We squeaked in one last family session for a dear friend before I go on maternity leave at the end of this week! Julie & I have known each other since….gosh, I think since I was 8years old? Maybe 9? I started spending my summers in Iowa at my Grandma’s house when I was 9, so I know for sure we were fast friends by then. When Grandma passed (when I was 8) we inherited her home that was a 3-room school house built in 1899 for the 200-person town in rural Iowa where my Dad grew up. It became a labor of love for my parents, a slower pace of life for our family, and a project every summer. While my parents worked their tails off, my sister & I would intermittently assist, but we’d also galavant all over town with a group of amazing friends that we are still in touch with today. Julie is one of those special people and she stood next in line to my sister on my wedding day.
Fast forward 14 years, and she’s among the best in our life who paused her life to join us as we said goodbye to my Dad. In this group photo below, we’re just missing one of the original crew! (photo credit: Paul Joy) We still clean up pretty well and we didn’t even mean to coordinate our outfits. 🙂
On our wedding day, Julie had an almost 1-year old, Carter, in tow. He’s now approaching 16 years old!!! How did that happen!? God has graced her family with FIVE boys (Carter, Dylan, Clayton, Jaxon & Grayson), a beautiful home and a home for her parents just down the street from them. Julie is the type of friend that we can pick up the phone after a months-long hiatus and it’s like only seconds have passed. We can text quick prayer updates to one another and do quick mom-commiseration check-ins. Her experiences fill my gaps and vice versa-it’s such a beautiful thing for which I am so, so thankful.
You might’ve noticed an extra child in the mix: Julie’s nephew spends several weeks with her family in June to get in some cousin time with all the boys, so we included him with everyone and Julie’s parents, Roger & Linda. These two allowed this California city-girl to figure out how to weed their bean field, ride their horses and lounge on their couch as if I was a member of the family throughout my teen years and I’m always appreciative of the example of hospitality they showed me that we now try to emulate in our own home.
Julie and everyone! Thank you so much for persevering through the sprinkles of rain to make this session happen! It was so good to see you, give you these images, and visit between clicks of the shutter. I hope you enjoy them and the summer days ahead of you.
Take care and I know we’ll be in touch,
Carrie
PS You can view the rest of their gallery HERE.
