Just a few months before my son Walter was to be born at home with a midwife, I had a burning need to witness an empowered, midwife-attended home birth just one more time. I begged Beth to let me photograph hers so that I could have that need met. She complied, and I'll always be grateful for the positive pictures and feelings that experience gave me as I prepared for my own.
At her birth, I remember seeing all these homesteading books around, and drafts of vegetable gardens, signs for canning and handcrafts and homeschool everywhere. Beth and Tommy were dreaming dreams of a life outside the city where they currently lived, a life with chickens and woodworking and wide open spaces. In the nearly 2 years since then, they have made radical steps to move closer to that goal. First, they sold their house and Tommy quit his job and they moved into an RV for several months. Then they stayed with Beth's parents until they could find the perfect property to begin their homesteading adventures.
This family photojournalism session, then, is the proof positive of the fulfillment of dreams. It takes place at their beautiful homestead on their lovely piece of land. There are chickens and a wood shop and a huge vegetable garden. The kids are being homeschooled. They're expecting baby #4. And the effect on Beth and Tommy is clear contentment. It felt really great to celebrate this with them. And I know you'll enjoy getting a little peek at this beautiful life they're crafting.
Beth and Tommy both do amazing things with wood, by the way, and they've launched their own business called Declerqc Woodwork. You can find them on Facebook and on Etsy, or follow them on Instagram at @thewoodenfarmhouse. At the moment, they're making my family a farmhouse table that seats 10! But they do smaller things too. Check them out.