When Liz and Kevin arrived at our portrait location the first thing Liz said to me was “I’m not going to cry now but we’ve never had pictures like these done before and I’m really excited!”  Well that instantly makes my job ten times more fun!  This past weekend I did a LOT of shoots and a lot of editing and when I get overwhelmed it can be easy to complain about all the work that goes into running a small business.  But when I get to work with clients friends like Liz and Kevin, I remember the significance of my job.  What a joy and blessing it is to provide people with quality images that they can treasure forever!  When Liz told me how excited she was, I felt so honored to be their photographer and couldn’t wait to get started on our session!

This beautiful family has been a big part of my life since… wait for it… 2003!  Oh yes, I remember being a little freshman in InterVarsity and going out to IHOP after Large Group and sitting next to “the staff worker’s wife”, who was very pregnant with their little girl, Sydney.  Kevin was my staff worker for three years at CNU and when he told us he was leaving staff, my friend Amy and I immediately started bawling.  I’m talking BIG time cry with gulps and tears everywhere.  Kevin was starting a church in Newport News so Beth and Eric Gambardella Amy and I held down the IV fort for him our senior year.  He went from being my staff worker to my pastor and he’s been my pastor now for the past five years!  By Grace Community Church is a young and vibrant church that has just moved to the City Center in Newport News!  Come check us out!

A few years after Sydney, Savannah came along and it has been so much fun to watch the two of them grow and develop as part of our church community.  Sydney, at 9 years old, just won the church’s Chili Cookoff with her very own recipe!  Savannah wants to be a fashionista when she grows up and when she wore boots with her Sunday school dress yesterday I told her she had a good head start!

Kevin and Liz thanks for letting me take these pictures for you!  I hope they’re everything you wanted them to be!

I forgot to mention that Sydney and Savannah are talented gymnists! Liz, you are SO beautiful!