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It was a day that was special to me on so many levels. I was there to photograph a wedding for a girl that I've known for many years. Her and her family have always had a special place in my heart. I wasn't expecting to be moved so deeply. As I watched Matty and Nathan interact throughout the day it reminded me so much of Catie and myself. Two young people so in love and so enamored with life. It really got me thinking about marriage and my marriage specifically. The words "for better or worse" were popping up in my head. Catie and I were married on a beach July 2nd 2010. At the time we were getting married for "the better part". We would've never imagined 8 years later to the day we'd have to be whisked away by an ambulance to the airport and flown by a private jet to Mayo Clinic because Catie developed blood clots in her lungs and a 13cm abscess at her wound site. This was definitely the "for worse" part. As I watched Matty and Nathan I fell in love with the beauty of what a marriage is and what it needs to be to pull through. I saw in them everything they needed to enjoy the "better" part and to endure the "worse" part. The day was filled with me seeing many old friends I haven't seen in a long time. So many kind words and thoughts for Catie, Faron and myself. But then something happened that I'll remember for the rest of my life. I was approached by a very large group of old friends who said they wanted to pray for Catie and myself. It was one of the most amazing and humbling experiences of my life. I was too choked up to speak. I finally expressed that I wanted to Facetime with Catie, who was still at the Mayo Clinic. As she answered the Facetime call I was so choked up I could barely speak but I finally got the words across that they wanted to pray for us. Catie and I were in tears the entire time. It was one of the most beautiful moments in our lives. Marriage is an incredible thing. Its often taken for granted when things are going well or easy. But I think you truly discover each other when we're faced with adversity. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to Matty and Nathan for a day that I'll never forget. As for a s

Many of you have heard their stories, one or the other, or both. Many of you, at some point in time, have reached out to help. Erin lost her husband Jon and daughter Olivia at the Trestle Trail shooting. Steve, a father to four young boys, lost his wife unexpectedly to a health condition they didn’t know she had. The void left behind by these losses, the loss of a father and husband, of a wife and a mother, and of a first-born child, is so unfathomable to most of us. Steve and Erin have both experienced the lonely road that is grief and sorrow. Trying to help in whatever small and seemingly insignificant ways I could, I sat in Steve’s living room just days after his wife Wendy had passed. I could feel those fresh heavy waves of grief wash over the room and see it in their faces. I had photographed Steve’s first wedding 12 years prior, his family has been in my life since I was six years old. These are people I love. At that time, it was difficult to see how this family would survive this loss and be able to move forward. Erin reached out to Steve to help after hearing his story and offered an understanding that most of us could not. Erin was able to offer him hope. Hope that he too, by leaning on God as she had, could make it through this isolating darkness. Steve and Erin would be the first to say that this isn’t their story, that it’s God’s story. Using Steve’s own words, ‘It isn't about two people. It's about redemption for eleven lives. Three that knew Jesus and are united with Him now in eternity. Six children that can once again know a home with a mother and father, and two who have been given the opportunity to love deeply once again. The pain of death will always sting for the rest of our time here, but we won't have to face it alone.’ They have walked a season in each other’s shoes, of the lonely road that is grief and sorrow. Now, they have found joy and peace and will walk a lifetime together. This wedding day was a day where Jon, Olivia, and Wendy were honored and remembered and loved and missed. And Steve and Erin, and Liam, Jack, Silas, Judah, Selah and Ezra began their new chapter as a family.

The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart. -Helen Keller

Meg insisted I wear a sailor’s hat for their engagement session...aye aye captain...

I knew when I met you, an adventure was going to happen! -Winnie the Pooh

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