Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Photobooks



I love photobooks, they are fun and simple to do but most of all they make the best gifts! For my friend Jodie's birthday I wanted to do something special and heartfelt. So I took photos of her children while I was babysitting them and then for her birthday I gave her a surprise birthday book with photos she had never seen.








It was awesome! She was so surprised and I even threw in a little poem I had written!
Our mother's love
What could be more important than our mother's love?
Her personal needs are set aside it's us she's thinking of
Not just our guardian angel but a friend we can't deny
Who loves and stands besides us, wipes our tears when we cry
Our mother's love is special
How lucky we must be, God sent us down an angel
To love and care for three!


These ones we did for their Grandma!( and yes she got a poem too:))

Having photos done is one of the best surprises you can give your family and friends, don't tell them keep it "hush, hush" and then surprise them with a photobook for their birthdays....one of the best presents ever...just ask Jodie:)

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Meet Jennifer

I got to photograph a beautiful mother and her children. Meet Jennifer she is waging the biggest battle of her life...Breast Cancer. She is almost done with an exhausting 15 weeks of chemotherapy and in October will start radiation. Through all this she is raising some of the most delightful children I have ever met. When I photographed this family I could feel their connection and closeness. 
Jennifer handles herself with a grace that is beautiful, she is strong and through her faith fearless. 
What can you do to raise her spirits and help her stay focused and strong?
PRAY! 
It's that easy! 
Raise her up in prayer so she can feel the love of her community, and we can bare witness to the POWER of PRAYER.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Madeline Victoria

Madeline is 10 and just starting to come into her own.
Claiming and owning who you are and accepting yourself fully is one of the hardest things. As an adult I still struggle with this, so when Madeline asked me " Mom am I beautiful no matter what?" I was a little surprised.
She always had the highest self esteem out of all my children. When she was 4 a lady asked her "how did you get to be so pretty"  Madeline without any thought replied "God painted me this way".
When people would tell her how precious or cute she looked she would always smile and say "yes I know, Thank You", I used to tell her it's not polite to say you know you're pretty, you're just supposed to say "thank you"...but then I stopped.
Why is it so wrong for her to think she's pretty? Wouldn't the world with all it's ups and downs be a little easier on a gal if she at least has confidence and thought she looked pretty?

So when she asked me if she was beautiful no matter what... I told her the truth;
How when she was born I could barely breathe because she was so beautiful and perfect . How her Dad and I even discussed that we couldn't believe the hospital hadn't made her "baby of the month" because she was the most beautiful baby ever born.

How when she started kindergarten at her first performance..she was one of the smallest in her class but her blue eyes would stare out from the crowd and put me in a trance. How her smile and laughter are contagious and never fail to out me in a good mood!





But most of all I reminded her how beautiful she is  inside, my special girl <3 How she won an award from the special ed teachers for her kindness, because throughout the year she would stop by to give out hugs and pictures she had colored. How she talked with the disabled kids and knew all their names. How she always teamed up with the children that got "picked last" and made friends with the "new kid". How she brought books on the school bus to read to the kindergartners . How very special she truly is, beautiful inside and out... No Matter What!