Trayla + Nate:Anniversary
Trayla truly is the Queen of Nate's heart. He plans surprise dates for her, birthday soirees, and Mommy Escapes to pamper her. This photo session was no different in the theme of pampering and celebrating a special occasion. What was drastically different is that Nate planned to have legit family photos taken. Here's the back-story...
They visited our church at a huge event for which I was the photographer. Their oldest, Tayven was under a year old and I photographed a candid of Trayla holding Tayven, singing during worship. Creeper status alert! I secretly wished to photograph this family starting in 2009! But there was a hurdle to surmount: Nate is the King of goofy homegrown photos for their Christmas card. And while I greatly look forward to reading their highly sarcastic Christmas letter every year and seeing what antics they enacted for the annual photo, part of me pined secretly to take their family photo some day. After the purchase of a new lens, I had Trayla and her girls over just to have fun and experiment with it. With those laid back candids, I'd won her over. It was a question of if she could win Nate over with the idea. A couple years, and one more child later, it is a huge deal and an even huge-r compliment that Nate asked me to take their family photos as a surprise for their 10th Anniversary.
Getting warmed up....
We gave their beautiful children, Tayven, Rya & Jairus a break from the camera and focused on the happily-weds for a brief moment....
It wasn't long before the munchkins were ready for the spotlight again-Nate and Trayla commonly host dance-offs in their family room and video tape them for future blackmail (kidding! well, only slightly...) so their kiddos are quite comfortable in front of a camera....
Our most recent pregnancies book-ended each others: Trayla was about to deliver Jairus when we found out about Adelaide's existance, so a small part of me has the match-making ideas abounding. Jairus definitely knows how to treat his Mama well and they say that you should look for that in a future husband. ;)
The kiddos were just about done for the day but Nate + Trayla were still up for some fun:
Lastly, true to form, Nate needed a dose of silly and I was more than happy to oblige. Dude's got hops!
Nate-Thank you so much for allowing me to photograph your gorgeous family. It truly is a huge compliment and one I don't take for granted. I'm honored and humbled.
Trayla-You know I love you girl! I'm so thankful you're in my life and more than being my "Pinterest-in-person" Person, I greatly value your encouragement, sense of security and grace that you consistently bestow on me. I'm so glad God bumped us in to each other!
Blessings,
Carrie
PS You can view more of their session HERE.