Crammed between my brothers and sisters in a warm mini van on a freezing Christmas Eve, singing "Jingle Bells" at the top of our lungs and feeling completely happy, content and safe.
Baking our favorite peanut butter chocolate chip cookies from my mom's well used, very stained Betty Crocker cookbook on Sunday evenings. Grabbing the cookies straight off the cookie sheet, and blowing furiously before shoving them in our mouths.
Relaxing on the couch together in the evenings, listening to my Dad read "The BFG" while my mom played with my hair.
Growing up in a family of 8, things were often chaotic and messy. We argued a lot. My little brother drove me CRAZY sometimes, and my sister and I couldn't seem to get out the door to school in the mornings without yelling at each other because "that's what I was going to wear!!".
But lately I've been missing those simple, everyday moments a whole lot. My heart aches for the good ol' days when we all lived under one roof, sharing life together. The good, the hard, the happy and the crazy.
When the wonderful Tomlinson family contacted me about an at home session and I found out they were also a family of 8, I was SO excited. They are right in the middle of those "good ol' days" where everyone is under the same roof, and I couldn't wait to capture for them the photos I wish I had of my own family.
"Change is the only constant in life". Even though the stage of life you are in right now seems like it will last forever-- it won't. And these everyday moments are the ones you will miss the most.
Want to capture the wonderful, crazy life you are living right now? Let's talk! I can't wait to tell your story through photographs so one day you can look back on the "good ol' days" and have those memories come flooding back.
If you're itching to see more family stories, check out this one and this one.