Yorktown Wedding Photography : Brittany and Brandon

Last Sunday I shot a wedding for a bride I have known for quite some time. It was such a special wedding and a very meanigful one for me considering her story and mine. She lost her brother 6 months after I lost mine and since that time I have shot her high school senior photos, her engagement session and now her wedding. She also grew up with my twin brothers and they were all homeschooled together. Crazy how life just continues right before your eyes and then before you know it, they are all grown and on their own. I'm sure that is how I will feel with my own children but you also see it when you photograph babies who then go to elementary school and then they are graduating. It really does go fast! 

The entire day was calling for rain and many people far and close prayed for a clear day without a single rain drop. Well, it didn't rain until everyone was leaving and what a blessing it was for this bride and groom. Brittany and Brandon had a perfect day surrounded by family and friends who were there to help celebrate their special day! I feel blessed to have been able to capture the love they have for one another on such an important day! Congrats to you both and good luck with all your adventures coming up! Hugs. 

Our mini vacation: OBX

This past weekend, the family and I packed up the car, threw sand toys in the car, food in the cooler and headed to the Outer Banks. It was a much needed mini vacation from the craziness of the world. Sometimes life gets so hectic that you never really get to enjoy the down time away from electronics and "things". Our kids love the outdoors and it's not a hard thing for them step away from the T.V or any of that stuff. They prefer to be outside running and playing and if you add water, well you won't see them for hours..  maybe even days. We think it was a weekend that was meant to happen. When we arrived, we found out that cabin we were staying in was called "The Sea Oat"... Aka: Oatman. :) Perfect. 

We left on Friday and came back on Sunday. It was roughly two full days of sun, sand, the pool, catching crabs, building sand castles, and BBQ. We even managed to throw in some "schooling" by taking them to the Hatteras Lighthouse and the Wright Brothers National Monument. Montana thought that was pretty cool because he had just learned about the first flight and to see where it actually happened, doesn't get much better than that. It's funny how our kids all grow up in the same house and in the same way but are just so different. It's also neat to see what interests they each have and how their personalities grow. Myla was totally into the sea shells. Chris and I would find the coolest shells and bring them to her but she was mainly interested in the broken, crushed and battered ones. The tiniest piece she would say was beautiful, gorgeous or really neat. We gave up and let her do her thing. By the end, that girl had 3 buckets full of what she says where her special collection. Makenna, was everywhere. She is the adventurer and never stays in one place long. She loved to jump the waves, run and scream. The ocean was her playground. Montana spends most of his time trying to find crabs, bugs and fish. He is our nature lover and loves all the living creatures. We love each of them equally and feel blessed to be their parents. It turned out to be a great Mother's Day Weekend. Until the next trip.... 

Virginia Run for the Fallen. My brother. Our Hero

One week ago today a run took place that started in Fort Story, Virginia (day 1) and went to Arlington National Cemetery (day 4). It was put on by Honor and Remember, done by a team of 18 runners and countless volunteers that helped along the way. It was an amazing sight to see and our family was proud to be there at mile 44 to welcome the runners to Paul's marker. As we stood at Paul's marker, waiting for the runners, vehicles and traffic to make their way to us, we stood there with honor and in awe. To this day, it is still so hard to think that we are now a Gold Star Family, that we no longer have my brother, that he gave the ultimate sacrifce and that we will never see him again. We are now one of "those" familes. However, the support of so many people and the caring by complete strangers makes us carry our loss with pride and with honor. Paul was and is a hero. He will forever remain in our hearts and we will never forget what he gave so that every single person in this country can live in the land of the free.  So when all those people sitting in their cars, stuck in traffic, mad they were late to an event, dinner, or outing... I was glad. Glad they had to actually acknowledge that these men and women were running for our fallen soliders, that these soldiers wouldn't ever get to be late to anything again, would miss their children growing up and there will always be an empty seat during family dinners.  I was glad the traffic went on for miles and miles... for each and every hero. Thank you to the runners who ran 236 miles for all the Virginia Fallen. We are grateful for the awareness you helped bring to the heroes of our country. Thank you!!! 

Freedom truly is not free... my brother paid for it.

Our Easter Mini Vacation... Kentucky bound.

It's been awhile but I'm finally just getting to posting some images of our trip to Kentucky over Easter. We weren't there very long at all but it was a great time to catch up with family and visit for a bit. My sister in-law was in town from Alaska and it had actually been about 2 years since we had seen them. So, we all decided to drive and meet half way in Kentucky. They came from Missouri and us from Virginia. This was also the first time to meet my new niece... adroble!! I just love her cute cheeks. 

While we were there the kids got to swim, run for Easter Eggs, play at the hotel and we all decided to go to the Kentucky Horse Park. It was a fun mini whirlwind of a trip. I'm so glad we had the chance to meet up so the cousins could play for awhile. They are used to seeing them via skye so this was a tad different. :)