Thanksgiving Portraits

For Thanksgiving this year, my father's side of the family gathered in it's near entirety for the celebration. There were 42 of us for the Thursday meal. And on friday we celebrated my dad's 80th birthday as well.

We (Me with some mild encouragement from Rhonda and my cousin Roy) decided it would be a great idea (emphasis mine) to assemble a book of portraits and candids to commemorate this gathering.

I had a chance to work on some of these pictures and thought I would share a few. Please note that Rhonda is a far better processor than I am and you are not likely seeing the finished product.

These are my cousins Kerry and Soko. I got to marry them about 12 years ago now. They are incredible Christ-followers and great friends. They are currently in the process of adopting a pair of Ethiopian siblings. Pray for God's guidance and provision as they continue through this grueling procedure. PS - Soko hates the top shot, but I LOVE it! "Fierce," America's next top model look!

These are my cousins Shannon and Mike. They are expecting their first child and I couldn't be more excited for them. Shannon is a beautiful woman and the camera loves her. She always looks natural through the lens, no matter how posed I asked her to be.

And of course, here is Rhonda, the love of my life and the most beautiful woman I have ever met. What a privilege to share life, family, and ministry with her. Here are a couple of shots that capture her beauty.

Sophia

I had the chance to join Rhonda for part of an Exposing Grace shoot the other day. Our friends Casey and Bethany just had their third beautiful child. Here are a few of the shots from my camera. Rhonda will surely post a few of hers in a couple of days on the Exposing Grace site. Enjoy meeting little Sophia.

Jason and Janira Beye Came to Visit

What great friends and what a great visit we had. Only squeezed in time for a few shots. Here are the 2 I liked.

Here's a little fun with this last picture.

Merritt is 9

I finally got some time to take some pictures celebrating Merritt's 9th birthday. His birthday was marked by some big changes. He is entering 4th grade - a very transitional year (in more ways than just the additional hour of class time). He has been prescribed glasses for reading (as this particular photo shoot recorded). And we had him see an allergist for a skin test and re-evaluation of his prescriptions. It was a whirlwind July. Happy 9 years old Jack!

Capturing a natural smile is a real coup with Merritt. I'm pretty excited about his image.

Mason in the Hat

Mason tried this men's hat on while we were in Target. I bought it just for these pictures.

There was a lot more clowning. Most of which was hard to catch in fading light.

I decided to have a little fun with this shot. I really like it!

Molly the Mover

This girl is always a challenge to photograph. Dozons upon dozons of shots yeild a precious few decent images. Here, for once, I have her eyes looking in the general direction of the camera. She purposefully avoids the camera these days. But alas the focus is too soft.... ahhh.

Pretty girl none the less delightfully fun. I got her to look in my direction by allowing her to hand me a flower she was picking from the garden just to her left.