Diane+Jeff+Cora // At Home Family Session

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.

At Home with John+Anna.

We have been so lucky over the past few years to gain some family portrait clients who make us feel like we’re part of their own family and we just love them so so much that we could squeeze them all to pieces. This is one of those families. Last year we met Anna, John, their daughter Lou, and their pup Keva, and they ran around and we photographed them being adorable. Lou was talkative to her parents, but was semi skeptical of us as most two year olds are (why are these people in my house?).

Fast forward a year and a half, and we suddenly and inexplicably gained all of Lou’s trust, and she immediately launched into a detailed speech regarding tigers, dinosaurs, and pajamas with feet upon our arrival. She sometimes prefers to eat breakfast while wearing a helmet, and insisted on having a temporary tattoo to match Mr. Geoff’s real tattoo. She also has a new little brother, Gus, who is just as friendly, only without words. He prefers spending his time chewing on giraffes and smiling happily at everyone.

We crashed Matchbox cars! We made pretend nighttime with a tent! We gave a full sleeve of temporary tattoos to a 3 year old! At some point a very scary monkey also made an appearance, and we might’ve asked if John and Anna would give us ice cream (they did). It was the best day.

Also, if you’re curious, Anna is a professional illustrator and does some pretty rad artwork of adorable kids and pigs and once drew a picture of myself, Geoff, and our two cats riding in a Viking ship.