Pinkle Toes Photography has been around long enough to where I am starting to see many of my session come full-circle. I first met Marianne almost five years ago when we got together in downtown Austin one morning to photograph her daughter’s senior portraits. It’s hard to believe she’s MARRIED now! A few years later it was her son’s turn (the pupster is prominently featured in the images below) and then next thing you know, her youngest son was also graduating high school.

And here we are…it’s 2015…the kids are grown and going in all new directions and Marianne wanted one last chance to capture them together, at home, being a family before even more momentous changes take place in their lives. I was so looking forward to get this incredible opportunity to finally work with them all together and honored to be invited into their home.

Oh…these flowers. There’s a story about them. I won’t get into details (well, maybe you can learn some below), but I can only hope that everyone will have a little giggle each time they see this pic and remember what their dad went through to get these gorgeous flowers “planted.” 😉 just for the session.

A house full of love. And animals!

The treehouse they built together.

The look this cat gave him when he picked her up? Oh, my, word!

Love.

Love. And LOVE.

And then Marianne retreated into the kitchen to make a giant breakfast while the kids and animals 😉 visited in the living room. It was comfortable. It was natural. It was so relaxed.

Three words come to mind when I see/think of Marianne = radiance, grace, strength.

And I have to say, Marianne has a true knack for decorating! I adored the way she dressed the breakfast table! And there’s all kinds of sweet, tasteful touches throughout the home.

Priceless! I’m afraid we encouraged some bad habits that morning. Ooops!

The whole crew!

In Marianne’s words:

Tell us a little bit about your family…

We’re a ragamuffin crew that love each other immensely. We’re so far from perfect but we stick together through whatever life throws at us…it’s better together. We are blessed with mercy and grace.

What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc?

We are all launching out in new directions…boys in college, Annie and Ben beginning a new marriage and new careers…and Rick and I entering our 25th year of marriage as empty nesters…. I wanted some photos to memorialize how much we love being a family but also how “okay” it is that we are moving into individual spaces in life. It’s kind of a way of leaving breadcrumbs along the trail…or a big landmark on the path behind us.

Where was your session held and why?

As a military family we have lived in 10 different homes in 7 different locations including 3 different countries. We’ve lived in this house the longest (6 years) and wanted to have the shoot here to remember the last (and longest) place we’ve lived together. It seems that this house holds the most special of memories…proms, graduations, weddings, and even tough times – and it is chalk full of life and love. As empty nesters, Rick and I will most likely move in the not too distant future. Somehow having pics of the last place we all lived together under one roof makes it all them much more special.

What did you like about your session location?

We loved having Michele in our home. She is so easy to be with and we have considered her a dear friend for so long…it only seemed natural to have her here. It was fun to have her “eye” spy the beauty in our home and I knew she would memorialize it perfectly.

What was your favorite part of your session?

Though none of us are particularly “morning people” it was so fun to have everyone “up and atem” at 7am and even smiling. I loved that the session was more like a family event – “remember that time Michele came to our house super early and we got all dressed up and took pix…”

Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session?

I was worried that no one would smile at 7am!

Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session?

Well…I’m not sure we should mention the flowers for our mailbox that Rick took from the neighbors bush at 6:15am the day of the shoot…but fyi – they were dead by the next day! It was funny to see our Cat diva-it up. He never comes around but just had to be part of the action.

Any advice to other families before their photo sessions?

Do what seems natural…whatever you do as a family that brings pleasure (for us…well, we eat breakfast!) haha.

What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography?

We love Michele!

What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images?

Remember that day we got all dressed up early in the morning and Michele came and took pix? That was so fun!!