Photographic Expressions

This past holiday weekend was about my family, about those childhood memories that sneak up and surprise you when you aren’t looking and about extended family.

We gathered around the table, a blending of family created by blood, marriages, sheer luck of moving next door to the family 27 years ago, and by being a Thanksgiving orphan. We gathered to give thanks and our blessings for the past year, our health, for the thirteen miles that one was able to run that morning in a half marathon, for the countertops full of food and for family. We then proceeded to line up with paper plates in hand, utensils stuffed in back pockets to free our hands, loading up our plates or the little five year that has suddenly become your shadow that day. We loaded up our plates and piled them high with potato salad, smoked turkey, cooked ham, mac and cheese, wild rice, more potato salad and various desserts. Can’t say that I went into the holiday weekend carefully watching what I ate for dread of those 5 pounds but I did enjoy the wonderful cooking. When you come home to a dad that takes such pride in his cooking and whips up anything your heart desires (homemade marshmallows anyone?), who produces batch after batch of the greatest wine and always has munchies stocked in the house, well….you gotta expect your pants to fit snuggly as you wave goodbye and head home. 

This weekend was about memories. In attempt to work off our Thanksgiving gorge and to bring organized chaos into our lives, my sister and I set out to tackle what we have been putting off for week, sorting through boxes and boxes of our lives that has been so carefully packaged and stored away for years. I have now been married for the past year and a half and own a home plus my sister has been in college equally as long, yet our rooms still look like we never left. We could never bring ourselves to break down our rooms and create guest rooms, to sift through so much of our lives that we had put on hold. Yet as we coughed amongst the dust that we sent flying, we marveled and laughed over long lost stuffed animals, the baby clothes that we wore over and over again until they were practically thread bare, pictures that we drew in kindergarden, and that 56 I somehow got in first grade on a homework assignment. Who knew counting could be so tough on a six year old? So now I sit in my office at my current home with boxes of books, mementos and a random piece of clothing I couldn’t let go scattered all over and I’m wondering; where am I going to fit these memories of my old life into my new one? 

This weekend was also about extended family. I considered myself the ‘fifth’ daughter in this large yet tight knit family that lived just down the street from me for the past twenty plus years. I have been on vacations, dinners, girl scout outings, plenty of sleepovers as the ‘fifth’ daughter but what happens to a large family when everyone gets married and starts to add to their family with doggies and children?  Well I got my taste of life in a big family (extended edition) this weekend and suddenly life with one sibling is plenty chaotic for me. Trying to keep the spouses names straight, confusing kid’s names with each other, people talking (or rooting for a football game) so loud you can’t keep focus on what you are trying to work on (or take pictures of), trying not to lose head count when out in a tree farm, the built in cheerleading group that can stand behind me to catch a kids attention (or 6 kid’s attention) for a shot. Yep, that is what it is like when a family of six suddenly grows to be three times as big. WOW. So though I spent the majority of my time trying my best to do mass group shots to document the moment that 4 sisters and their families have been able to come together from three states, I really enjoyed the quiet moments throughout the weekend capturing a moment either one on one or the moment between two. Hope you enjoy.

And for my many ‘extended families,’ I do love you all!

~C

There will be another Young(in) in our lives very soon. Debuting a bit early but in four more weeks Furbaby Lucy will be coming home. 

Josh knew I spoiled Levi but he had no idea to my obsession love for him until he found out that my camera phone had pictures of nothing but our dog. In my defense there are times when he is so precious or does something so funny that I only have my phone on me. So my Christmas present this year is little Ms. Lucy. She’s an Isabella/Tan, Long haired, miniature dachshund, in short she’ll have long hair and a beautiful gray coat. 

It was so cold the day that we saw her that she had to nuzzle in my sweater and even then the poor thing was freezing. So Josh grabbed a few shots before we had to turn her back over. Dec. 21st or bust!

~C

Oh, Levi couldn’t be left out of the fun.