Nov 27 2010

Large Family Portraits In The Kansas City River Market

Here is my favorite entourage. David, Maddy, Colton, Carson and Lily. I have known these kids since Maddy was 5, before David was their sponsor child in Uganda (and now big brother!), Colton was barely 3 and Carson not even 1. We all met when Dustin’s job took them from Olathe to my hometown of Calgary. As God would have it, I was 19 and working at the YMCA in their drop-in child care center. Dawn brought the kids in for a break while she worked out and we all just clicked. I let Colton take home some toy cars since his toys hadn’t arrived yet and before I knew it, I was babysitting the kids on a regular basis. Before long, Dustin’s job took them back home to Olathe and we stayed in touch through the years. I came to visit them when Grandpa and I drove through town and they visited me when they came back for vacation. I remember meeting Lily for the first time in 2005 when they were up in Calgary on vacation. She was so teeny tiny and very very shy. Knowing her now, it’s funny to think of how shy she was because she is anything but. I can’t tell you how AWESOME our God is. It’s truly incredible to think how He lays out plans for our lives. Never in a million years would I have ever imagined that God would bring my husband and I to be living in their hometown and not only are these kids and Dawn & Dustin very much family to both Daniel and I, but both sides of their extended families have taken us in as family. Truly, it’s such an incredible feeling to know that God has it all planned out. He knew that I would miss my family up in Calgary so very much that He gave me more family locally to love. Family exists not just in our blood lines, but so much, oh so much does it also exist in our hearts.

Last year we did family photos at a semi-local park with lots of bright fall colors. This year I wanted to try something a little more different, a bit more grown-up, and some where completely new to me. I love how the kids coordinated (great job Dawn!) and we just had a fantastic time walking around and finding little nooks and crannies. The light was always changing on us as it started going down and we were in and out of the building shadows. Lots of fun with 7 of my favorite people.