Every 4th of July, my siblings and parents get together, and this year I had the privilege and honor of taking my brother’s family pictures, the Hill Family. I am so incredibly excited to share these with you! I adore this family more than my words can explain, but I’m going to do my best today.

My brother Spencer and his beautiful wife, Sara, were high school sweethearts. Both of them a little shy, but both of them determined to make the very best of anything and everything. They are the kind of people that work tremendously hard each day to get to where they want to be.

Sara

Sara is one of the most amazing mom’s I’ve ever known. She is keenly aware of each child’s needs and then meets those needs far above par. Her whole life revolves around teaching, loving, and raising independent children. If there’s a book that may help one of her kids with a problem they are struggling with, Sara is on it. If there’s a resource out there that will help her child, she will find it. She wants the absolute best for her kids. She is such a great example to me on how to be an incredible mom. I just wish we lived closer so I could be more like her!

Spencer

Spencer is an incredible father and husband. He works long hours to give his family the best. He has created very successful online businesses. His entrepreneurial heart is so fun to watch. I love cheering him on from Nevada and hearing about new developments in the business. He continues to employ more and more people, and each person loves Spencer as much as I do. His businesses haven’t come without deep struggles, and I know he would do it all over again just for his love of his family and the concern for his employees.

Spencer is always making me laugh and doing something funny. Just this last reunion in Boise, he pulled me on his boat (that he made!!!) with me “skiing” on a kayak. Boy that must have been a funny sight! After a few crashes, I finally figured out how to ski a kayak. Spencer is always thinking of something new.

The Kids

These Hill kids have a maturity level that you won’t find in most families. They help with household chores without pay. They respect each other and play with each other because they are best friends. These kids are the kinds of kids you desperately want your kids to be around so that their goodness might rub off on your kids. I LOVE hearing about funny stories from Spence and Sara about my nieces and nephews. They are always on adventures and making everyone laugh!

Dear Hill Family,

Can you guys get any better than you already are? I don’t think so. I think you are like Mary Poppins. Practically perfect in every way. My heart is so full of love for each of you. I love learning from your quiet examples. I love when we chat until late in the evening. You all amaze me and I love you, Hill Family, very much!

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Hi friends! Thanks for stopping by the blog! I want you to meet the kindergarten grad, Giana Williams! She is the most adorable, kind, and sweet kindergartener. My kids just love Giana and her younger brother! She is a fantastic older sister and a caring friend.

Giana loves all things girly and that fits right in with my girls. She is very smart, and she is reading so well! I got to see her reading skills in action at our session as she flipped through her chart of sight words. She loves her teacher and learning new things.

Her parents have raised this complete sweetheart, teaching her values and principles that make her outstanding. I have so much respect for Giana and her wonderful parents.

Giana was so much fun to work with! She knew exactly where to put her hands and she fell right into poses that were darling! I didn’t have to give her too many instructions before she just fell into the perfect pose. Model status! Her smile is super infectious too! My cheeks hurt after we were done because she made me smile so much! She had a ton of good ideas for spots for pictures too. She would say, “Let’s try this spot,” and it was always a perfect idea. I am pretty sure I’m hiring her as my new assistant!

Dear Giana Williams,

Thank you for being such a kind friend to my kids. I couldn’t ask for anyone sweeter! You have an incredible talent to include everyone and that is so admirable. Your parents have raised you to be respectful and responsible. Lovelock is blessed to have you in the community. You are an example to your friends on how you should treat people. I am so grateful to know you and call you my friend! Thank you for trusting me to take these pictures! You are simply wonderful, Giana!

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This session with my friend, Torrie Hostman, was incredible! I told her to hop in my car, we will figure it out when we get there, and she totally trusted me! We drove for a bit when we came to what I thought would be a perfect spot. Nevada isn’t very green usually, so I was beyond thrilled to have some green on the mountains after some much needed rain. At first, Torrie wasn’t fully convinced this would be a beautiful spot until I turned the camera around for her to see what the pictures were looking like. She was pretty shocked that such a plain looking location could be so beautiful! And I was just thinking how beautiful my subject was!

I have the best clients. They are always up for anything and they trust me when I see good light. I feel incredibly blessed for that!

I brought Leila, my 5 year old little assistant with me. Torrie was really patient (and mostly laughed at Leila and I working together because it was pretty entertaining). Torrie was completely amazing when at the end of our session, Leila begged to blast “Can’t Stop the Feeling” and dance in the “woods.” Torrie makes everything more fun! She didn’t even laugh at my awkward dance moves!

Torrie was a natural in front of the camera. She has the best smile! She rocked some gorgeous dresses and was absolutely stunning!

Dear Torrie Hostman,

Thank you for being so stalwart and fun! I love laughing and joking around with you! Remember when I saw you walking on your lunch break and I gave the most awkward cat call? Probably can’t forget something like that, haha! You are so beautiful and so easy to be around. I love that you go with the flow. I loved that we didn’t know where we were going for pictures exactly and that you still trusted me! I’m so grateful you don’t hold it against me that I like Coldplay. So glad we can still be friends! In all seriousness, I love you Torr. You radiate goodness and sweetness. When I look at these pictures, my heart fills with gratitude to know you and have you for a friend. You are one marvelous human being! Thank you for trusting me to take your picture!

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Meet Shane and Marci, and their three sweet kids! They love spending time together and making memories. This session was high-energy, that’s for sure! I mean, what else do you expect with a 2 year-old, a 4 year-old, and an 11 year-old! I have a 2 year-old and a 4 year-old also, so I was ready for anything! It also helped having my handy, dandy 8 year-old assistant.

It was really neat for me to see how Justin, their oldest, was with his stepsisters. He was really sweet and really patient. Even when rocks were flying in his hair and eyes, he kept his calm! I was super impressed!

Maelyn, the youngest, was really spunky. She loved the location so much. I think she ended up filling her hair and pockets with rocks and sand to take home with her!

Raeanne, the older sister, was my little model. She pulled out all her best Tyra Banks moves! Plus her and Maelyn’s pigtails with bows were simply adorable.

Shane and Marci were such a sweet couple. I could tell they work well together and really care about each other. It was fun to see their personalities as the session progressed. They are the kind of clients who are up for anything. How do I always get so lucky with such great clients?

Thank you so much, Shane and Marci, for letting me peak into your family. Thank you for letting me capture some pictures that will hopefully be something you cherish forever. You have a very sweet little family. I am really glad you are here in Lovelock!

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Elsie’s birth was really an amazing experience, and if you haven’t had a chance to read the first part of her story, here’s the link. But I wanted to write Elsie’s birth part 2.

I got pretty lucky having three of my closest friends there for Elsie’s grand entrance to the world! I wasn’t sure it was going to work for all three of them to drop everything last minute and come to the hospital for however long it would take! They left their kids and responsibilities just to come help me. (Insert crying emoji and giant heart here!)

It was amazing having my first child, Kiera. The delivery went very well and she was completely healthy. My second child, Leila, was delivered via C-section, so that was a whole new experience. We had waited longer than we wanted for child number 2 to join our family. I was so excited for Kiera to meet Leila. My husband excitedly brought her to the hospital so she could hold her baby sister. But the hospital wouldn’t let Kiera in to hold her. It was flu season. I was more than upset. Isn’t it ALWAYS flu season? Aren’t there always germs around? Besides, this little baby was coming home to her sister anyway, what was the big deal? So we never got that experience of having the older child meet her new baby sibling.

I delivered my third child, Ryder, in a city in California that was 45 minutes away from home, depending on traffic. As badly as I wanted the older kids to meet their brother, I didn’t feel like it would work to bring the kids that far. I settled with them meeting Ryder at home a day or two later.

My Silly Dream

This is probably very silly for many people. But when I was pregnant with Elsie, all I could dream about was having all three kids there after her birth to hold her and love her. I desperately wanted them to come to the hospital to meet her! But this time, the hospital wasn’t 45 minutes away. It was an hour and a half! What was I to do? Beg. Yep. I begged my mom. She’s pretty amazing so it didn’t take more than just asking her to come. So she came before Elsie was born and then she brought the kids to meet Elsie. My mom is the one who made this dream come true. As soon as Elsie was born, she packed up all the kids, snacks, jackets, diapers, dinner, toys and iPads to make the trek to the hospital.

My kids travel fairly well, but this wasn’t an ideal time of day. There was a potty break on the drive and spilled food all over her car. My mom really rocked it, though, and made everything fall into place, just for Brandon and me.

The Hospital

The hospital pictures aren’t going to win any awards. The lighting is terrible. There’s no great posing going on. My kids’ clothes aren’t even clean. But these pictures bring me so much joy!

When Leila held Elsie for the first time she said, “Mommy, can we keep her? She’s beautiful!”

Talk about my heart melting! Kiera and Ryder were so gentle. You couldn’t wipe smiles off their faces! It felt like Christmas! Everyone was so excited to meet Elsie. The love in that room was palpable. There was an instant instinct to want to protect their little sister. Each child wanted to hold Elsie again and again.

When it came time for the kids and my mom to leave, they all wanted Elsie to go too.

My dream had come true to have the older siblings come to the hospital, and I locked every moment of it into my heart.

Thank You Mom

So thank you, Mom, for your incredible sacrifice. Thank you for staying with us before Elsie came. Thank you for dropping everything to come help me clean and organize before this baby came. Words cannot express my appreciation for driving three hours that night just so Kiera, Leila, and Ryder could meet Elsie for thirty minutes. It meant the world and more to me. These are memories I will have for forever. I love you Mom!!!

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