On this cold, rainy day in January, I am inspired to tell the story of another rainy day that nearly ruined an incredible trip to Colorado one summer. My whole family had driven up to Denver and then to Crested Butte to visit with loooooooooongtime friends (and clients). To give you a clear picture, there were SIXTEEN of us total…staying in the same house. 7 adults and EIGHT children and one ADORABLE baby. Oh, wait: this doesn’t include the two doggos :-). The adults were definitely outnumbered, but somehow, we managed to spend the first several days enjoying the cooler temps, hiking through the mountains (ALL 16 of us!!!), swimming in mountaintop lakes, exploring the charming town that is Crested Butte, and feasting…there was a LOT of feasting…and a lot of great laughs. I cannot even begin to describe how many memories were made on that trip. My eldest son christened the two other dads in the house with us were the “cool dads,” while his own father was just “dad.” It truly was something spectacular that we all managed to share that space together and have such a lovely time, working together as a team to manage meals and clean up (sister wives aren’t such a bad idea).

We had plans for all of us to drive up to this one particular spot way up in the mountains to do family photos. While it was indeed a bit of a drive from our home base, I had heard so many wonderful things about that place, I couldn’t wait to see it with my own eyes. Spoiler alert…the images above are NOT from this specific place. “Why?” you ask? Well, we had ALL piled into three cars (my mini van, included) and began our trip up the winding roads. It was cloudy, but not terrible as we started out. Rain was predicted to start later that evening, but we thought we could squeeze in the sessions before it got bad.  Everyone was already dressed and made up (a Herculean effort in itself!)…there was no turning back now.

I honestly don’t know how long the trip took us, but it felt like forever, especially when we got to the part where we tried to get my van up through the mud-covered roads. The van briefly got stuck in the mud and at that point, we decided it wouldn’t make it any further. My family would make the rest of the trip on foot while I hitched a ride to the top with the others. I should mention that by then, I was very, very car sick and growing very concerned about the storm clouds that were rolling in. “This better be worth it,” I thought.

We *finally* made it to this mystical meadow between the mountains and my word, yes, it was every bit as breathtaking as they told me it would be. I could see the storm clouds building up and I knew we wouldn’t have much time, but I thought if we hurried, maybe we could make something happen. I think I was able to get like 5 photos taken and then it started raining. And raining. And raining. And it just wouldn’t let up. I kept refreshing the radar and it kept telling us that it was going to clear, so TWELVE humans and the TWO doggos all piled into ONE vehicle to wait out the storm (I’m SO glad we attempted THIS us-ie).

We waited. And we waited. And the rain just wouldn’t stop. And now, there was virtually no daylight left and everyone was tired, and cranky, and hangry and defeated. I don’t know about you other photographers out there, but I have this recurring nightmare where I’m in a BEAUTIFUL place with BEAUTIFUL subjects and I’m so overwhelmed, I am physically not able to take any photos. I’m frozen in my dream as I watch the sunlight disappear and I’ve missed out on the perfect opportunity. *This* was my nightmare actually coming true :-(. Through tears, we called it a night and decided to go on with our dinner plans and figure out another day/place for family photos.

At dinner (and I was *still* crying), we worked out a new game plan which would involve us getting up *very* early to catch sunrise the next morning. This was not an easy sell as we were all exhausted from our travels and the rain that evening, but it was our only shot. We were “do or die.”

After a few hours of sleep that night, these guys somehow rallied and managed to look just as beautiful and put together as the day before! We stumbled upon this gorgeous little flowered meadow practically in our backyard and we. made. magic. HAPPEN! I was so thankful for the sunshine that peeked out through the mountains! I was so AMAZED that the kiddos were able to give us their all in spite of the rough evening and very little sleep! I’m so grateful that we were able to let go of our previous vision for the session and embrace this new one. I’m so glad we persevered in spite of it all!

Most of all, I absolutely treasure the memories we made through our struggles the night before. The photos we took had so much more meaning because of that experience. And oh, how we laugh and laugh re-telling the story! Very, very grateful for all of it…the good and even the not-so-fun parts.

This family is like family to me. I find myself saying that about the majority of the people that I work with, but only because it’s true. My career as a photographer has unwittingly allowed me to be privy to some of the most intimate bonds among parents and their children, I see people when they are equally joyful and vulnerable because of that joy. And you don’t spend every year since *before* these little ones were even born photographing those interactions without becoming part of the family. Occupational bonus. I can’t put into words how much of a privilege it has been to watch these girls grow up before my eyes and in the process, become such close friends to their amazing parents. I tear up thinking about the very first phone call I had from Zeke all those years ago and comparing that to the gigantic smiles and huge hugs all around when I saw everyone again in Denver just a few weeks back. And then to get to work with the gorgeous Flatirons outside of Boulder, Colorado as my backdrop??? Blessed? Fortunate? Sublimely grateful? #allthefeels and yeah, definitely going to have to make Denver a repeat destination for family photography every summer from now on ;-). Who’s in?

As per usual, I had a hard time picking a favorite from this family session, so for grins, I’ll just go with THIS one.

So, a few years ago, I happened to experience on of my most favorite photo shoots of all time with this beautiful young lady and a butterfly ;-). I could not get over the fates at work when, as I was planning a spur of the moment trip to Denver, her mommy contacted me to let me know they were in Colorado and could we work out a new photo session because they now had a baby boy! Turns out that she is just as sassa-frassy as she’s always been.

It also turns out that baby boy is just as adorable as his big sister!

I was very excited to get to work at this crazy colorful spot in downtown Denver…loved it’s modern look with jagged lines and cool shapes. But it wasn’t without it’s challenges. Quite literally after I had taken but a single image, it started to rain on us :-(. We ducked under the cover of various overhangs, hoping it would pass. Eventually, the rain did let up…for a while.

Fortunately, this family doesn’t take long at all to warm up to the camera, so we were able to work quickly and still get amazing interactions with everyone in a short time. So, I wasn’t terribly worried when we saw the clouds rolling in again.

My favorite part of the session comes in the following series of images. Little guy is just learning to walk and he actually took a few steps on his own while I was luckily snapping away!

The looks on their faces says it all! He was so proud of himself and his sister was just as happy for him! It was precious! And sure enough, just as we finished those last couple of images, the storm *really* hit…it was like a Texas storm! Crazy lightning and a torrential downpour that wouldn’t let up! I was so happy we were able to squeeze in some amazing images with them before the storm sent us scattering to our cars ;-).

I honestly don’t remember quite how this crazy idea came up for me to visit Denver, CO, but I do know that two of the first people I talked to about it were these two. As with most of my clients, I first began working with them while their eldest daughter was just a baby bump. Honestly, we have had some of the most memorable and beautiful sessions together that when I learned they had pretty much moved to Denver from Austin full time (more on that in a sec), I was thrilled for them, but heartbroken because I feel like they are family. I was overjoyed to get to visit with them in Denver last week and to help document this new and exciting chapter in their lives as a family (again, more on that later).

Oh, how I adore this image!

TOO MUCH LOVE!!!

Z – you have impeccable fashion sense!

Sigh.

One of those families where you can just feel the love coming through in their images.

Maybe my most fav I’ve ever taken with you and A.J., M!

This made me giggle.

And goodness me, so did this one!!! So this is the new chapter in their lives: Fé Fit. I am so incredibly proud of them for following their hearts and pursing a dream of helping women (especially moms) to get healthy and achieve their fitness goals. I was especially inspired by the HUGE success of their pilot program to create fit communities by involving teachers, students, and their families in a bit of friendly competition. Be sure to become a fan on Facebook to keep up with their inspiring stories.

Before downtown at Union Station got too crowded, we drove out really quick to catch the sunset behind the Denver city skyline and of course, the Rocky Mountains:

Their faces were cracking me up!

Love!

Love!

Love!

Never will you meet a couple more in love than these two. They have an outstanding relationship and deep respect for each other. And as their family has grown, so has their love. And then my personal favorite from the session can be found HERE.

You gotta go with the flow. I LOVED mom’s idea to shoot at the newly revitalized Union Station in downtown Denver. Neither one of us made the connection that being the Saturday before St. Patrick’s day, downtown *might* be a bit crazy. Oh my word! The sea of green when I walked into the train station that afternoon was craziness. I almost texted her to tell her that the best way to spot me was to look for the only person in the station NOT wearing green, lol.

But in spite of the crowds, we were able to make it work just fine. These Austin transplants are doing so great in Colorado and it was nice to be able to capture them in their new town. Big sister and big brother were incredibly patient and so full of energy. Baby sister wasn’t quite sure what to make of me at first, but in the end, with the help of her older siblings, we were able to get a few giggles!

Such a sweet moment with his mama!

She was non-stop giggles!!!

Loved the little flower shop inside the train station!

Freckles sprinkled with perfection.

Hammy.

She’s not too sure about all this snuggling 😉

Flare! YES!

Sweeties.

He was being so adorably silly.

 They actually had me cracking up with them.

I guess this Pinkle Toes gal isn’t so bad after all 😉

I am so glad we stuck it out and made Union Station work for us. What a neat little place and what a beautiful family to play in it! (One more HERE).