Earlier this year, I got to meet & do an anniversary session for Leah & Jonathan Roberson. Seriously SUCH a sweet couple. Leah contacted me again just a few months ago about having a family session for the whole Roberson side & to that I said “Of course! Count me in!”And it wasn’t just any family group session, but a time of celebrating the many years Pastor John & Miss Sheri have ministered at their church. As a Pastor Kid myself, I knew this was a session I WANTED to be a part of & celebrate in 🙂

The Roberson family pulled up at our location & the fall colors were in full show-off mode 🙂 I’d only met Leah & Jonathan once before, but I felt like I’d know the WHOLE family for years. I’m sure if you know the Roberson fam, you feel the same way 😀

The marriage between a man & woman who do ministry together is so near to my heart since I’ve watched my own parents do that. You can tell they still love each other a ton!

And these two, Jessica & her man, CUTIES!

Love these of “uncle” & “nephew” together 😀

Some body was trying to stay warm 😉

And I’m EXCITED that Leah & Jonathan are EXPECTING!!!!!! I see a maternity session & newborn session with them in the future 😉

Here’s the non-crying version of that picture 😉

The lovely ladies!!!!!!

And my FAVORITE group family image from their session!!!

Roberson’s I LOVED spending time with you all!!! I’d do it again in a heartbeat & hope it happens again sooner rather then later! 😀

Couple weeks ago I got an email from Sonyta. She explained to me that their oldest son was going to be in town for the weekend & would it be possible to make a family session happen? Her friend Leah Bond (thanks Leah!) referred me to them & the cool thing was, we already knew each other from a couple years ago!

We quickly decided on a date, time & to have the session at the Adkins home. We did spend most of our time outdoors, but I immediately fell in love with their house. Lots of room & it just felt like HOME. Know what I mean?

The Adkins are BIG on music. From singing, choir, producing music, having their own home studio, playing numerous instruments, I LOVE that Sonyta & Marchan incorporate music in their lives & have passed on this love to their children.

Speaking of their children…each of the kids had such fun personalities! Lundon was in the youth group I helped with back in the day & it was fun seeing him as a grown young man!

Here’s the Adkins!

Didn’t I tell you these kids have personalities??? 😉 Love it!

I loved these moments between momma & her eldest 🙂

And here’s the two love birds themselves!

And if you know the Adkins, you know they’re Dallas Cowboys fans! LOVED their idea of wanting to incorporate their love for the Cowboys in their session!

Thanks for a fun evening Adkins!!!

Sometimes, you meet someone & become friends basically instantly. Then you & your sister start hanging out with your new friend & her brother. You talk about old TV shows that no one else knows about & being homeschooled. As years go by, you continue to meet members of your new friends family & even your parents hit it off & have double dates. Then your new friend gets engaged & asks you to be her Maid of Honor. You say YES! even though she’s going to be moving away once she gets married 😉 (Yes, Aaron I AM putting that into my blog #becauseIcan #stillbitter #cantstopme). Through the wedding preparations, you meet more & more of your friend’s family. Through time after the wedding & move, you still stay in contact & continue to meet her family at different things. Her parents still go on double dates with yours & here & there you run into her family members at Walmart.

Friends like that, friends that open up not only their love & friendship to you, but their lives & family as well are hard to come by. If you ever have the privilege of having a friend such as this, such a Joy Phillips, don’t take it, that relationship, for granted. Keep that friend. Cultivate the friendship. Even if her new husband DOES take her away to Kansas City *cough-cough Aaron Phillips*. The times, texts & facebook messages you DO share, through the years will build into memories that are priceless. (And it IS pretty crazy that your own husbands back in the day grew up together & have their OWN stories 😉 Isn’t God cool in how He does stuff like that?)

And yes, this session isn’t just about Joy 😉 But it was through her that I met her wonderful family. And just a few weekends ago, we all met at local park for a Group Family Session. Do you remember (if you live in Bloomington-Normal) that Saturday, following the Fourth of July & it POURED. Like basically all day? Yeah, that was the day their session was scheduled 😉 But you know what? The clouds broke & the sun came through just in time. We sometimes took a break under the shelter at the park, but it happened!!!!!!! I DO think our “No Rain Anymore Dance” in the park helped…just kidding 😉

And I couldn’t have been more honored to have captured this family. Gay & Bill, Beverly, Bob & Arlene, the Tharpe Clan, Jeremy & Johnna, Nicole & her kids….They were all fun & I’m grateful they put up with me & the rain. And the “No More Rain Dance”. Again kidding!

Everyone, here’s my personal favorite images from my time with the Bishop Family!

Sisters!

Look at these handsome guys!

These two precious sisters! I can’t even….!

And I’m totally breaking every rule by posting this next pic, but come on, I HAD to! Too many amazing expressions in this photo 😉

Hahah!

Oh Bishop family, THANK YOU for having me come hangout!!! I’m totally up for another time! We’ll just leave the rain 😉

And thanks Joys for being my friend!

“Family, like branches in a tree, we all grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one.”

I posted the above quote with the first preview of the Dawson Family that I posted on facebook last week. I truly believe this quote fits their family so well. As Rachel, Becca, Andrew & Amber have grown up as siblings under the Godly & strong examples of their parents, they now are raising their own families spread across 3 different states & not to mention several time zones 😉

Each of the Dawson “kids” have their own little families now. I know from personal experience & observance that they are raising their families to follow & serve the Lord. Just as their mom & dad would want.

Being a part of this group family session was almost like being with my own family. Over the past 7 years, my sister & I have grown close to Rachel & Amber & then of course it helped when Amber married my husband’s childhood friend 😉 We’ve been to a wedding, family birthday parties & outings with members of the Dawson clan. My own cousins & other relatives live hundreds of miles away so to be included in special moments like these are TRULY special to me.

The Dawson clan gathered together from all 3 states to celebrate the Fourth of July together & spend lots of time together. Amber & I had been discussing their session for months on hand before & we had the perfect weather for it! A special thanks goes out to my husband who joined me & assisted!

Silly faces from everyone!

Grammy & her grandkids! And yes, you counted right- 13 kids! Starting at 8 years old & then all the way down to 8 months!

All such beautiful ladies!

Just the boy cousins! (Casie, Andrew’s wife made all the bow-ties! Aren’t they adorable?!)

And the girls!!! They’re a little outnumbered don’t you think? 😉 But they make up for it in adorableness 😀

All the siblings & their spouses!

Thanks for inviting Eric & I to come hangout with you all Rachel, Becca, Andrew, Amber & everyone else! We’re free next year 😉 😉

Steve, Jennifer & Leah were several years back “models” for me 🙂 I was just beginning to branch out & photograph other people then just family & close friends. I reached out to the McMichael’s one day & asked if they’d be willing to let me use them as guinea pigs before they left for their new home in Morocco (yes the country!) & Leah left for Wheaton College. I was so glad they agreed & said yes!

Well fast forward about 3 years ago (I think that’s what we figured out it was!) & the three of them are together a little this summer while Steve & Jennifer are visiting family & friends & taking care of various things. And at the same time spending as much time as possible with their beautiful daughter Leah who has a few weeks off before her internship starts. (Which if I have my timing correct, at the time of posting this, she has already started her internship!)

I love the McMichael Family. They are true, loving, giving, caring people. My heart was so lifted & encouraged after my time together with them just a few weeks ago. I’m only around them a few times every couple of years but it’s always a joy when I am able to be around them.

I really want you to just soak in the love, happiness, laughter & JOY in the faces of this special family as you look through these pictures. It’s not very hard to see 😉 Their faces radiate it!

We had their session at a favorite, quiet place in Bloomington-Normal. I loved it!!! It was like we had left the city & had been transferred to a little sanctuary.

Leah is a lovely woman. She just recently got this awesome bike! And I thought it was perfectly fitting that we got a few pictures of her with it! I know she’s going to love riding it around the campus of Wheaton College.

I’ll say it again, she’s LOVELY.

Leah & Steve can be funny AND serious 😉

I loved the way Steve kissed Jennifer & held her!

Oh Leah 😉

Yes, this family loves to laugh & BE together!

Steve, Jennifer & Leah, I’m so glad it worked out for us to another session. Eric & I are praying for all the adventures that are coming your way. Love you three & we’ll have to do this again sometime 😉

When you meet Amos & Renee, you immediately like them. You can’t help but not! They’re genuine, loving people. Renee is super sweet & beautiful & always asks “How are you doing?” & Amos, is well, Amos 😉 He’s generous & always wanting to help out. Together these two make an awesome couple. My husband & I have had the privilege of getting to know them & their boys while attending our church & our couples small group over the past year. When they called me a few weeks ago to see if I was available to come out to their home & have a session with them, I made it happen!

The M Family is the kind of family you love to be around. You don’t have to pretend & can just be yourself. It’s a fun, new season they’re entering into! With 2 little boys now & one on the way & I was SUPER excited they’d asked me to come hangout with them & capture this time in their lives. Plus, I knew it’d be a ton of fun 😉 It always is with the M Family!

They love their daddy 🙂

I loved being able to spend some time with Renee & get her baby bump on camera 🙂 🙂

She’s SOOOOOOO PRETTY!!!

And Amos thinks so too 😉

      My favorite thing to do is to capture where my clients do life & where they love = their home! I LOVED being able to help Amos & Renee remember these precious moments & activities they do with their boys. Precious times like these NEED to be remembered.

Eric & I are SOOO excited for your family to be adding another little one Amos & Renee. We can’t wait to meet him! You are raising your boys with the Lord’s help & that’s so awesome. We look forward to continuing to doing life with you & we’re thankful for your friendship. We love you guys!!!