My Family


I have been spending so much time posting images of other families, and I thought that my blog deserved at least one post about my own family. I just had my seventh baby in July, and when I look at all of us together, I am amazed at the beauty of my family!


I never would have thought that we would be where we are today. I didn't imagine myself being the mother to seven children. I never thought that I would have the capacity to raise and love that many little human beings. And the truth is, at the beginning, I didn't have the capacity. I certainly loved my husband and dreamed of having children, but I was unable to comprehend how my capacity to love would grow.


There was a beautiful quote in a book I read recently that perfectly summarizes a mother's love: "There is no division nor subtraction in the heart-arithmetic of a good mother. There are only addition and multiplication." (Bess Streeter Aldrich, A Lantern in Her Hand) My love has multiplied and added up over the years and I am so happy to see how much I have changed and grown.


It is the greatest honor of my life to spend every day with these wonderful people. They teach me, stretch me, and push me to my limits. I get to practice patience, temperance, forgiveness, mercy, long-suffering, soft-speaking, nurturing, and charity.


Being a mother is my refiner's fire. It is shaping me, day by day, into the woman I am meant to be. It is so challenging and often thankless and exhausting, but those tiny moments make it worth it. The moments when:

  • I hear my 4-year old thank me for making dinner.
  • My two-year old tell me "I love you!" with her little arms around my neck.
  • I catch my 11-year old reading stories to his brothers.
  • My 8-year old changes the baby's diaper without being asked.
  • My 9-year old writes sweet notes to neighbors,
  • My 6-year old makes me laugh with a silly joke.
  • My baby gives me the biggest grin when I get him from his nap.


I don't take for granted that my life's work is being at home with these precious ones. So many women are required to work to make ends meet, and I am so thankful that I have photography to help financially and as a creative outlet. My husband is a great provider and helpmeet. He supports me in all that I do, and I couldn't do it without him. My family is so incredible and inspire me daily! I love them to the moon and back!