comforting to have met a little soul that lets my mind grasp a bit more about Janus' life and even the size of such a tiny baby.

All three of these beautiful boys have added so much to my awareness and have touched my heart. They will soon be featured in the new Soul gallery here on the web site. I will let you know when it is updated. I am honored that these families have agreed to share their stories.

In love and peace, Lynette

As one proud mom, I am just spending time between shoots thinking about the day my McKenzie was born 22 years ago today. Its fun to recall each and every part of that day and realize that it was the day that I also started on a serious path toward work in photography. So, here's to you, my dear one, and I will see you soon when we will celebrate. Our McKenzie has spunk, style, and an amazing work ethic. I am posting a photo that I took of her a few weeks ago when she was home for a visit and was reunited with her cat who lives with us here in Seattle.

I wanted to write today to also post another shot of my little buddy Gabby as I called to tell her mom that she was featured on the blog and she told me that this dear girl is now in a hospital bed at home. My heart is with them and they are people of great faith, so please keep this wonderful child in your prayers and meditations. You can see more shots of dear Gabby on the blog entry preceding this one.

We received a beautiful handmade card yesterday with a letter from our dear Sydney's mom. We lost Sydney on February first and the mom enclosed a generous check and these words: "I have enclosed a check for Soulumination. This money was Sydney's savings account. After Sydney and her friends have raised quite a bit of money for pediatric brain tumor research and given Mona to Children's Hospital to purchase a device, I know she would have wanted this to go to Soulumination. Sydney loved your artistic flair and so enjoyed working on the Mugsy project with you. Hopefully this money will bring the treasures that you have given us to many more families." We needless to say have cried over this thoughtful generosity and reflected on the fact that no parent should have to decide where their daughter's saving should be donated. Sydney will forever be a part of my soul and I will tell future Soul families that her savings are being used to fund a part of their shoot. I am posting one of my favorite shots of Sydney today.

In love and peace, Lynette