Cousins, Oregon Scenery & Pajamas

I don't know how people go through tough times in their lives without family. The way I see it, your family are some of the only people who will always be there for you . . . . no matter what! No matter how long its been, no matter what's happened in the past, just no matter what. But then again, maybe I'm just lucky. Maybe I've been lucky enough to be blessed with the most amazing family members ever! In the past 8 months my family - immediate and extended - has pulled in around me to support and protect me. They've listened to me, visited me, emailed me, called me, cried with me or even for me. My family members are one of the reasons I'm able to keep going.

That being said, I'd like to introduce you to my cousin Rona Kay. She came out to spend some time with us last week. And I truly enjoyed getting to know her as an adult. I think the last time we saw Rona was  Christmas in 1987 when the entire Virgil family was together.

We had a lot of fun showing my Iowa cousin around the Willamette Valley. We even took her to the coast. We spent a lot of time reminiscing about our Grandparents and our visits to Grandma's house. And Rona brought flowers for the boys. If you make it to the end of this very LONG blog post, you'll see the personalized flowers she brought for my boys.

Rona, thank you so much for coming to visit. The time went way to fast!

If you make it through all the photo's you'll see some of my favorite pictures from the places we took Rona :)

 From left to right: Me, Rona, my sisters Elizabeth and Milne

 The story behind the pajamas: There is an old 1980's photo of the 4 of us in our new Christmas pajamas. So we thought it would be fun to get matching pajamas and take a new picture. :)

 My neice's Beth and Daisy - Cousin's whom I hope can keep the family togetherness going as they grow up

 Silver Falls

 Rona & I at Cannon Beach

 Multnomah Falls and the Columbia River Gorge

 I love this picture, because we're laughing . . . not just smiling for the camera!

 Our trip to Mt. St. Helen's was by far my favorite destination. It's really cool to see the re-growth going on. Yet you can still see the devastation from the 1980 eruption.

 Devin loved small stuffed animals, silly bands and spent all his free time drawing

 Dawson loved legos, building things and airplanes (there is a bumbleebee transformer on the back)

A Country Girl

I met Mary a few months after the accident. At the time she was a young lady who'd heard about our story and wanted to help. I thought she was a sweet girl.

Then a month ago she called me and asked me to take her Senior photo's. She picked some beautiful locations and she's such a beautiful young lady, both inside and out. (I swear some people make my job so easy!) I really enjoyed getting to know her during the photo shoot. She's a wonderful and determined young lady with a ready smile and a big heart for those around her. Mary, thank you so much for asking me to take your senior pictures. I truly feel privileged to have met you. I wish you all the best as you move into this new phase of your life. :) 

And I just have to say, I LOVE the white dress and cowboy boots!!

Tori's Workshop

Early in July my friend Tori organized a workshop. It was a lot of fun getting together with other photographers to play. :) We spent about 2 hours in downtown Portland taking pictures of a model. This was my first time working with an actual model, and I really enjoyed it. It was really fun taking pictures of someone who posed themselves.