69 years!

   My family has known Brad and Amy for 6 years. They go to our church and I recently shot their son's senior portraits. Amy has had all of my girls in Bible Buddies or Bible Drillers. We've also gone camping with them. I am sure I can find the picture of Brad swinging on a limb that promptly gave way lol! This family means a great deal to us (and Amy is just funNY).

   Brad's mom and dad have been married for nearly 70 years. Mr. Buck and Ms. Ivo have such a lovely family! I didn't get to meet all of them, but I had a wonderful time. In my head, I still feel 18. So imagine my shock when I pulled 2 grays hairs out of my head before going to shoot this family. It got me thinking though ( so it wasn't for nothing ). I wondered if Buck and Ivo still felt like they were 18 in their heads? I wondered what it would be like to literally grow old in front of my husband. I wondered if I would still feel like I was 18 when I had grown grandchildren. I mostly wondered though, what it was like to be married for that many years. Was there still a romantic spark? Did they still see each other as they did when they first met? Call it curious, nosey, whatever. But I wanted to KNOW. Fast forward to the session, and just Mr. Buck and Ms. Ivo.

   I asked Ivo to scoot next to Buck, lean her head on his shoulder and to hold his hand. It may have been a little strange at first (there were a ton of people there). But she was so sweet and did it. Then she said something that gave me chills. She said "I feel like we're courting." That was exactly what I wanted her to feel like. When she said that Buck cuddled her a little closer :) What a sweet and precious couple. They have a large family and I was honored to be chosen to photograph them. Here is a little preview.

*And for the family that lives out of town, here is YOUR preview*