Yesterday was a very special day for our family. Ali got her outdoor senior pictures taken! It was such a special time for her, and an emotional one for me. How can she be a Senior in high school?? How can my little girl be so grown up now??
We met John, our life-long photographer from Windsong Photography, at the Lefebure farm at 8am. We lived on there on the farm until Ali was in 2nd grade, and moved to where we live now. She has many fond memories of growing up as a little girl on the “farm.” It was fun to watch her recall some of those memories, as I recalled some of my own.
John started taking pictures in the big white barn. I almost seemed to have “flashbacks” while John was taking many pictures of Ali near the handful of square hay bales stacked against the back wall of the barn. I remembered Ali and Zach spending much time in that barn, playing in the hay bales that used to cover that back wall. They used to have so much fun making tunnels and forts in them. There used to be a lot of cats in the barn. We saw one. Everything seemed to look the same…and smell the same, which took me back to that time in our lives.
Everything seemed to remind me of that time in our lives…the cattle lot where the kids used to give grass to our favorite cow “Whitey,” the place where their swingset used to be and the hours they used to play on it, the small building by the machine shed that they used to play hide-and-see in, the big rock gravel that covered the driveway to the “shop,” and how they used to try to throw those rocks ahead of them as they walked. At one point I remember now looking towards the house we used to live in, and each window reminded me of something special…the bathroom windows reminded me of the kids’ bathtime, the kitchen windows reminded me of the many meals we shared together at the kitchen booth, Ali’s bedroom window reminded me of all the many nights I read stories to her and tucked her into bed.
John payed attention to the memories we shared as we walked along. He had Ali climb the tree that she used to try to climb and took pictures of her in it. (I found this picture on my computer of Ali and Zach…the tree I’m talking about is behind them in the picture, but you can only see the trunk.) A couple of the pictures in the link at the bottom of this post are taken with her in the tree (green shirt).
She squealed when she saw a metal ring in the yard that she and Zach used to pretend was a fire ring, and would imagine a campfire in it. John took a picture of her by the ring. 🙂 He also took pictures of her in the small building by the machine shed that the kids used to play hide-and-seek in. He took pictures of her under the trees where her great-grandpa and grandma lived, next door to the house we lived in. John also took pictures of Ali in the wheel of the IH combine that was in the building we called “the shop.” She used to sit in one whenever a combine was in the shop years ago. I also smiled when I thought of how the kids would drive their tricycles around the shop, around and under such machinery. They were little enough to do so.
And then a Garth Brooks song come on the radio while we were in the shop. I was reminded again of life long ago, when I fell in love with the farmer who I married. It’s hard to believe we’ll be celebrating our 19th wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks. I had to fight back the tears a few times…these memories are all precious to me.
John took over 400 pictures of Ali yesterday. What other photographer would spend that much time with her, and would be willing to drive to the place where Ali grew up as a little girl? These pictures will be very special to Ali and to us, as so many of them are attached to memories of life long ago.
We finished the photo session close to noon. When I saw these few pictures that John posted on facebook today, I was such a proud momma. Proud of who Ali is becoming and who God is growing her up to be. Proud of the beautiful girl she is on the inside and out. Proud to have a special place in Ali’s life. Proud to be her mom. Her indoor pictures are next week, and I can’t wait to see those too! Click on the link below if you’d like to see the pictures John put up on facebook today.
Thanks for allowing me to share them with you!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Windsong-Xperience/116157265113156
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