Fame, fortune, fancy cars, and big houses…it’s all just stuff. Stuff we may have one day and not have the next. Family, however is forever. It is where we come from. And, the skills and lessons we are taught by our family help define who we are and who we will become.

When everything else around you is falling apart, family is who you count on. And, no matter how messy life can get….and we saw just how messy this weekend as Hurricane Irene stormed up the East Coast….family is that safe place, where love comes easily and acceptance flows freely.

This is not to say that family is always easy, let’s face it…we’ve all got some crazy in our family closets. But, if you’re lucky, your family, and the time you spend with them, is what makes life worth celebrating!

Being wedding photographers, we see and document the start to new families all the time. Two individuals from different families are drawn together by love and often their love combines to create new life….simultaneously a new family is born and two existing families grow as love multiplies in the most beautiful of ways.

As wonderful as it is for us to get to photograph the start to these new families, it is equally as wonderful when our couples come back to us to photograph their growing families. Such was the case when Jenna & Aaron, whose wedding we photographed back in 2004, recently came back to us to photograph them and their deliciously sweet little boys, Brady & Sam.

Jenna & Aaron have held a special place in our hearts for a long time. They were one of our first wedding couples and a special bond was formed. We’d kept in touch over the years through e-mail, but we hadn’t seen them in a very long time. So, we were super excited when they called to schedule a family session.

Although it felt like a lifetime ago since their wedding, seeing them again, it was as if we never missed a beat. We had such a fun afternoon with them & their boys and are super excited to share with you some of our favorite moments from their family time with us…

Brady gets a smooch from his beautiful momma, while he & his little brother show off their super fly shades.

Aaron and his boys explore the water’s edge…Life really is about these seemingly insignificant moments when we take the time to just be together. It truly doesn’t get any better than that!

A family that plays together, stays together! Love all of their expressions in this full-on moment of fun! And, can we talk for a second about the way sweet Brady is cradling his dad’s head in his hand. Seriously?! Be still my heart!

Family is….everything!

Sweet Brady and his absolutely stunning momma! I don’t know what it is about this photo of Jenna on the right, but I just love it. She is one seriously sexy momma!

Summer afternoons are meant for family time. Love the light in this next one, right down to the way it’s reflecting off the swarm of little bugs in the field. It just screams, “Summer!” to me.

Holding hands is such a simple gesture, yet, there is so much love to be found in this gentle way we connect with the people we care about…sigh…..

Beautiful boys…

I just love this next one. It’s something about Sam’s expression as he races his big brother between the grape vines that gets me. It’s like he’s saying, “This race is mineeeee!” Too darned cute!

And the warmth in this next one….both in the light and in Jenna & Aaron’s expressions as they carry their boys through this field…is just heavenly to me!

As it is in this next one….and can we talk about Mr. Mischievous’s expression for a second?

We headed to the beach for the final moments of sunset and I just love the feeling of complete joy and freedom in this next one of Sam & Brady sitting atop a lifeguard chair. It represents everything that is wonderful about childhood to me…

A little marshy exploration…

I remember going to the beach as a kid with my parents and there was something about getting wet that was just irresistible to me and my sisters. My parents would say, “Don’t go past your ankles, I don’t want you wet for the ride home.” And, as hard as we’d try, inevitably we’d get a little wet, and then a little wetter. And, before we, or they, knew it…we were soaked. I can’t help but thinking of those moments when I see this next photo of Sam, who is giddy with excitement over wading in deeper than he knows he probably should. Lucky for him, his gorgeous parents are a lot more understanding than mine were!

Watching the sun set over the horizon….Ahhhhh, a perfect family moment!

Jenna & Aaron, you two are as beautiful and full of love & joy as you were on the day you said, “I do!” Thank you sooooo much for coming back to us and sharing your beautiful family with us! You have been in our thoughts often over the past 7 years and it was so wonderful to meet Brady & Sam and to spend time with you all! We hope these photos serve as wonderful reminders of how very fortunate you are to have so much love & goodness in your lives. Thank you for sharing that with us and for bringing a little love & goodness to our lives! With lots of love & big hugs, Christine & Andy xoxo PS…We’d like to send a special shout out to Dolly for thinking of us at Christmas time! We miss you Dolly! xoxo