I know I mentioned it a couple weeks ago, but we had our first family photos in the JBLM area. We just got them back, and seriously you guys, I’m swooning. We had an amazing photographer at Fort Drum, and I seriously doubted that we’d be able to find anyone who lived up to her in our eyes. I happened across Lynsey Strader’s work through Facebook though, and I was seriously sold. She has such talent. Lynsey uses natural light, which is super important to me and, best of all, she doesn’t pose her subject. Moms with little toddlers/preschoolers, you feel me. Posing kiddos for family pics is the w o r s t. So, needless to say, she fit the bill. And, after finagling our schedules and the crazy PNW rain a few times, we finally managed to head out to Fort Steilacoom Park for pictures. Cue photo dump…
I think the best part of these photos is that she managed to capture my boys’ polar opposite personalities. At three (nearly four) years old, Spencer is empathetic and sweet, strong and silly, and he loves to make people happy. Even better? He’s a total ham, and he just loves the camera – and it clearly loves him. I know I’m biased, but dear Lord, this boy is handsome! At two, Porter is a total imp. He’s always moving, couldn’t care less what people think, and really doesn’t want to stand still. He definitely didn’t make Lynsey’s job easy.
These boys keep us on our toes all the time, but I know that these days are fleeting, so even in the throes of never-ending nausea and endless Army training, we’re savoring these days. These pictures are such a testament to this time in our lives, and you’d better believe we’ll be blowing some of these up into canvases. Oh, and we’ve hidden away our Christmas card choices, too, because we’re like that!
I think that, best of all, taking these photos is a little snippet of life in the here and now. I love that I can look back at the photos we took while was deployed. We can remember the mini Christmas shoot we did right before we went to South Africa last year. And, of course, who can forget the homecoming photos we did when Ryan returned from his deployment? These photos are something we’ll definitely treasure forever…and I swear you’ll see more coming in the next few weeks…because Lynsey seriously worked her magic.
Do you have family photos done? How often do you do them, or do you wait for special occasions?
