Mike, Natalie & Annalise | Family

This shoot came about because of lava rocks.  That's right, those landscaping rocks that look like they came from the moon.

You see, a few months ago, Brad & I thought a zen garden would be a fantastic addition to our pitiful backyard. We wanted to add some lava rocks because that would reduce the amount of weeding and upkeep we would have to do, but do you realize how expensive lava rocks are?  In case you don't know, the answer is very.

We are craigslist addicts.  We sell and buy equally on the site, and one day when I was scouring it I found that someone had a bunch of lava rocks they wanted to give away for FREE!  SCORE!

We arrived at Natalie & Mike's house to a smiling group of people who were totally willing to help us scoop the rocks in our truck.  This generally never happens to us with craigslist finds, most people aren't very helpful.   We talked to Mike a bit while scooping rocks and he told us that his wife Natalie had checked out our website (simplyonelife.org, it appears at the bottom of our personal email.) and really liked what we were trying to do.

When we got home something told me I should keep in contact with them.  It was one of those God feelings, a strong feeling that I knew I wasn't in control of.  If you've had one you will know exactly what I mean, if not you will definitely find me creepy.  So in true creeper style I emailed Natalie and told her how appreciative we were of the lava rocks and told her that I would love to take some family photos for them in exchange (they have a little girl who is just a few weeks older than Theo).  She agreed and we finally got a date set!

Which brings us to the Jeffrey Mansion on a beautiful September evening.  Mike, Natalie & their beautiful daughter Annalise brought wonderful energy to their shoot.  They are such simple and kind people, a wonderful reminder of what I strive to be.  I was glad to be able to talk with them more about their story and share some of mine.

Thank you so much Mike, Natalie & Annalise.  Hopefully I didn't totally creep you out and I can't wait for Annalise & Theo to have a playdate at Jeffrey Park!

Isn't she so adorable??

I love this next photo.  Sometimes it's capturing the in between moments that are the best:)

Natalie & Mike are both alumni of OSU so of course they wanted a few photos of Annalise in her Ohio State chair.  About a minute in to taking photos a buckeye dropped to the ground!  Little did I know I positioned her right under a Buckeye tree!  Perfect!

This next photo is for her daddy:)