I love working with families and I love watching kids grow up and have kids of their own. This is the daughter of a family we have known since we first moved to Illinois almost 17 years ago. {WOW, that’s a long time!} I’ve known her for many years and I got to take their family pictures last year in the FREEZING cold. This year it was much warmer, but not without it’s challenges.

They had been working all day on a house project and were running late, one of the kids couldn’t get their clothes out of the room they were in, dad wasn’t able to get there at the beginning, sisters arms were too cold, so mom gave her jacket to her…..and YOU GUESSED IT, they turned out great. I try really hard to keep my cool during pictures and help work out all of the challenges that I know come with pictures. I know how stressful it is when you have something planned and your day doesn’t go as you would have liked. I know it’s A LOT of work to get family pictures taken! I just want you to know that I’m on your side, that I get it and that I will do everything I can to help ease the stress of family pictures!!

These kids were SO fun to work with, dad wasn’t there yet, so I said, no worries, let’s start taking some pictures of each of the kids…..oh man, some of them are funnier than others. This “dabbing” picture happened before I even knew what was going on….he’s a sneaky one!!

Then we got the kids all together just as the sun was setting and got some adorable ones with just them.

Dad got there just in time to grab one of the whole family. It might not have been the ideal year for pictures, but it’s always fun to look back and say, “remember that year that (blank) happened?” I love how photos help us remember those important family memories, both the good and the bad.

Thank you for trusting me to capture your family again this year. Thank you for making it work. I promise that these memories are worth the investment!!