Saturday Morning, 8:00 am

Saturday morning. 8:00 am. The kids are super-cranky after getting to bed way too late, thanks to the previous evening's fun at the drive-in movie. Perfect time to take family pictures, right?

Absolutely.

As we pulled up to the woody glen our friend Jenika had scouted out, I doubted our wisdom in even attempting an endeavor. Yet despite the unlikely odds, Jenika pulled it off.

Family portraits with Jenika were like a refreshing picnic on a hot summer day. Oh wait, our photo shoot was a picnic on a summer day! Jenika came equipped with the picnic basket, blanket, and even the watermelon to munch. As you can imagine, our girls sweetened up immediately. They had so much fun racing around, playing hide-and-go-seek, even climbing trees. I was so impressed with the location Jenika found. Four years in the area, and we'd never discovered it, despite the fact that it's less than a mile from home. You could tell she'd really put a lot of thought ahead of time into creating a photo experience to fit our family.

As for the result, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I love how natural they are--a far cry from the stilted poses and cheesy smiles characteristic of traditional family portraits. To me, they capture the essence of being a family. I'm so grateful to have photos to freeze the moment, allowing us to go back and relive it again. Life rushes by so quickly that it's easy to miss. Yet years from now I know that we will go back, gaze at our albums, and fondly recall the days when the kids were small.

I dreamed of being selective about which pictures to post, but there were so many fun ones that it was difficult to choose. Still, these pictures are just a fraction. You can find the rest here, should you want to see more. Regardless, I encourage you to check out jenikaslens.com--she really is a fabulous and fun photographer.



































Thanks, Jenika!