There are few greater honors as a photographer than having friends ask you year after year to photograph their families.

One of my best friends from college, Tara, has been a model for my camera since I began shooting on a DSLR in 2010! She was the roommate I dragged outside in the middle of the night to help me with my photography class homework, along with friends from the bro house who lived across the street…

All these years later, she (and her beautiful crew!!) still let me capture them in front of my lens, wandering around Hampton Roads, Virginia. We did our session for this year in Colonial Williamsburg, and I was reminded that her kids have both grown SO fast, AND their goofiness (100000% from Matt’s side of the marriage ;)) never changes, no matter how they age!

My goodness, these kiddos truly are the cutest……. So bittersweet watching them grow up!!! Levi has Matt’s intelligence and goofiness…. Lily literally reminds me of a young Taylor Swift… And Ella the baby is a spitting image of her mother (with the sass and independence to boot)!!

Their pup, Owen, joined us for some part of the photoshoot!! Tara tried for years to bring a dog addition into their clan, but to no avail in convincing Matt! Finally he came around, and their dear Owen has been such a fun addition to their family unit.

If you’re looking for somewhere in Hampton Roads to do you photo session that isn’t a beach or a park, Williamsburg has great options! So many areas of both the downtown and the college (William & Mary) that offer a variety of backgrounds and places to find good light!!

Matt & Tara just celebrated TEN years of marriage last month!!!! I still remember Matt’s proposal as if it was yesterday (scroll to the bottom to see a throwback to that event!!). Their love for each other through SO MANY ups and downs these last 10 years has encouraged me greatly in the constancy of Jesus to never leave or forsake us as we follow Him and seek to be faithful in pressing deeper and deeper in with the spouse He has given us!!

And now, as promised, a few extra treasures, pre-kids!!!… Enjoy these 2013 throwbacks of Tara & Matt’s proposal and engagement! (Trying not to cringe at the color temperatures of these photos, just be thankful for how far I’ve come!!)

Thankful for these earliest memories AND continuing memories with Tara and her crew!! She’s a gem to me and I’m honored whenever she asks me to take her family photos!! They’re so precious to me!!