Banjos, Guitars and lots of Love

It’s in the way he looks at her. It’s in their shared glances, their warm embrace, the tender placement of his hand on her back. It’s in the giggles, the tender cheek kisses and the stolen glances they shower on their precious little ladies.
It’s love.
Even a couple of hours with them leaves you completely aware that you want love like that in your life. And it leaves you in awe of the beauty of a family. The perfectly imperfect mesh of M&M’s, diapers, music and Elmo’s World that is the stuff of life…
We are blessed to call this precious family our friends. They are ridiculously talented. They are composers, guitarists, banjo-enthusiasts, writers, baristas (okay, well only Devin, but when your spouse works there, you learn how to throw down a good cup of coffee…) and all around awesome people. Their little ladies fill a room with excitement, mad dancing skills and enough adorableness to stop traffic.
They are part of the leadership of our church and I cannot tell you how often I thank God for bringing them here. They have filled our hearts with greater wonder and awe for God. Their humble honesty has provided open spaces for us to stop hiding behind fake facades. Their servanthood has blessed us all. And their children... Well, see for yourself how much joy they’ve brought everyone… (And I love seeing the friendship between my little Hannah and Nadia. And Jayden seems to have a thing for Mardi…this could get interesting.)
So…thank you, precious friends for carving out some time to be in front of my camera – especially on such a special day. Andrea, happy birthday again. I don’t know if I could put words around how grateful I am that God brought you into this world and then brought you to Chicago where I could have the privilege of knowing you.




I am so in love with this picture and these people...









Nadia, you get 10,000 cute points







They have a banjo hanging on their wall. It does not get cooler than that. Except to hear her play it...



So Aun, Anthropologie called and they want you to model...



Girl, you are gorgeous...



More pictures to come, but a certain little man who has my heart wrapped around his finger decided to wake up from his nap. I'm off to play blocks, tickle his belly and kiss him far too many times...