I have come to terms with something. I love photography! I love having pictures of our family, of our life...a way to cement those memories and freeze them in time. And I have been blessed to become friends with some ladies who have a gift for photography.
One of these wonderful ladies is Angela Ellsworth. I first met Angela when I was arranging some family photos for my sister Jami and her family before my niece Megan left for her mission. I originally asked another friend, but she was unable to do it and recommended Ang. We instantly became friends when we learned that we each had four children the same ages, and two of them shared names! Angela came when I asked if she would be willing to spend the afternoon in our home taking pictures of Luke and our family before he passed. Not only did she come, but she came with the Spirit. That sweet experience bonded us together forever. When it came time to do Claire's baptism photography, I asked Angela and she was happy to do it. I've had this vision in my head since before Claire was born of what I wanted for baptism pictures for my daughters, and Angela was up to the task. Danny and I were sealed by Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Cool, right?! Well, it turns out that Elder Perry's daughter is the author behind the poem "Three White Dresses". I knew that poem from my childhood, and to know that we had a family connection to the author made it all that more important to me. I decided then that I wanted baptism pictures of my girls in their white dresses, with their blessing dresses in the background. And when they are married, they'll have their baptism and blessing dresses in the background.
Claire, being my oldest, was my first chance to see this dream realized. I never could have imagined how beautiful these pictures would turn out! As I was finished getting Claire ready to go, I was zipping up her dress and tying her tie. I started to tear up. She looked like an angel! The most beautiful girl I had ever seen. And it struck me that the next time I would be dressing her in white would be for her wedding. I love this girl more than words can express, and I both love and hate that she's growing up so fast!
The evening of pictures was beautiful, and the area Ang decided on was perfection. Between God's handiwork and Angela's artistic vision...and mine and Danny's impeccable genes...well, I don't know that there has ever been more beautiful baptism pictures in the history of ever.
Sophie and Johnny had only one request...they HAD to get some photobomb pictures! :)
Because of all the rain, the ground was rather soft and in places rather muddy. Danny, being the wonderful father that he is, carried his princess everywhere she needed to be. Claire will have high standards for her eternal companion with a father like this.
While we took pictures, Sophie and Johnny occupied themselves. During one of their adventures, Johnny found a turtle!! It was laying eggs, and it was the biggest turtle I've ever seen in the wild. He was pretty proud of himself. :)
I'm so grateful that my beautiful Claire, at the precious age of eight, is frozen in my memory through these pictures. My beautiful baby girl.
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