Have you ever thought your family was complete, and then there was one more – and you thought, ‘How did we ever live without her?!’  Meet this family!  Not only are they loyal and kind and generous and adventurous and… (yes, they are 100% all those things)… They are dreamers, and they inspire others to dream.  Like me…

Never underestimate the value and power of a friend who listens well.  This mom has been one of my closest friends since fifth grade.  As I have come and gone (moving states, moving countries, moving dreams), she has always made herself available to listen and understand my heart.  As we both started raising adventurous boys, we watched relative strangers bond with each other during our visits and continue a friendship into another generation.  It was this friend that first gave me the courage to turn my passion into a business.

It’s been a delight to see her dreams grow and her passions develop over the years.  It was just plain fun to capture this moment in her life, with all the quirks that came along with it.  Their son relished every break I gave him, but participated admirably when I needed him.  If he wasn’t sprawled out on the floor during a break, he was busy flossing (that’s last year’s dance craze, by the way).  I laughed every time his parents had to say, “Stop flossing!” because I kept picturing the horrified look on their dentist’s face!  And he was impressed that I knew how to do Orange Justice (this year’s dance craze).  Well… I’m working on it, anyway…

Don’t let me neglect spending a minute on their precious new addition.  Baby Girl was already a month old when I took these photos!  She was working hard at developing the volume of her cry, and when her eyes were open they were WIDE open, full of wonder as she was starting to focus on shapes and people.  Working with newborns requires being on their schedule and shooting around their moods.  Of course, I love a good crying picture, but I was so surprised how much she cooperated with us!

And this dad…  My favorite part of that afternoon was seeing him light up when he looked at his children.  I mean, really looked at his children.  I could tell that when he looked at his kids, he saw all of them – their personalities, their moods, their telltale signs of being his.  He loves being their dad.

Finally, a shout out to Grandma!  Without her loving assistance, we couldn’t have done so much in this session as we did!  Grandmas are the best, aren’t they?!

Thanks for reading!  This is just one of my ways of putting a smile back in the world!