Holiday Mini Sessions: Part 2 – Northern VA Christmas Portraits

Are you ready for round TWO?! This day truly was a marathon.. goodness gracious I was HURTING by the end of it! We had families coming literally back to back from 9:00-5:00 with about a 30ish minute break for lunch. I truly don’t know what I would have done without the 4 amazing friends who came to help. They were there ALL day long, from set up to take down, and everything in between. They were the ones greeting my clients, serving them hot chocolate, doing all the paperwork, dancing around behind me to get the kids to laugh, moving/grabbing different props when I needed them… literally they did everything BUT take the photos. There’s no way this day would have happened without them! I’ve gotten such great feedback from the clients that participated saying what a good experience they had, and I attribute that only to Nicole, Bailey, Anna, Katie, and the Von Kahle family for hosting and making this day happen as smoothly as it did! Enjoy part 2!! :) look at those DIMPLES! I hadn’t seen John and Sabrina since their wedding in Mexico back in 2011, and I was so excited to finally meet their little girl Daniella! Oh my gracious, I’m SO excited to share these photos! Kellie and Micah are good friends from church, and they have some fun news to share!! BABY Tuten is coming next JUNE!! Yay!! That shot on the left is pure GOLD! :) It makes me laugh every time!! and that beautiful lady next to Kellie is her sweet mama, and my wonderful small group leader, Miss Tammie! I’m so glad you and John were able to tag along for the photos! another one of my absolute favorite shots from the whole day! His smile is the cutest! :) sweet baby! I adored her sweet smile and pretty dress! oooh Mason! this shot right here is my favorite one that was taken with this cozy coupe car! that car was such a hit with all of the kids! he thought the snow was so fun! look at him trying to blow it right back at us! :) his expression on the right just kills me! he figured out how to unscrew the christmas light in the photo on the left, and is trying veeery hard to figure out how to put it back in the shot on the right ;) I hadn’t seen these friends from college since I photographed Emmett’s newborn photos back in January of 2012, and these days he’s not the baby anymore! I couldn’t believe how big these kids have gotten! and this beautiful couple was the PERFECT way to end the day! They are actually getting married this Friday December 6th in a small private ceremony and I’m SO excited to be able to photograph it and be a part of their day! BUT… this photo takes the cake as my absolute favorite from the day! These 4 women are my best friends and support system in life in general, and I was so humbled that they would give up so much of their time and energy to come help make this day possible. They were each so happy to be there and help, and it just goes to show what kind of friends they are and how well they love me. I’m more thankful for each of you than I will ever be able to say! Nicole is one of my best friends from high school and is by FAR one of the most loyal friends you will ever meet in your life. She is one of those people who you know will automatically be a ‘friend for life’ and not one of those people that come in and out of your life. She loves so fiercely and will fight for the people in her life to the very end. She has been one of the biggest supporters of me and my business from day 1 and is always the first to share a blog post or help with marketing ideas. AND in even bigger news, I am so excited for her to become a MAMA in May! She was born to be a mama and I already can’t wait to snuggle that baby! Ooh this girl. Bailey has quickly taken up a very special place in my heart. She is a sweet friend I met at church and has become one of my favorite people to spend time with. She’s the most common occupant of my guest bedroom (and a super fun roommate to have around!), and I love that she and I get so much time together to laugh and talk about Jesus over a bowl of panera soup or a chai tea latte :) She has such a servants heart and is the first to help, always with so much joy and a big smile on her face. She is mature far beyond her 20 years, and teaches me so much every day about loving more. Every time I think about the Lord’s plan for my friendship with Anna, it makes me laugh. Who would have thought when I met Anna and Jason as clients for their maternity session in May of 2010, the plan and the friendship that He had to come a couple years down the road! Somehow she always knows when to call just to check in and say hi, when a bad day calls for an emergency trip to Sweet Frog, and she manages to juggle so much in her day and still find time to call with a new idea for my business or to tell me what new hilarious thing came out of her 3 year old’s mouth that she knows I will get a kick out of too. She shares her two incredible girls with me and lets me be a part of their lives. She teaches me how to pick your battles, and always reminds me that I am more than capable of conquering the “hills” in my life, and that there’s always a ‘downhill’ on the other side of it to look forward to. Yup, I’d say the Lord definitely knew what He was doing when He arranged for our paths to cross again :)
You can all thank this lovely lady for making this whole event happen. I called her over a month ago and said “sooo… i have this idea for holiday mini sessions, but i don’t think I could attempt it on my own!” and in true Katie form, she stepped in to help and lend her creative genius to this process. She’s the one who made sense of my chaos. When I would tell her “I think we should have a Christmas tree out there… umm and maybe a few banners??… and a door! an old door might be cool!” she would be the one to think practically and piece it all together in a way that looked 10 times better than I could have pictured. She picked out the door. She made the banners. She decorated the tree. She picked the wrapping paper and ribbon. She found the location. If it hadn’t been for her I would have walked into Target the first time to try and figure out decorations and just turned right back around and walked out of the store and given up before we even started!

She’s my sounding board. my travel buddy. my encourager. my reality check. my source for new (good) music.  the one who will ALWAYS know a ‘Friends’ reference and why it’s hilariously appropriate in any given moment. the one to ask the hard questions in the most loving, necessary way possible. my outfit checker (many texts begin with ‘does this work?!”). one of my favorite writers. the one who always shows up… always. my fellow disney enthusiast. my support system. the one who lets me try all of my crazy photo ideas on her. my biggest prayer warrior, and one of the clearest examples of Jesus in my life. Thank you again to everyone who participated! Happy Tuesday! :)

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  1. […] past two years have been so wonderful (click HERE and HERE to see mini sessions from 2013 and HERE, HERE, and HERE to see last years mini sessions!), and we […]

  2. […] of all the families we saw on Sunday afternoon! Happy viewing, friends!  Last year Kellie and Micah came to do a few photos to announce they were expecting… and look how much has changed in one […]

  3. […] had such a blast last year (click HERE to see part 1 and HERE to see part 2!), and have been scheming for months now on ways to make it even better for this […]

  4. […] year I’m making it happen! Katie and I already have plans in the works, and you know when she and I team up for photos the results are gonna be good! […]

  5. Beverly Lilly says:

    Jessie! I’m obsessed with these pictures! ah! Goodness sweet friend, I love seeing the joy and laughter you can bring out in people!

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