almost a year ago to date, we did a quick photo shoot with my mom, stepdad and all 7 of their grandkids on a cold day in november. a few weeks later, we received the horrifying news that my mom had pancreatic cancer and that her very large malignant tumor was lodged near her pancreas and was encased in major arteries and blood vessels. the diagnosis after many doctors…….. inoperable and terminal. this was not only a huge blow because of the news itself, but also because my mom had beat breast cancer almost 25 years prior. she had kicked cancer once and now this monster had raised his horribly ugly head again. needless to say, none of us were prepared for the reality of this news. the doctors made us believe that she may not make it past a year…… but here we are…….. at almost a year later. we believe in the power of prayer. we believe that if He chooses to, God can fully heal her cancer. and we believe that my mom and the rest of us are not giving up. it’s been a hard year, but we are thankful for every day we have with her.

this photo shoot reminded us how important it is to document our lives and those we love. about a month later, my mom lost all of her hair and a lot of weight. this shoot was that last time that she may ever have her long red hair again….. although her hair has begun to grow back and is in a really cute pixie style right now! all of us were so glad that we did this shoot before the chemo and radiation started to steal some of her outward healthy appearances…. (though she still looks so beautiful!!) however, the important traits, cancer will never touch. my mom’s kind and loving heart…… the way she lights up when she is with her grandkids……. how she is always looking out for everyone else…….. the way she can talk to anyone, including complete strangers (and she does…. all the time) ……. her adventurous spirit…… her impeccable style (minus the green dress that looked like a “moo-moo”and we all voted out of her wardrobe)…… her tender and sensitive spirit and the way she completely loves her family and friends.

as you enjoy these photos of my mom with her grandkids, (whom she absolutely ADORES), please keep our family in your prayers. pray for strength, longevity and complete healing. our God is bigger than cancer…… no doubt about it.

and to my mom, who is lovingly referred to as “dede” by all her grandkids……….. you are so LOVED!!!!

professional hats off.
mom and dad hats are on.
we really really really love our kids and wanted to show you a bunch of pictures of them!!!

we actually took these pics in florida in february…the week before we flew out to vegas for WPPI. mindy had been wanting to do a shoot in Ybor City (near Tampa) for just about forever!!! so this was going down whether the kids liked it or not!!

oh…where are my manners. in case you haven’t met our kids, KEEGAN is the oldest sporting the cool argyle sweater. he’s 9. loves legos, video games (currently spore though we’re gonna start teaming up on portal 2), model rockets, and his remote control car he got for his birthday. he plays soccer (midfield). likes tennis. and is starting guitar lessons this summer!! and….he just got braces this morning!!

CARTER, almost 7, is our crazy redhead (now strawberry blonde, but if there was ever a redhead stereotype, he wears it well.) think animal from the muppets! or shaun white. carter is the blur on the soccer field that’s on the ground sliding for the ball as much as he’s on his feet. he loves his big brother and ALWAYS wants to sit with him and do whatever he’s doing. he doesn’t like pizza (no lie!) and usually chooses fruit or vegetables over french fries. crazy kid!

and then there’s LANGLEY (aka, laney, laney-lu, lulu, or louie). she’s a 5 1/2 year old version of mindy. she reads design magazines and flips the corners on most of the pages so she can come back and look at her favorites (just like her mom!) laney is at that magic age where she knows exactly how she wants her hair done (and how she doesn’t want it done) and thinks she should get to pick out all of her outfits on her own. and though you might not see it in the pics, or the videos we post on facebook….langley also has a shy side we love that lasts about 30 seconds

and most importantly…all of our kids love jesus!

now before the rest of the pics….2 quick notes.

first, some people wonder if our kids love having their pics taken. umm…no! (except for laney…some of the time). we included a bunch of random shots to show you their wiggles…and carter sticking his butt out at us!

and second…one of my favorite pics in this blog post is the black and white shot of laney looking up with soft eyes showing us a little flower. sadly…this was at the end of our shoot when everyone was tired (including dad!) and patience was, well, long gone. bottom line, she started crying just before mindy was supposed to take her closeup pics. we weren’t sure if she had it in her…but the pic we got was one of our favorites ever. sweet girl!!

so here’s our kiddos. we couldn’t be more proud!!

keegan, our oldest, didn’t walk till he was like 15 months. ish.

william, the little guy below, was 12 months (ish) when we took the shots below…and we could hardly keep up with him!! yowza. on more than one occasion, i was out of breath and needed to take a break. (quite a commentary of the kind of shape i’m!)

dear gareth and alison,
get william started in football (the european version of course!) as soon as possible. i see a successful career in his future!!!

sincerely,
ben + mindy

p.s. we’re definitely wanting to take you up on that dinner you promised to cook us

one of the big stories during our week in connecticut was the new big windmill in new haven.
“did you hear about the guy who built that windmill? he’s powering his whole business with it.”
“wow, what great marketing and publicity for the business! what a great idea!”
“yeah, i heard he’s the greenest printer in the country. sweet.”

and then we meet the driscoll family only to learn that he’s “that guy!”
and the locations we had picked out for the shoot? right behind the windmill by his office.

craziness.

but the real story…is the family.
love them. love them. love them.
once again, what is it with all the cool families around guilford connecticut?!! must be something in the water.

well…here’s a few of our faves, starting of course, with the family pic by the windmill

i’m just gonna say it. the first pic on this blog (cutest little boy ever in the train)…. i wish i had a pic of me like that when i was a kid!!
but i don’t. just funny looking ones with a big fat belly in every one of them.
seriously, don’t you just want to squeeze him!!!

and then his sister?! you kidding me.
this diaz family has got some crazy good looking genes of cuteness.

here’s a few of our faves from one of our last sessions in CT.

we meet krissy wall. whom we love. krissy says, “you’ve got to meet christine!”. which we did. and we love her.
christine says, “you’ve got to shoot my family.” which we did. and we love them (see below!).
then christine also says, “you’ve got to meet justin and mary marantz (some other photogs in new haven). which we did on our last trip out there. and we love them.

our lesson? do whatever krissy or christine say. and we’ll love it!!

bottom line, we should have become friends with this family a long, long, long time ago. it’s been our loss not knowing them till now!!
but now we’re friends. life is better.

and then they moved to washington dc
anyone in dc want a session??? we’re thinking we’re just about due for a trip there

daisy. we could take pictures of you any day. any time. anywhere!
you’ve got that look. you know, the kind where it doesn’t look like you’re posing for the camera. you’re just being you. and we LOVE that!!!

and to everyone that’s noticing how cool daisy’s clothes are, ask us where she gets them! she makes them. yeah, you heard me. she designs and makes a bunch of her own clothes including a shirt worn in this shoot. how cool is that?! i’m pretty sure that when i was her age, i was spending most of my time watching MTV (back when they actually played music videos) and playing my atari 2600. i’m totally inspired.

and mom, dad…i can’t tell you how cool it is that you’re helping daisy find her groove. cause it’s cool. and that makes you crazy cool in our eyes!!

now here’s a few of our faves!!

oh wait….daisy…when you’re a famous designer and need someone to shoot your new line, don’t forget about us!! k. thanks

you know how you can still remember the phone number of your closest friends from middle school?? aaron johnson’s number is one of two that i can still remember. which came in pretty handy a few years back. mindy and i were driving on lakeshore drive and i thought to myself, “i wonder if aaron is still living in chicago?!” i hadn’t seen him in AGES!! so i called his home number from middle school just in case his mom still lived there so i could get his number. lo and behold, mimi answered and we hooked up with aaron that weekend.

and the rest is history! we’ve gotten to know and to LOVE his wife, sarah. and then just recently, we’ve had the distinct pleasure of getting to know their beautiful daughter, zoe!!! sure they gave her the room that mindy and i used to sleep in!! but we’ll manage

it has meant the world to me to reconnect with aaron not only as long lost friends, but now as our family friend. our kids love aaron and sarah (and of course elliott, their beagle). and the johnson home has come to feel like a home away from home for mindy and i when we’re in chicago.

aaron. sarah. we love you. we love zoe. and thanks for letting us capture images of your family!!!

the wall family. jim. krissy. connor. fin.
oh how we love thee

the wall family was our first ever photoshoot in connecticut! and this was our third time shooting them. in fact, a trip to connecticut wouldn’t be a trip to connecticut without them!! although this time we didn’t have our kids with us so keegan and carter missed out on tearing up the wall basement with connor and fin. next time for sure!!

and while we LOVE every chance we get to connect with jim and krissy, this time was different. it was better.

it started a monthish or so before we headed east when krissy facebooked us to let us know that she had breast cancer. our hearts sank. the pain of breast cancer is all too familiar in our family (with mindy’s mother being a 20+ year breast cancer survivor), so it hurts all the more when it happens to friends.

each of the shoots we’ve done with the walls have meant the world to us. but this year’s was a reminder of just how much we value capturing families at a moment in time. and especially at this time.

krissy has been a warrior. she fights the fight head on. she shares her journey with family and friends. and she doesn’t hide. she brings it every day. she inspires mindy and i with her amazing humor, wit and courage with every facebook update

so everyone send some love to the walls!!

and before the pics, just a few fun notes about them. krissy always wanted to do a beatle’s “abbey road” shot with her family. so we just had to do it! we found the perfect road, inserted a vw bug just like the one on the album (ok, not just like it, but a bug all the same!) and note the detail all the way down to jim pretending to hold a cigarette in his right hand nice!

and then there’s the last picture of connor and fin holding krissy’s totems…courage, hope, and love. that pretty much says it all!!! keep it up krissy. FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT!

STUDIO 6.23 goes country!!

last year we fell in love with the norton family in connecticut. and they introduced us to their sister, heidi, who wanted us to come shoot at their horse ranch (honestly, i have no idea if it’s called a horse ranch or farm…at first, i wanted to call it a horse farm, but it seems then like we’re farming horses and that’s just not right!) we were bummed that we couldn’t work it out on that trip. so we were all the more excited to get it nailed down for this one!

we have absolutely no idea what this place was going to be like before we got there, though we were pretty sure there’d be some horses (being a horse ranch and all!). but when we turned down the driveway, it was like a choir of angels singing hallelujah! open fields, awesome houses, the pond… and of course our favorite, the hammock! i twittered something to the extent that my country boy alter ego just found his dream estate!! and why is it that sunsets just seem a bit better in the country?!

heidi…your family is fantastic! thank you so much for the invite out to the ranch and for letting us do “country” our way. here’s just a few of our faves!