June 16

I've always been a photo person. When Abby and Logan (in particular) were young, I was the mom who lugged her bulky Canon Rebel to every single play date, family outing, and birthday party. I snapped pictures like someone was paying me to do it. And if I had to guess, I'd surmise that some people found it --and me-- annoying. But that's okay, because all these years later, I have images of Abby and Isaac and Brady at every age and in just about every imaginable scenario. And of course, I have photos of our five and a half years with Logan to help keep his memory alive in my heart and mind, too.

The Rebel is no longer my trusty companion and I don't take nearly as many "nice" pictures as I once did, but I still love capturing big moments. So I reached out to the amazing Racelle Campanelli to take some graduation-slash-turning 18 photos of Isaac. We met up at the Alviso Adobe park on the other side and town last Wednesday and enjoyed a very chill session. She sent me the gallery link this morning, and I had a hard time picking my favorites, so I'm posting just two of them for the purposes of this entry.

They're all beautiful images, and best of all, I feel like they capture "Isaac" in all of his cool, calm, easygoing Isaac-ness. And I know that when I scroll through them years from now, I'll look into his eyes and remember how I jumped around like an organ grinder's monkey trying to make him laugh because his REAL smile is so much better than a fake one. (And I succeeded!)

So for a fun and easy process and lovely results, I am thankful.