So I just watched “A Baby Story” while taking my lunch break.  And though this won’t be suprising to those of you who know me, but I am in tears.  Today’s show was about the Richardson family.  Stephen Richardson, the father, was a member of our armed forces.  I say ‘was’, because he gave his life while serving our country.  He was only 22 years old when he died.  They have a two year old daughter, and were pregnant with a son when it happened.  So his wife (I won’t be able to spell her name, so I won’t try), had to give birth without him there.  Although it was obviously difficult, she still showed no anger or bitterness.  She spoke of how passionate he was about his job and how proud he was to be able to serve.  My heart goes out to this family and all those who have lost loved ones in service to our country … and also those who live with the constant knowlege that they could at any moment.

I have had the blessing to work with several military families from Dyess.  I hope I have expressed to them how very grateful I am for their selflessness. 

I want to let all of our Dyess families know that out of gratitude, I will not be charging session fees to

 any of our military families.  I consider it a blessing that through photography, I can capture precious moments for, and share them with, … those to whom I ( and all of us ) owe so much. 

So if you are a military family, I sincerely thank you.  If you know someone who is, … please share my gratitude with them.

I’m going to add a few images of some of the military families I’ve had the privilege to serve.  If you recognize them around town, … be sure to thank them.

Blessings,

Shelli

The Smiths

The Stutzman’s X-mas Card

The Coopers – ( Dad was being deployed the very next day … you could see him trying to memorize the details of his baby girl’s face. )

I had a big wedding Saturday ( I’ll post some favorites later )…. got home around 12:30 (which in actuallity was 1:30) …skipped early service Sunday morning, … went to the late one instead… was almost too tired to lift my coffee and donuts to my mouth ( but I managed ).  And THEN I had a 2:00 shoot that afternoon… someone was going to have to “shoot” ME!   

BUT, ….wait…. it’s Stephen and Emily Thomason…. one of the most precious couples I’ve ever shot a wedding for…. and they’re expecting Baby “T”!   Ok, I’ve got to tell you, this is the cutest, most fun couple in the world!  I had a blast, and completely forgot how tired I was!

Stephen and Emily are both doctors. (well, they start their residencies this summer)  They brought along one of their stethescopes (sp?) … it was too fun.   As you can see from the images below, they are adorably fun.   I wish I could adopt them!

 This little boy is SO blessed to have such wonderful and godly parents.  Thank you Stephen and Emily, for allowing me to continue being a part of these most wonderful events in your lives.  May every blessing be on all three of you.