the warkentien family

"joy is the realest reality, the fullest life, and joy is always given, never grasped. God gives gifts and i give thanks and i unwrap the gift given: joy." ann voskamp

one of the hardest parts about being a military family is all of the moving but one of the best parts about being a military family is all the moving. moving means leaving friends but when you are in the military you can almost count on it that your paths will one day cross again. we were blessed to meet the warkentien's when we lived in virginia and were beyond ecstatic to find out we would be neighbors again in dc. shelby and i met at a navy spouses bible study and were instant friends. we connected over our loves for good food, photography, scrapbooking, and most importantly the Lord. we have remained friends as the navy has moved us from place to place and are loving being close enough to each other to enjoy leading a bible study together, MOPS, play dates with our kiddos, and even an occasional family date night. 

this past year was not an easy one for my friend as her husband tyler deployed to afghanistan and she held down the homefront, managing three little ones on her own. i am certain it was not easy but she handled the time with grace and strength and chose joy and as you can see that joy has only grown since tyler returned home. i was beyond excited when shelby invited me into that joy and asked me to photograph her family and over the moon when she said they wanted to venture into the city. we braved the cold and had a great time playing in and around the lincoln memorial. over the years i have watched these little ones grow up and i loved getting to see their personalities in a new light from behind my lens of my camera.   

 

thank you shelby for this little adventure, thank you for trusting me with your memories, thank you for sharing your family and your joy with me and most importantly thank you for being my friend.