{S Family Homecoming Story} Central Texas Homecoming Photographer

I feel so blessed to have been able to shoot not one but TWO homecomings in the past few weeks! It makes me SO happy that so many of our guys are coming home!

I had the privilege of capturing the S Family's homecoming on Friday morning! Unlike this homecoming, it took place in one of the airplane hangars on Fort Hood, instead of field, and it was in the morning! I have a HUGE respect and admiration for people who have children and have to deal with a deployment. Deployment itself is tough enough- not having someone to help you every day is even tougher. Lyssa has four beautiful kiddos who were SO happy to see their daddy!

One of my favorite things about homecomings in the anticipation. The nervous chatter of the crowd, the screams and laughter of the kids, the pacing of the wives/loved ones.

How CUTE are these dresses? I thought they were SO creative! :)

All of a sudden the crowd roars as the first bus pulls into view! Two in all. You can see boots underneath the buses as the soldiers get into formation. There is a loud shout, "Move the buses! Move the buses!" The first one pulls out of the way... and the second one doesn't move. A second shout is heard "Move that bus!"

After a moment, the crowd realizes that the bus is having trouble. So, the soldiers quickly step to the left, around the bus! You see the most incredible emotions in the crowd. Joy, happiness, love, anxiousness. The children are staring, loved ones anxiously trying to find their soldier amongst the formation. Lyssa's son was anxiously looking through his binoculars for any sign of his daddy.

After a few words and a small prayer is said you hear "Soldiers, REUNITE with your families!" For a moment the crowd is still, and then pandemonium breaks loose as people run forward frantically to find their soldier. Lyssa's dad found her husband first! There he is!

 Tears flow freely as the children run into their daddy's arms. 

 And after hellos, hugs and kisses with his babies, he finally tears himself away to look up at his beautiful wife. This is the moment where their family is back together. Once again, their world is whole. Look at that expression in the photo below. Wow.

 Sweet baby K would not let go of her daddy <3

Welcome home! <3

{Play Day} Shooting with Lindsey McAlpine Photography

I met Lindsey through a mutual friend of mine back in June! I was thrilled when she asked me if I wanted to get together just to play around :) As photographers, we rarely get to be in front of the camera, so we decided to get some shots of each other! She also so nicely let me join her on a portfolio building shoot she had a little later in the afternoon. Check out some of the shots of her. Isn't she GORGEOUS!?

 Have I mentioned that it was in the low 40's during our shoot? We had many throw-our-coat-off-shoot-the-picture moments. It was pretty icy! But you would never know!

Check out our beautiful model Aly! She was SUCH an amazing sport in the cold weather.

When we weren't shooting we kept Aly wrapped in Lindsey's blanket- then decided to use it as a prop! I love the red pop against the golden tones in the background.

I really enjoyed getting to talk shop with Lindsey and take pictures at the same time! What a fun way to network! Thanks for such a fun shoot girls!