family photojournalism :: the englishes

nathan is an accomplished photographer. i mean, seriously. and his wife jana is a creative culinary whiz. we have indirectly known one another through mutual friends for several years now, and i that time we have each had 2-3 kids and have grown tremendously as photographers. but more important than the photography fellowship and good cooking (hehe), and what draws me to this family, is their sincere love for one another, their integrity in all things, and how real they are with one another and those who know them. they radiate Jesus, even via social media and in passing interactions. 

so when i was searching my mind for a family who might be game for allowing me to do some portfolio-building in the form of a family photojournalism session, nathan and jana came to mind quite quickly. happily, they were game for allowing me to join them for a usual thursday evening in their home with their three tiny people, ben, norah, and olive. 

i was so warmed by this evening with them, just soaking up their goodness and chatting in the spaces between action moments. 

thanks, guys, for letting me in. you're beautiful. 

what follows is probably too many photos, but it was just too hard to narrow it down. should i apologize? nah! ;)

personal :: birthday adventuring

hazel has been looking forward to her birthday for fully six months. having no real grasp of time, every time anyone's birthday was happening, she would think it was also hers. we tried to explain that it would be her turn when there were leaves on the trees and the weather turned warm, which had limited success. 

at last, her very own birthday arrived. ever since this winter, she has been consistently asking for cake, balloons, and a kite... at the beach. so we determined that we would make those things the backbone of her birthday this year, in lieu of a party or gifts. and, since she is also interested in trains, and tim discovered that the Amtrak station in St. Joseph is right across the street from the beach, we decided we'd get there via train. to put the icing on the cake, we invited her cousins, aunt and uncle, gaba (grandma) and great aunt to meet us at the beach.

it was a gift of a day. hazel was ceaselessly overjoyed, which meant that we were, too, of course. and after returning home, she told anyone who would listen, "hey, know what? it's my birthday right now! i'm 3!"

i invite you to come along, virtually, on our adventure day... beginning from the moment she woke up... and ending with the moment she fell asleep again (en route back home). 

it's so fun to do these mini visual stories for my own family, though my one regret is that it usually means i'm absent from the images (ah, the plight of the photographer-mama!). but that's why YOU might want to consider having some like me come on over and tell one of your family's stories with my camera. so that, for once, you an also be in the photo-documentation of those stories. i'm serious! do it! :)

personal :: first haircut

she'll be 3 years old in less than a month. she has never had a haircut. i was afraid that if i cut it, the curl would be lost, because i've heard horror stories. but the hair was... um, BIG. 

after beginning to imagine what a slightly shorter cut might look like, we decided to go for it. our neighbor-friend Chelsea came over from across the street, scissors in hand, and set up shop on the front porch. she's a pro, and a darned good one (you can find her here, if you're interested). 

hazel was looking very sleepy and i wondered if she might even doze off during the haircut. but drowsiness coupled with a large orange balloon aided in holding her still. also, the chocolate chips that were promised as a reward at the end. :)

so, here's the story of my daughter's first haircut, on the front porch of our house, by a good friend, at the age of 35 months...

personal :: the community pool

we don't have a community pool in our  neighborhood. in fact, we don't really even have a park. the only one we DO have just lost all its playground equipment and now consists of just lots of woodchips and approximately 4 trees. 

but we DO have this large sunken area in the parking lot of the hispanic church. it fills with water after rainy days, and becomes a popular place for some neighborhood children to play. 

it also just so happens that this "pool" is adjacent to the driveway where the neighborhood taco cart is positioned. 

this is a story in which my daughter hazel and her grown-up friend michelle join the big kids at the community pool (aka giant parking lot puddle), where they "swim" and play games...

have a little story you'd like me to tell for you? get in touch!

personal :: the neighborhood taco cart

through this blog entry, you get to see some of my personal life. not the home/family life part (though that's also intertwined), but the part that is an urban missionary and pastor's wife. it is, therefore, more explicitly Christian than most of what i share in this space, but the photos tell a lovely story, whether you want to read the bits about the Kingdom of God or not. :)

i once heard it said that though your choice of a zip code does not have moral consequences, it does have consequences. and this i firmly believe: that in seeking first the Kingdom of God, where we choose to live matters, and that there is a mighty difference between living amongst the ones you are called to love versus dropping in to serve them for a few hours a week. which is why we own property here, and why we don't have a 5 year plan to move out. 

it is a slow, steady work. and much of it doesn't feel like work, it's just life. it's raising kids and taking walks and tending to the lawn and greeting neighbors and sitting on the front porch at dusk. there aren't magnificently transformative encounters on a daily basis, but you don't expect a miracle every day. instead, you trust that the cumulative effect of your presence will be life. you keep yourself attached to the one true vine, you hunker down amongst a people and a place that the Father shows you, and -- without looking back -- you just let your life unfold there, openly. 

it's the ministry of presence. 

and slowly, over years, this place becomes no longer "other," it becomes yours. 

in the place where we've hunkered down, there is this taco cart, run by the exclusively spanish-speaking and remarkably talented cocinera (cook) Maria, and her son Oscar. and this taco cart is now our taco cart. it's a mere block and a half from our house, in the driveway of Maria. it's open only on weekend nights, and only during the warm weather season. tacos are $1.75 each, and they are to die for. it's a weekend tradition from may through september. i am weirdly proud of this place, and a little protective.

but i want to show you this favorite spot of mine, nestled in the middle of our run-down neighborhood. and if you want to know how to find it, send me a private message. :)

here is the story in which my family -- along with our foster kids and a couple friends -- make a saturday evening visit to Maria's taco cart...