My Son and his Family

I have been out of town for two weeks, and just got caught up on everything this week from being gone. When you are a one person show (mostly), if you do not do it, it does not get done.

So, getting back into the swing of things also involved having the true joy of photographing my son and his family. It is always fun, unpredictable, and we just never know what we are going to get. My son, Ethan, is married to Michalene, and they have four children together. Add JJ, who is a freshman in high school, and the fun just does not stop. Ethan is a very talented musician, entrepreneur, teacher, frontman for his band, and incredible father and husband.

I also have three daughters, one lives in California and works for Nickelodeon in post production editing, another lives in Michigan, just got engaged and is working on her Masters in Social Work while working with children on the spectrum, and my oldest lives in North Carolina, works in the Duke University library system and is working on her second Masters in library science.

To say how proud I am of who my children are is just an understatement. I have no words to describe how proud I am of who they all are as people and what they are doing with their lives. I recently told my oldest daughter that if I could be 1/4 of the person she is today, I would be happy. And, I mean that about ALL my children.

So being able to photograph my son and his family is such a joy. I often wish my daughters lived close so I could see them more often, but I am soooo glad they are where they are. Those places are where they need to be.

So, the above image is one of my favorites. My son and Michalene! Taken at Silver Springs State Park in Yorkville. If you knew my son, you would understand the look he is giving Michalene. So very true to him!

These are my wonderful grandchildren. :) My son was was doing some pretty funny things to create the laughter you see in the image! My youngest grandson, Jude, is not quite sure what is going on and his expression certainly shows that!

Overall, it is such a joy for me to be with my children and grandchildren. My heart just races and fills to the brim with indescribable feelings when I am with them. I will be in Michigan next weekend to photograph my daughter and her fiance, Casey, so those images will be up in a post soon. And, someday, I will have images of my daughter, Jessica, from California and daughter, Carissa, from North Carolina, too. So very proud and honored to be their mom.