welcome

Sometime around the year I turned 15, my parents realized that they didn’t need to give all five of us kids Christmas presents anymore. For my whole life, they took all of us on a giant road trip to our house in Florida each year at Christmas and paid for meals, movies, and just general amazingness. So around 15, we all started getting $25 to Starbucks. And on Christmas morning, instead of sitting around opening gifts, we would all walk the 1.5 miles to Starbucks and use our fresh gift cards to buy some frappucinos. It was glorious. 

The past two weeks, man. They were tough ones. I lost my grandmother, my Mimi. A woman who lived 87 years serving other people, with a smile on her face and a literal skip in her step.

I’ve written about her before, just after her first stroke. So if you’re interested in knowing more about her (and you should be), read this.

Road trips are kind-of a tenet of my family. From 1990 until 2005, all 7 of us would pile into our conversion van at the beginning of Christmas break and drive to Florida. Straight through, the trip can be as short as 16 hours. But realistically, it takes more than 20.

We had traditions. My mom would put the back seat down and make a huge bed that four of us could sleep on at a time.

This family is one of my very favorites. Their story cannot be told without tears and love and goosebumps. I’ve learned more from these women than I could ever begin to quantify. I’m lucky to be Bri’s honorary godmother and even luckier to bear witness to Tiffany being a mother to these beautiful girls.

The last time I photographed the Johnsons, little Tyanna had yet to make her debut and Bri couldn’t have been more excited to meet her:

Torie is one of my clients-turned-friends and those are simply the best kind. She’s a great friend because I can’t be around her for more than two minutes without cry-laughing and she’s a great client because look at their family. It’s like doing a photo shoot for a magazine. 

If there is one thing I’m consistently envious of in other people, it’s freckles. I think they are just about the cutest thing in the world and I always wish I had them.

These two kids had the most adorable freckles I’ve ever seen and I was literally squealing while editing the photos because of them.