the crew...the good and the bad and the wonderful

wonderful is photographer (and former babysitter to at least five of our kids) Brenna Reilly (go now~ well, maybe not right now :), and check out her site.  her pictures are breathtaking)...she is sweet and lovely and so gifted. 

it's a pleasure to watch her work magic, although i think it might be a wee bit more pleasureful to watch her create lasting memories of other people and their families.  with mine, however, there was the "in the moment" begging and pleading and hoping for a "natural" smile from my kiddos.  there was the "clean-face" checks, the fly away hairs, the ashy skin of my brown boys then contrasted by the too shiny effect of the applied cream...all of that makes picture day somewhat stressful to me, i admit.

the reality is, however, that we are all those things, more often than not.  the crew of us are a messy-faced, food in our teeth, dry skinned, dishevelled bunch sometimes.  much like our unkept hearts, actually! 

just like Brenna does with our portraits (did i mention how gifted she is??) Christ comes in and tidies up~ cleans house, so to speak.  He picks up the mess, the sin, the dirt, the ugliness of our real selves and presents us before God as whole and worthy and beautiful and loved.  SO THANKFUL for that...

the finished product, then, is something of beauty, much like a few of these pictures. 

the beauty of editing a photo is that we no longer see the flaws, but simply the essence of who we were as a family during this season of our lives, October 2011.  

 thanks Brenna, you rock...by the way, if Jeff and I were ever to renew our vows, i'd definitely call you.  hypothetically speaking, of course.  like, only if he were planning it as a surprise, which i'm sure he must be doing....cuz he's like that, you know...ahem....