Mary and I go way back. We went to high school together and played volleyball together (shout out to the 2003 4A State Champs! lol). Mary and I hung out often and like to call ourselves sisters because we are a lot alike! I miss seeing Mary and it was SO good to get to catch up with her, especially since she’s encountered a miracle in her life!

Mary and Byron were going to have a baby, but 3 months before the due date Mary’s began to have a very serious condition in which she needed to deliver little Bronson immediately. As Mary and Bronson both fought for their lives there were lots of prayers that were offered up for them by many many people. I mean, Bronson was THREE months pre-mature! BUT, as you can see for yourselves - they are both doing INCREDIBLE. Can we all say Thank You, Lord? Amen, to that!

Byron, Mary, and Bronson - thank you so much for allowing me to photograph your miraculous and beautiful family. I hope you treasure these photographs. I love you guys!

Chad scheduled his session for him and his kids several months ago. We planned on doing it at the beginning of summer, but when his session day finally came, it rained. So -  we rescheduled. As luck would have it, it rained again on our second try. After 3 dates and apparently 3 different outfits for this kids (they grow so FAST!), we FINALLY got to get together for a family shoot! It ended up being the perfect morning - sunny and warm! I had a ton of fun just capturing the interaction between the kids and their dad. It was so sweet to see how much fun they all had together. At the end of the shoot they found a butterfly that they wanted to take home with them. Even though they couldn’t take it, I promised that I took plenty of pictures of it so they would always remember it!

Thank you, Chad, for letting me spend time with you and your kids. Ya’ll are a very special family and I hope you love what I got of you guys!

Kristin and Matt were in the same youth group as my husband, Eric. Lucky for me, through Eric they found out that I am a photographer, so when they knew their extended family was going to be in town together, they called me up! It was such a blessing to spend time around their family. They were so laid back and fun (even when I got lost for 45 minutes on my way to meet them!!) and I had such a blast taking pictures of them. Their family has spent much time as missionaries and it was truly spectacular to be around people with such a calling on their lives! Oh, and I got some very fun shots of them eating yummy watermelon and playing a little game of cards as a family! Apparently, they like to spend a lot of time playing games just like my family! I told them if I didn’t have such an awesome family myself, I would DEFINITELY want to join theirs!

Thanks guys for asking me to do this! It was such a blast and I hope you enjoy your images!

The first time I met Amber & Garrett for a session, it was raining. It wasn’t pouring down rain, but it definitely wasn’t ideal for a photoshoot. Instead of canceling, they wanted to make sure I got some pictures of their dog Vido because we wasn’t doing to well and they didn’t know how much longer he was going to live. So, for about 15 minutes we ventured into the mist to grab some shots of Amber, Garrett, Aspen, and Vido. After the shoot, we rescheduled for another day a week or two later. Only a few days later, Amber sent me an email saying that Vido went to puppy heaven and she was so thankful we got the shots that we did of the pup. In honor of Vido, I did this post, hoping to cheer them up a little!

The good news was that we got to reschedule for a nice, sunny evening, with perfect weather for just the two of them. Since our first meeting, Eric & I had a chance to hang out with the Wigintons (we are always happy to make new friends!) and so on the second shoot I felt like we were old friends. It was fun to joke with them and just see them comfortably together. Although, I know most guys are NOT comfortable in front of the camera (believe me, almost every session the girl says “He really doesn’t enjoy pictures”), but just knowing certain things about them as a couple allowed for lots of casual conversation and fun moments during the shoot!

Amber & Garrett, I’m so glad you booked a session so we could become friends! Now you have some new pictures for your beatiful red accent wall!

Hi readers! Today’s post is special because I’m directing it towards only one person. It’s the person who God chose to use in order to sweep me off my feet, and draw me closer to Him. It’s the person that He chose to bring an incredible amounts of overflowing joy into my life - to bring laughter from the depths of my soul that I had no idea existed. This post is written for my sweet husband, Eric, on our 3 year anniversary. *But feel free to read along with him.

To the man who’s length of a relationship with me has FINALLY surpassed the length of my longest relationship - record held by Austin Christian from Kindergarten to third grade- haha (shout-out to Chamberlin Elementary):

Sometimes I forget how blessed I am to be your wife. I’m not trying to be sappy because it’s our anniversary, but I think you should know how I think about you and our relationship. You truly were a gift to me from the Lord. Not just because I got a husband out of the deal… I mean, being married is definitely a gift. But what I really mean is that God laid out specific gifts for me by bringing you into my life. Like here’s one. He saved me from a LOT of unnecessary heartache and guilt. I’ve always wanted to be married (OBVIOUSLY - I had a boyfriend in Kindergarten! Most kindergarten-ers think boys are ICKY). I truly believe that because of a lot of insecurities I had as a teenager and also because I always desired to be married, I dated a lot. Too much, really. I dated some really nice guys and I dated some… well… I just shouldn’t have gone there. When you came into my life, the Lord knew the paths that I was choosing for myself and honestly, he just saved me from a lot of pain. He saved me from unnecessary baggage that I would have had to carry. You were a blessing to me because God wanted to show me what His love was really like through you. I just had never experienced that kind of unconditional love before and you showed it to me. You still show it to me everyday. Wow. Using you, He swept me off my feet.

God also gifted me with this CRAZY joy that I had never experienced before. Although I was always a happy person, through you, He brought true laughter into my soul. Cooks, you are FUN-NY. My life would be SO boring without you. I love the fact that we are SO silly together, we laugh at everything, and sometimes it’s just fun to be immature. Riding carts down the aisles at Wal-mart? Rapping and beat boxing in the car? Giggling when something sounds like a fart? I hope we still act like kids when we’re old. Why does life have to be so serious and boring? I’m so blessed to have been taught that by you. I remember being SOO embarrassed when you acted silly in front of other people. I didn’t want people to think that I was immature because of you. Oh the Lord has taught me so much about what it means to be joyful and what it means to respect my husband for who he is. I’m a lot more silly now because of you and I LOVE it. I love who God is forming me to be through you.

I could go on and on about how many blessings I’ve received JUST because you asked me to be your wife, but I will only share one more. I just want to thank you for being patient with me while God is teaching me to be more like Him. I know that you see how He’s using you in a mighty way through worship at StoneWater, but he’s using you in a mighty way in my life, too. I’m learning every day about unconditional love, about respect, about patience, and really about righteousness. I know that when I screw up, God gives me the encouragement that I need to keep going - a lot of times He does that through you. I love how the Lord has put us on this path together, to run this race together, to seek His face together. I enjoy worshiping the Lord with you more than ANYTHING in this entire world. Worship is my favorite favorite favorite favorite thing to do… I just love to give glory to God… and to do it with you… well, it’s just indescribable.

God is using you in a mighty way in my life, Eric. I hope you see that. He didn’t just put you in my life so that we would live “happily ever after,” but He’s truly blessed me with the PERFECT person to accomplish a mission with. There is no one I’d rather spend my life with than you. No. One. I love you more than chocolate cupcakes. Happy Anniversary.

Pictures by Visions In White Photography