The Gift of Baby Greta

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure to photograph a cute little family and their newest addition. Camille had emailed me months before and wanted to make sure we got Greta at the perfect age. Of course some things change once the baby came, especially when she came early, and so we waited a few weeks until Greta was able to come home finally to her family. We worried she wouldn’t sleep, but after a while she finally zonked and was such a perfect angel baby for the session. As stated in my last blog post, I have started to finally share the stories found behind the pictures I take. Everyone has a story, a road they had to take to get to where they are at today. And this family has an incredible story filled with courage, sorrow, faith, and joy. I was able to photograph this family last fall, and it is always amazing when I can photograph one more step of their journey as a family. I was deeply touched by this family, more than they will know. Enough from me. Let’s get on to their story and pictures:

Is there a special significance to Greta's name? Greta was just a named that we both liked and both agreed on.  However, her middle name is Jenice which is my maternal grandma's name that passed away from cancer when I was a baby.

How did you feel once Greta came to your family? Did you wait a long time for her? Back in 2008 I got pregnant and was due on April 2009.  We found out we were having a girl and named her Maren.  I went to a Doctor's appointment when I was 40+wks pregnant with Maren and found out she had passed away.  Deciding to get pregnant again so soon was scary and overwhelming.  Three months after delivering and burying Maren we got pregnant with Greta and found out we were due in April 2010.  My pregnancy with Greta was an emotional rollercoaster of feelings about having another girl only a year later.  So, yes, it does seem like we had been waiting forever for Greta.  Well, not Greta specifically but for another living child.  Having her spend almost 4wks. in the NICU kind of drug things out when we were so anxious to bring her home.  We were nervous how we would feel once Greta was born but it's been a wonderful, healing experience. 

What is your favorite thing about Greta? Other than that she's a pretty great sleeper?  lol.  I love how snuggly she is.

 

 

How is being a mom to two different from being a mom to one? Splitting the time between the two has been an adjustment.  I can't always attend to Spencer as quick as I'd like to and sometimes I have to let Greta cry when something with Spencer needs to be done.  It also takes a lot longer to get out the door to go somewhere.  Overall, it hasn't been as difficult or scary having two as I had imagined.

(This is Spencer’s “yawn” face. It looks more like a monster face to me, but we all were just cracking up, and he just soaked up all of the attention!) 

How is Spencer handling being a big brother? Is he a good helper? Spencer has been a great big brother so far.  He likes to come sit with me while I'm nursing Greta or changing diapers, etc.  He also loves to give her hugs and kisses and always wants to hold her.

 

What do you want to remember most about this time with Greta as a newborn, years down the road? I want to remember how little and cuddly she was.  That time passes so quickly.  Spencer is only 3.5yrs. old and I already can't believe how big he is and miss the time when he was just a baby.

What would you like to teach Greta when she is older? So many things.  Most of all, I want to teach her the things that will lead her to be a compassionate, intelligent woman who knows who she is.

 

  Camille (and family), it seriously was the biggest pleasure of mine to photograph your family and to share your story. Thank you for sharing your loss, your healing, and the joy you hare having with sweet Greta. I am deeply touched by your courage and faith, and am so thankful that the heavens blessed your home with sweet Greta.  She seriously is an angel.

Thank you everyone for stopping by today. Have a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend with the ones that you love best :)

A Missionary’s Story - Jacob

Yesterday evening, I had the neatest opportunity. I was able to photograph a missionary who was about 12 hours away from entering the MTC and going to serve the Lord for 2 years in Spain. His mom has been a friend of my mom’s longer than I have lived (actually I’m pretty sure his mom came to my birth),  and she was devastated that she would not be able to fly out here to drop off her 2nd son on his mission, and she asked if I could work something out so I could take the pictures that next day. I was more than thrilled to do so. And let me tell you, it was the neatest experience, especially because I was able to learn a little more about Jacob’s story.

You know what I’ve decided? I want to share the stories. Real true stories that go behind these pictures that I am lucky enough to take. Sometimes I know the story, and sometimes I really don’t. But from now on my goal is to not only share with you pictures, but real stories that help make people who they are. So after rushing to Wal-Mart with my Mom (who was my wonderful assistant), we grabbed a tape recorder to ask Jacob some questions. I knew he wouldn’t be able to email me back these answers, so this was the best way. I hope you will feel inspired even through the couple questions that he answers about why he is here and some of his feelings right before starting this great new adventure.

What are you looking forward to the most about this mission experience?
Definitely having my horizon broadened. Just having culture shock. Having to change, having to adapt, and learning to blend in where I don't normally belong. I just want to grow.

How do you feel about eating the food there in Spain?
I am a little apprehensive, but I am excited. Because I hate fish, and it's a lot of seafood. But I like variety, so it should be interesting.

When you said good-bye to your parents what was your response?
I didn't get emotional, that wasn't the response I had to it. It didn't effect me that way, it was more like I'm ready to go right now, I'm excited, I'm pumped, I feel empowered, I need to do something about it right now. That sort of thing.

Who was the most influential person that helped you get to where you are at right now?
To be COMPLETELY honest, it was my girlfriend Dani. She was the big convincing swing. When we started to get really serious, I started thinking a lot more, really started to think about everything, and I realized that I wanted to be the best person I could be for her. And I knew that going on a mission was a sure way to put myself in that direction. After a lot of thinking and self-evaluation, I knew that this is what I needed to do, and especially if I wanted to be the person I needed to be for her, and deserve her.

And the neatest part of that last question, is that Dani, herself, is also leaving on her own mission this August. They will both be serving the Lord at the same time and growing apart, yet together in a way that is so incredible and real. The significance to the ring that Jacob is wearing is that it is his own promise ring he wears to remind himself of Dani. I seriously just can’t believe how amazing his story really is.

And of course when I told him if he wanted some fun goofy pictures, he JUMPED at the opportunity to be himself and to hopefully help make his mom laugh and remember her goofy son :) He seriously was a ham!

What would you like to say to your parents?
I love you Mom and Dad. Thank you so much for always being such a consistent and constant example to me. I think of all of the effort to push me through to the right way. I definitely needed it. I want to also say thank you for never giving up on me and always seeing the person that you knew I could be.

Thank you so much Jacob for sharing your story with us. I hope it has touched more than your family and I. I know you will be a fantastic missionary and that the Lord will bless you. Valerie, Dani, and family, I hope this little extra surprise made your day, love you!

High School Seniors are so awesome!

I just had a blast yesterday evening hanging out with Matt and getting some dang cool senior shots! I am putting my OCF skills to great use and having fun with it. We got so much variety with this session, so I can’t wait to share it with you, but here are a few cool shots I thought I’d share to leave you with over the weekend. Enjoy!

And Congrats to all of the awesome seniors that are graduating this next week! Great job!

Amber and Kelly's Wedding

Added to Post: I wanted to share with you the questions that Amber and Kelly answered for me to help tell their “story.” There are a few added pictures. Hopefully you enjoy hearing more about this fantastic couple and their happily ever after.

How did you meet? Amber said: Well Kelly and I are proof that blind dates work. My cousin set us up on a blind date. I was going to school in Wyoming and so every time I would come home I would go on a date with Kelly. We did this for about 7 months until I graduated school and moved back home. Then we got together and now we can’t be separated. What really made me know that I wanted to date him is he never pushed me further than I wanted to go. He helped me with things that meant a lot to me.  And there was always something different about him than the other guys I dated.

I have been really excited to share with you all this wedding. It was a crazy day, but at the same time I absolutely loved what we got! It was an extremely fun day, and I loved hanging out with Amber and Kelly to get some really beautiful shots of their wedding day. I hope they will be just as happy as I am with what we got.

April Fools Day threw us for a loop on this beautiful wedding day. But luckily everything worked out perfect with timing! This is what the temple looked like while they were inside just about 20 minutes before they came out. But things can quickly change, can’t they? Especially here in Utah in the spring . . .

These awesome friends of Amber and Kelly’s were only out for a couple minutes when I took these pictures. Yep we all were FREEZING!

Then the cute newly-wed, love-birds came out full of joy despite the weather :)

What were some of your feelings leading up to your wedding day? Amber said: I had a lot of nervous going on and so many emotions.

How did you feel once you were married? Amber said: That I had made the right choice but I have to tell you I did not really feel married until we left the reception and it was just me and Kelly in the car :)

Kelly said: Once i was married i felt relieved. :) I felt that it was right and that i was on my way to a great marriage with the person that I love very very much. :)

Ah I seriously love parent pictures

Amber’s mom seriously is one of those amazing moms! Even with our few encounters with this wedding experience, I have realized what a gem she seriously is! She so incredibly wonderful to be around and helpful! I couldn’t think more highly of her :) Thank you Terri for your example!

I pretty much love the look on Kelly’s face here. Classic.

I totally thought these ladies were the best!! They were so incredibly cool, and we had fun!

So did Kelly! Jk! Haha! 

 

What is your favorite thing about your husband? Amber said: He has the ability to ground me in a way no one else does. And no matter what he never gives up on me and does not let me give up on myself. And no matter what every day he makes me laugh.

What is your favorite thing about your wife? Kelly said: My favorite thing right now is the way she loves me. She is always concerned for me and lets me feel important to her.

 

 

Even though it was cold, these two were just so naturally HAPPY to be married, that it was contagious! I heart these next pictures.

 

This next sequence was such a cute natural moment that happened. So cute! 

What detail from your day were you most excited to see come together? Amber said:  I was most excited for the temple and to finally call Kelly my husband.   

What was the first thing that caught your eye about Kelly in those first few weeks of dating? Amber said: How funny he is and one thing that stood out about Kelly is how much of a gentleman he is. He always gets my door even to this day.

 

What was the first thing that caught your eye about Amber in those first few weeks of dating? Kelly said: What caught my eye was the way she acted. She was very well mannered. She didn't make me feel stupid when I was in public with her.

  It had already been a long day, so somebody was catching some winks before more of the excitement happened for the evening.

Amber’s Dad had an excellent voice and entertained us with some songs.

Amber, herself, is a very talented actress and singer. She sang the song from the musical, “The Scarlet Pimpernel” to Kelly. Even though I got some pictures of her, I love this one of Kelly totally focused on her.

Daddy/Daughter dances are my favorite part of the evenings. Especially tender ones like this:

Ok Kelly and Amber are in the running with maybe only ONE other couple for the most exciting cake cutting experience. Seriously it was crazy, but lots of fun and I got tons of really expressive pictures with LOTS of action :) Here’s just a few of my favorites:

They were both totally good sports about it (especially Amber!) which made it lots of fun!

But she got him one last time :)

An interesting thing about receptions is that usually the girls are VERY eager for the bouquet toss.

But the boys (at least these ones) were NOT! Haha this picture actually totally makes me laugh because they seriously just let it drop and reluctantly picked it up. It was funny, at least to me :)

Woot woot! They are all ready for a fun honeymoon! And yes in case you were wondering, it was still snowing like crazy outside. But snow can actually look really cool in pictures!

During your life together, what are you most looking forward to experiencing? Kelly said: I look forward to experiencing being a parent with her. I can't wait to see how she will handle being a mom. :) (As stupid as that may sound)

Amber said: I look forward to seeing him play ball with our kids. To go to a foreign country and help the people physically, spiritually, and emotionally and serve the Lord hand in hand every step of the way.

Amber also shared this to end: One special thing Kelly wrote to me I will share was, “I know for a fact that I cannot sing or act like you. But I wish to not act and pretend with you. But to always love and cherish you with all my heart.” I remember reading that and having tears fill my eyes. Coming from a very performing oriented life that meant a lot to me. Our love is real, nothing made up in a movie or musical something real and rare in this world today. He and the Lord are my strengths. I am so grateful.

 Amber and Kelly, it seriously was my pleasure to be a part of your wedding day. It was so incredibly fun! I wish you all the happiness in your new marriage!

Thanks for stopping by today everyone!