cindy cieluch photography . blog

…and back in action.  Lots of Alaska photos on the way.  Soonish…

Can you believe I shot the entire wedding in a dress?  Only for you, Lissia! 

Courage.  It’s what Stacy is made of.

Dressed up in a shiny outfit and red cape as “Captain Courageous,” the Great Falls native has traveled to hospitals throughout Australia to cheer up sick and terminally ill children.  Now, Stacy is in the biggest fight of her life.

Last fall, Stacy was diagnosed with ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  ASL is a disease of the motor neurons, muscle-controlling nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement.  ALS initially affects legs, arms and/or throat and mouth muscles, then ultimately affects all voluntary muscles.

But ALS is not how Stacy wants to be defined.  Her body may be getting weaker, yet her spirit has never been stronger.  Stacy and her husband Mike have an incredible drive to live life to the fullest and fight this disease with all of their might!  They actually just flew from Australia into Great Falls for a benefit we’re holding THIS Friday!

We’re raising money for Stacy’s medical costs and her upcoming trip to the Sierra Integrative Medical Center in Nevada.  You can also learn more about Stacy and Mike’s journey on her blog: http://stacyneild.blogspot.com/

Our benefit for Stacy is FRIDAY, MAY 21 at 5 p.m. at Great Falls Christian Center. There will be silent and live auctions filled with beautiful art (paintings, pottery), super cool services (spa, hair, home services) and other amazing donations (dinners, sweets, wine basket, hunting trip, Bed & Breakfast in Scotland) from around the community.  Big Mouth BBQ is donating all of the sandwiches and coleslaw, Pepsi is donating the beverages and Baker Bob’s is baking up hundreds of cookies!

If you’ve always wanted to book a photography session, I’ll have a super sweet package complete with a session & 24×36 canvas gallery wrap in the live auction!!!!!!  All of the proceeds go straight to Stacy!!!!

Please show Stacy how much we love her by attending this beautiful benefit.  See you there!

if you’re not able to make it, you can make a donation online at: http://stacyneildbenefit.eikonproductions.com/

We love you, Stacy!  Your courage inspires all of us.

Stacy and Mike spent time in Great Falls for the holidays.  Here’s the shoot we did back in January!

What a special and fun time for all of the family.  3 super cool couples + a quirky, loving wiener doggie!!!

What a stunning day with sparkling snow and bright blue skies.

There’s no look that compares to a mom’s adoration.  Debi’s love and respect for Stacy is A W E S O M E.

Kisses from dad!

The girls!  It was super chilly that day, so Stacy, Debi and Stephanie did lots of cuddling.

Then a week later, it was photo time for just Stacy + Mike.

It was 25 degrees below, so we opted for an indoor shoot…a laundromat!

if you’re missing a sock, it might be hanging here.

We were laughing so hard because next to Lover’s Lane was Skid Row.

When you’re in a laundromat, that is just wrong and brilliant all at the same time!

Latin for “Grace of God.”

You’re sooooo beautiful, Stacy.

The laundromat provided instant props.  Stacy + Mike provided strong acting abilities!

Fave.  Hands down.  We love you Stacy…and are rooting for you every day!

Our sweet nephew Andrew needs your help!

Not only was he diagnosed with Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome which I’ve shared on my blog before, but he’s been recently diagnosed with another extremely rare syndrome: Pallister-Killian Syndrome.

Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome occurs in 1 out of 15,000 births.  It is not genetically passed in Andrew’s case, but for 5 years this diagnosis left our family hopeful as these kids typically have initial delays but later reach most developmental milestones and typically live a healthy, independent and full life.

Then 6 months ago, Andrew was diagnosed with Pallister-Killian Syndrome.  This syndrome is extremely rare, as only about 200 cases are known WORLDWIDE and is very difficult to diagnose.  We’ve learned since this diagnosis that the severity of Andrew’s delays is the norm for these children.  Most of the PKS traits are traits Andrew possess, such as deaf/blind, profound low muscle tone, hernias, seizures, short arms and legs, small ear canals, turned up nose, sharp heart shaped lips, coarse facial features, severe developmental delays and mental retardation.  Andrew is 5 year old and not walking, talking, crawling, feeding self, dressing self or toileting self.

Here’s where YOU can help.  We’re trying to get enough votes to receive $25,000!  This money would help offset expenses for our family and many others who will be attending the PKS Conference this summer in New Jersey.

The cause has even been featured on WCCO in Minneapolis!  Watch the story by clicking here, then vote by clicking here! All you do is plug in your email address, create a password and vote.  There’s no junk mail or anything.  It’s super simple!  You can vote every day until the contest ends on April 30th.  EVERY VOTE COUNTS!  I just voted again today and PKS’s rank went from 33rd to 32nd.  Your votes will make a difference.  Thank you!!!

The 6th Annual FUR BALL was a huge success!!!!  Lots of food, friends and fur brought in thousands of dollars, but our efforts to raise funding for a new animal shelter continues and we want YOU to be part of it!

STRUT YOUR MUTT is the city’s first dog walk!!!!!!  SAVE THE DATE for MAY 22 @ 10 a.m. @ the Civic Center.  There will be doggie door prizes, cold drinks and hot dogs (haha).

First up though….the kickoff event is THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 17 @ 2 p.m. @ the Dog Park, where you can sign up your pup for $20!

Duncan & I are honored to be in the commercials promoting the STRUT.  Here’s the link!  Hope to see you there!  I’ll be taking pictures at both events, so don’t be shy and smile for the camera.  I may bark, but I don’t bite. 

STRUT YOUR MUTT COMMERCIAL

Notice that Duncan is doing more pulling than strutting.  HAHA!

To learn more about the STRUT, click on these links:

FACEBOOK

MAKE A DONATION & START YOUR OWN DOG WALK TEAM

Just a reminder to email your nominations by May 1: cindy@cindycieluch.com

I’m super excited to read all of your letters and give an incredible senior the photo shoot that they deserve!

…is THE COLLEGIATE MUSTACHE!!!  Here’s my favorite comment about Levi’s hairy upper lip: “When he rides in your car, the value goes up.  When he hands you his business card, it simply reads “I’ll call you.”

THANK YOU so much for participating in such a ridiculous contest!  Here’s a look at the top 3 winners WITHOUT their mustaches.

Levi (COLLEGIATE) is in this fabulous wedding party to the very right.  This is just months before his UW college hair grew in.

EDITED TO ADD:  What a true winner.  Levi is giving his 11×14 to his sister and bro-in-law, HIS + HERS (Bobby + Kendell)!!!

I have a feeling that Levi will pick this image for his 11×14… 

“ONE TOO MANY” featuring Erin + Jason came in a very close second!

Ironic that he used to have a real mustache and that he got so many votes for his fake one!

And because the deadline for the votes was Wednesday, 3rd place goes to Kendell + Bobby’s “HIS + HERS.”

Here’s the adorable, bomb.com, very-special-to-me couple on their wedding day in August!

…???

I can’t decide who should win, so VOTE!!!

Please add a comment and tell me which mustache is the funniest, weirdest, etc.  The mustache with the most votes wins an 11×14.. 

Call me immature, but I was laughing my butt off looking at these entries.  Enjoy…and vote!

Kendell + Bobby’s HIS + HERS Mustaches

The MILK Mustache

The FAT + SKINNY Mustaches

The MOVING Mustache

The ONE-TOO-MANY Mustaches

(The lone man is this photo used to have a really great and REAL ’stache!) 

The OUTLAW Mustache

The COLLEGIATE Mustache

Matt’s MILITARY Mustache + Grayson’s SUPER MARIO Mustache

*This last photo is NOT part of the contest.  I wanted to post it for my girl Stephanie, who is all about the facial hair.  I guess Matt’s semi-stache wasn’t THAT bad, but I’m sure glad it’s gone now. 

Have a mustache?  Don’t have a mustache?  Doesn’t matter!  Hairy and non-hairy peeps alike can take advantage of the Mustache March Sale + Contest!

As many of you know, my husband is in the Montana Air National Guard.  Every year during this dreaded month, pilots and aircrew try their darndest to grow out a mustache.  Most are funny, some are scary and a few actually look good.  Read about this hairy tradition by clicking here.

Well, Matt’s mustache growth period didn’t last long.  He shaved his off today!  He claimed it was bothering his skin - haha!  At first I was going to post photos of him, but trust me - you do not want to see him with a mustache.  It is NOT a sexy sight.

So instead…I took pics of some of our favorite little munchkins - the Kisers! We ate breakfast at Perkins this morning and made them sport these very sophisticated mustaches!  Grayson looks like a Super Mario Brother and Pennington looks straight up adorable!

CONTEST: Now I’m wondering how YOU would look with a mustache!  Email me a picture of yourself workin’ the ’stache and the funniest/most creative person will win an 11×14 ($80 value).  The deadline is Wednesday, so hurry up and send in your photo to cindy@cindycieluch.com

SALE: 15% off in all active online galleries until THIS FRIDAY ONLY.  That includes prints, standouts and canvas wraps!  When checking out, you must plug in the promo code: MUSTACHE