Family Pictures

I loaded these pictures awhile back and forgot that I left this post as a draft. These beautiful pictures were taken by a friend who lives in our old town in Arkansas. Here is her page on Facebook. And her flickr. Grace is a photography student in the same program that I was also in at John Brown, but I know the photography program has grown for the better. Maybe we both have similar styles, because we both tend to love what the other shoots. I like her raw and natural style. I wanted to have a few family photos taken, but we didn't have much money and I didn't really want to sit in a studio.

When we were in Arkansas this last summer, we met Grace on the college campus and walked down to the creek that Andrew and I had once hung our hammock beside in the early days when we were dating. Time moves so quickly as I carried our second baby and watched my toddler run with her daddy to the clear and cold water.

Even now looking back at these images a few months later, they mean even more to me. Grace did such a beautiful job at capturing our family. I know personally that it can be a challenge to get Blanche and Rosemary to work with the photographer. Grace just kept snapping pictures. It made me miss my college days. She still feels so fresh and brave in her photography. I love that about her. The quality of her work is so high above only being in her second year of college.

I am so thankful that I will always have these images of our new little family of four... just being us, walking in the creek, and Blanche deciding like usual that she should swim in it. She ended up completely naked, which fits her about right. I love these pictures. They are so special to me. And they really do speak for themselves. Thank you so much Grace. Such a gift.