I can’t say this Christmas was particularly joyful, but I can say that we all did our absolute best to fill it with as many small bits of joy that we could muster. My husband (AKA Mr. Griswold) did a wonderful job of decorating turning our home into a magical little holiday wonderland. We were very grateful to get to have a lovely “breakfast for dinner” Christmas Eve with my family. On Christmas morning, we drove up to spend some time with my husband’s family and our kids got to have their very first White Christmas. And we reveled in the fact that at least we got to be together. All of us got to be together. The only invaluable Christmas gift I can imagine right now.

Upon returning home, there was a mountain of mail in our mailbox. Dozens and dozens of Christmas cards piled up because we haven’t had two seconds to drive down and check the mail in so long. I spent a good 30 minutes just opening cards tonight and in the middle of it, I just broke down. How wonderful is it to see so many beautiful, BEAUTIFUL families together, smiling back on those cards. Moving notes of encouragement from clients to us…people who don’t even know my brother-in-law, lifting us up in their thoughts this holiday season. Little gifts of appreciation, of peace, of “we’re thinking of you.” The power of your love and understanding is almost too much to bear at times. Thank you. Thank you to everyone who took the time to send out a holiday card this year. You have no idea how wonderful it is to see so much happiness all over the world!

j.imprints is still going strong and the sense of purpose it has given to Virgil and I has been so incredibly valuable. Go search #jimprints on Instagram…how cool is it to see how people are using and displaying their images? Keep sharing. Keep posting. Keep tagging. Keep us hoping.

I’m certain this post is fairly jumbled as we’re all pretty tired and trying to get back into real life after the whirlwind of the holidays. Please forgive me if communication is slow over the next several weeks. So much piled up during the holiday rush and all of the family stuff. And we are now gearing up for the first set of photography workshops at the beginning of Jan. I am very, very much looking forward to immersing myself into the world of family photography learning and teaching and improving and I cannot wait to meet these women who are coming in from all over the world to talk shop with me.

I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that you were touched by magic this holiday season and I wish you all the very best 2013 you could possibly imagine.

Much love,

Michele

I have been so anxious to finally get the chance to sit down and go through these images. I knew I would love them and indeed, I do. Here’s why:

– Because mom and I had a total connection from the second I walked in for this shoot. I would say something and it was exactly what she was thinking and vice versa.

– Because of the Avatar tree. Oh my word, that tree! The second I pulled into their driveway, I knew we had to find a way to use it. I pretty much ran into the house and told mom, “Look…we’ve got about 15 minutes left of decent light by that tree. Can we make it happen?” I really don’t know how we were able to pull together a toddler + a newborn for those shots to come to fruition, but I think I cried when we did, LOL. Mom e-mailed me a few days later and said all the leaves had fallen off that tree. Just. In. Time!

– Because I adore this family. We’ve been working together ever since big brother was first born. I will always remember the day mom called me trying to get an appointment. I had promised my husband I would take some time off and I said I couldn’t do her newborn photos. But I felt so, so bad telling her no. So we worked it out. I’ll be forever grateful I did. What an absolute joy to watch mr. man grow up and to see the arrival of a baby sister, too.

– Because she couldn’t be more perfect if she tried. Or funny, too.

– Because she let us do this.

– Because it brings me back to a reality outside what is consuming my mind right now. And it makes me smile. Big.

Thank you to this beautiful baby and her family for being so very patient while waiting for me to give you these images. Their understanding about our family situation has been so moving. This holiday season, I feel very, very blessed to know all of these wonderful people.

It’s only a day later than I had hoped, but here it is…HERE is the answer to, “…if there is anything I can do to help…”

Those of you that follow me on Facebook know that the past few weeks have been jam-packed full of fear, loss and sadness, but I am determined to turn this depression into something productive and I am determined to do it before Christmas so that we can spend this precious and very likely limited time together as a loving, supportive family. I cannot cure the cancer that plagues Jim, but I *can* give them a small way to help them focus their energies on family, treatment and pain management. Please, please, please, I don’t ask for much on my blog, but please, take a few minutes to check out the j.imprints gallery project and see if there is a special image that speaks to your heart that you’d like for yourself or for someone you care about. And then share it. Most importantly, get the word out about preventing and catching melanoma as early as possible.

Love to you all and wishes for a very happy holiday season surrounded by those you love most,

Michele

…I can’t even begin to tell you how refreshing it was to get to work on this session today. That little girl up there is crazy, super loved and her warmth and energy and charm is 100x more palatable in person than even in these pics. She might just take after her mommy  just a wee bit ;-). Two other favs HERE and HERE.

Those of you who follow my blog, facebook, or Instagram know that this past week+ has been very trying for my family. I am getting back into the swing of things with work, but it’s taking some time and will continue to do so. Thank you so much to my clients and friends for being incredibly understanding. Thank you to Kelly here for being so amazingly patient waiting on her images. I’m normally a stickler for deadlines and timeframes, but even the best planning can’t stand up to life’s challenges sometimes. I feel amazingly blessed to have experienced so much love from my clients and the online community and my photographer friends.

Many of you have been asking about how you can help regarding my brother-in-law. We are currently working on a project that I hope to launch on Monday that might give you that opportunity AND you could probably score a last-minute holiday gift if needed. I don’t want to say much more because there are so many facets yet to be worked out, but please, check back Monday afternoon to see what we’ve come up with. And thank  you a million times again.

Her vision for their engagement pictures was perfectly clear to me…we were speaking the same language. And it was as if the sun and the light and the beautiful weather spoke it, too.

My husband’s 35-yr-old brother (his only sibling) was very suddenly diagnosed with stage IV metastatic melanoma last week.  The prognosis is unspeakable and we are devastated for him, for his wife, and most of all, for his much too young children.

Normally, I run my business full time while my husband cares for our children. However, he needs to be with his brother and his family as much as possible right now, so I am doing my best to keep up both as a mom and as a business owner. I am deeply sorry for any delays in communication during this time, but I ask for your patience and understanding as we direct our energies toward supporting my brother-in-law and his family.

Thank you.

Oh…baby girl nailed this one. Just nailed it!

The last time I got to work with them out on their beautiful property, they were just in the dreaming stages of building their dream home. It was such a treat to revisit this fall and see the new house. They did an incredible job with it and I LOVED exploring each room. AMAZING decorating in there! And the girls have grown so much…such amazing, beautiful young ladies. (Another big fav HERE).

This family was selected to be my model fam for one of my workshops coming up in Jan in Austin!!! On that note, I have just TWO openings left for the first Jan workshop. I’ve heard from a few photogs who are waiting around for me to announce other Austin dates later in the year: there are no other Austin dates. Do not wait around or you will miss out! Be sure to fill out the form in the link just mentioned to get the full workshop details ASAP.