A little ditty… ’bout JEFF AND DIANEEEE (sorry guys, I had to. It pops in my mind every time I think of either one of you.) We became friends with Jeff and Diane through our other friends Beth and David! We knew them from little get togethers and what not, and then spent a week with them in St. John when Beth and David got married. We got sunburned and drank some tasty tropical drinks and played board games and hung out in hot tubs and gave zero $&#*s. And for those of you who hear my often-repeated warning story about how you should always wear a lifejacket when you snorkel, this is the “other Jeff” who was snorkeling with Geoff and me during my near-death experience! Besides being good at tropical vacationing, Jeff is really, really good at identifying lots of obscure bands and beer, and Diane is really, really good at making crafts and cookies. She can sew like a crazy woman, and her skills are much admired far and wide. Then we went to their house to meet their daughter Cora, and found out that all of Diane’s family can sew like crazy women and are ALL really, really good at crafts. Cora, while absolutely adorable in every possible way, is not good at sewing yet because she’s not even two and you shouldn’t given needles to toddlers. She is, however, really good at swings, riding in wagons, and applying sprinkles to cookies. It is Diane’s family tradition to go insane regarding the amount and variety of Christmas cookies they produce every year, and this year Cora participated happily with Diane’s sister and her kids (Toby the dog was also really happy about this because Cora’s fine motor skills are still developing so she drops a lot of food and Toby swoops in like the cutest little garbage disposal you’ve ever seen). We’re sure as she gets older that Cora will become most excellent at both crafts and craft beer, making both of her parents very proud.

This family goes back so, so far with us and for that we are seriously grateful and humbled. We’ve changed a lot since we first started and to have them all stand by our side through all of our changes has been amazing! Dottie and Jon were one of our first ever wedding couples, and we bonded so well with both sides of their families at their wedding that we’ve all become Facebook friends and kept in touch ever since. :) So when Dottie’s parents (step-mother Betsy and father Donald) asked us to join them out in Wilmington for an oyster roast at Donald’s childhood home, we happily agreed.

Dottie and Jon would be joining them, along with their two children (Patrick and Ellie), and Dottie’s sister Mich and boyfriend Tony. Thug the Pug also showed up, sporting a sweater. Everyone hung around outside on a beautiful late winter day and let ourselves be amused by the (quite active and humorous) Patrick. Ellie was very cute, but gave me a profound frown 99% of the time (don’t let these pictures fool you – she didn’t like the camera one bit). Despite the baby not realizing that her family is cool with us, we had an absolutely wonderful time reuniting with this friendly and ever-happy group of people. It is SO COOL to see everyone’s family grow and change and to feel part of the family at the same time. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for always embracing and supporting us, Betsy, Don, Dottie, Jon, and Mich… and to Patrick, Ellie and Tony – we hope we didn’t traumatize you too much, and we’ll see you again soon. :)

It’s always such a great experience being invited into clients’ homes to photograph their family being themselves. I love seeing all the different houses and decorating styles, for one, but I also love seeing the different interactions between families. Every family is different, and our job photographing them is never the same twice. This family featured two beautiful little girls (one a little more vivacious, the other a little more serious) who enjoyed showing us their collections of stuffed bunnies, climbing in their treehouse and in their living room, jumping on their trampoline, skipping rope, and putting on their mother’s high heels. They are energetic, independent, and intelligent, and we just tried to keep up. :) Mom and Dad were super welcoming to us and were really interested in having all the different facets of their family documented due to Mom’s background in journalism, and we were happy to oblige. We had an awesome time meeting this fantastic family of four!

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