I’ve had the same conversation several times in the past few weeks.  There are a few things in my heart that I feel compelled to share.

As photographers, we are called up on to document moments in a family’s history that they will revisit time and time again in the lifetime ahead.  It’s a gift, these moments we give back to them through our images.  It’s a privilege to serve as historian for this chapter of their story.  I am humbled every single time I am chosen by a family to serve them in this way.

Adoption.  Talk about a gift!  I recall the first time I was introduced to the word.  In kindergarten I had spent the day at my best friend’s house.  She had a princess bedroom and a pony!  Her house was like a mansion in my mind.  I was jabbering on about all of during the car ride home and my mother said, as if it were a secret, my friend was adopted.  When I asked what that meant she responded with something to the effect that her parents couldn’t have children of their own so they found her and brought her home to be their daughter.  The message I took from this – her parents had chosen her!!!  How awesome was that!  They didn’t go to the hospital and come home with whatever baby was given to them.  Nope.  Instead, they saw her and simply knew they wanted her to be their own.  That memory sticks with me.  It’s shaped my own views on family and I know that having a child in your life doesn’t necessarily mean you have to give birth to that child.  This is why I wanted so badly to work with Red Thread Sessions…and I am so glad I applied (and that they accepted me!).

So, now that you’ve heard my own little story, let me introduce you to the Lowmiller family!  I can’t even tell you how wonderful it was to meet this beautiful, energetic, loving brood.  From the first email I received from Holly, when her energy translated through the ethers of the interwebs, I was excited to meet them. After a few exchanges we set a date. The weather this time of year can change in an instant, and on my drive down to the little spot we’d decided upon – thanks to the generosity of a very special colleage who shared one of her “secret” locations with me, I totally owe her a dozen Dunkin’ Donuts the next time I see her – the sky looked ominous. But, the sky at the location was bright blue and clear!  And then I began to melt in the heat and humidity.  Seriously, I’m a mess at every session this time of year.  I can’t even imagine what my clients must think!

Brian and Holly chose to expand their family more than three years ago through adoption. Miss Naomi came to join big brother Zane as a six month old from the loving arms of foster parents in their seventies, for whom Naomi was their 25th foster child! Had they been younger, they said they would have never let her go. Almost a year later, little brother Quinn joined the family. Brian returned home from a business trip when Quinn was six months old to declare he wanted to grow their family a bit more and they completed the paperwork to adopt again. But, before that could happen, baby boy Ezra was on the way! Holly felt in her heart that adoption was their path, so this came as quite the surprise. As they began to build their future around the baby-on-the-way, a call from a case worker revealed their family wouldn’t be complete without one more. Naomi’s birth parents had delivered a baby girl and the case worker hoped Brian and Holly would be her forever home. They were overjoyed to have a sister for Naomi, so at 17 weeks pregnant Holly collected sweet Phoebe from the hospital. Phoebe’s adoption was finalized just this spring.

Holly sums it up as follows: “Our family has been very blessed. I have the coolest kids and the greatest husband!”

The gift of adoption is life changing.  Thank you, Brian and Holly, for growing your family to include Naomi and Phoebe.  Your story lifts my spirit and I am so grateful for the opportunity to share it here.

And without any further ado, I give you the Lowmillers: