What Joy a Picture Can Bring...

Last week I got the call I had been waiting for. Our first appointment was during the summer and finally after many photos and debating on what to order, the graduation pictures were ready to be picked up. I couldn't wait to get to the photographer's studio to pick them up. I was able to give some photos out for Christmas. It was perfect timing and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. This is the photo I picked out for our house. This is the true "Brandon"... A casual button down shirt and some khaki shorts. Where is the little boy hiding? He is now a young man and soon will be starting a new chapter in his life.

This photo is the one Brandon chose to pass out to his class mates.

I had to order this one. Those blue eyes and big smile, remind me of the little boy that captured my heart from the very first time I saw him eighteen years ago.

This is the official graduation photo. This one is for the yeabook and every mom has to have a photo of their son in a suit and tie. He looks so grown up. I am amazed!

It was important to me that I got the two boys photographed together. Before I know it my younger son will also be graduating. He is a freshman in highschool and I know the next three years will fly by even faster. I think my younger son Austin, thought it was great to be included in his big brother's pictures. It so beautiful the day we got the photos done. The sun was shining and the sky was solid blue. It was the perfect setting to have some outdoor photos taken. This was the very first picture that was taken that day and it was my VERY favorite photo. I wonder if it has anything to do with the two boys in the photo? My heart just jumps, every time I see this hanging in my house.

The photographer was such a sweetie. He saw my husband sitting on the dock just watching him take the photos. He motioned to the bays and told them to go stand by their dad. He said that he couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a photo of the three of them. Sometimes when things are spontaneous they work out to be perfect. What a blessing to have this photo of the three men I love with all my heart.

This photo means the world to me. I had not planned on taking a photo with Brandon, but at the end of the day the photographer suggested that we take a photo together. I wasn't dressed for the photo, so the photographer suggested that I just throw on one of Brandon's button down shirts he had been photographed earlier in. It worked out great. It will be a photo I will treasure forever. The photos have been hung in the front enterance way. I walk by them throughout the day and each time I smile and am reminded of the blessings that God has given me.

There is no greater gift than the gift of a child.

Today when you look at your children playing, take a mental picture and store it in your heart. You will be amazed at how the years fly by. Before you realize they will be grown and you will be asking yourself where have the years gone by?

Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.

~Rabindranath Tagore