A Fall Afternoon In Olympia

 OK... Here they are again...
 
 One of my favorite families! 

I think this is the 4th time I have done photos for them!  Our first session was when Brooke was a newborn.... look at her now!


She is a hoot!  She has so much personality and spunk.  I LOVE IT!


We had a fun afternoon playing in a great Japanese garden in  down town Olympia.  I never even knew it was there!  That is one of the things I love so much about photography, I get to explore and visit tons of beautiful locations in the Northwest.


Mason found some great rocks right by a waterfall to hang by out by for awhile.  He is such a great brother.  He is growing up quickly and is missing one front tooth... he was working on wiggling out the other one too!

Lauren could not have been more beautiful!  I can not get enough of this beautiful family!


This image of the three kiddos together is timeless to me.  I love it now, and I will love it years from now.  I hope they do too!



One of the other things we captured in this session was the individual relationships between each child and their parent.  There were so many great shots, but here are a couple of my favorites...






Thank you again for another WONDERFUL session.

It is always a pleasure to work with you and I am LOVING being able to watch your family grow up!!
 

The Fight For Life

Life.

Its this amazing gift we been given.  I would imagine that if you really think about it, we take about 99% of it for granted.Why do we do that?  Why do we wait to be slapped in the face with something to snap us back into realizing what amazing things we have right in front of our eyes.  My dear friends Carolyn and Drew got the dreaded news from their doctor a few weeks ago that Drew has cancer.
 
Drew is just 39 years old.  Our girls have been friends since they were just 3. His wife Carolyn and I have shared book club together (please, no comments on how many of the books I have actually read), cried on the first day of kindergarten together, and often laugh together.  We all go to soccer practice to visit with each other (sometimes we do more visiting than actual watching).  We meet up Saturdays after soccer games to visit and have lunch, and now we go to church together.

 
When I think about Drew and what makes him a wonderful person, I immediately think about what a great father he is to Abby.
 
 
Parents play such an important role in our lives.  They teach you about love...
 
 and about security.
 
 They teach you about faith, strength, and courage.
 
They teach you how to be a child and how to have fun.
 
 
They teach you about commitment and respect.
 
Parents mold who you are as a child and who you will become as a teen and an adult.  Fathers in particular seem to know just what to say and just when to say it.  One the other side of that, pesky dads also have a keen ability to say the things we need to hear even though it is not what we want to hear.

Abby is a lucky girl.  She has an amazing dad and an incredible mom. Carolyn, you are an inspiration to everyone who is watching from the outside as you process all of the changes to your life and family.  No one envies your situation, but I hope you know that I am in awe your strength, your faith and your dedication. You are a blessing to Drew and Abby.
 
 
This family is on for the fight of their lives.  As I write this, they are meeting with an oncologist to design their plan of attack.  Please, pray for them. Pray that someday Abby can understand how much strength she gives her parents and the love they feel when they have their arms wrapped around the center of their universe.
 
Pray that they have strength to fight the long fight, pray for a cure, and pray for peace in their hearts.