The Elder Family - [Brainerd, MN Family Photography]

This family lives in the same southern Minnesota town that my cousin and his family do - that's where the connection was initially made. My cousin's wife talked to Molly, showed her the photos I took of my cousin's family in August, and then Molly emailed me about possibly photographing her family. Apparently Molly had a sister who lived up here in Brainerd, so it she said it would be easy for them to come to me for a shoot. Perfect!

Then, things worked out perfectly when Molly and Chad and their two darling kids were up last weekend, and I had some free time to fit in their shoot. The weather was warm, and while the leaves were almost dropped, we still managed to squeeze some fall color into their session. It was a blast.

Molly told me that her sister, the one who lived up here, and her husband were going to be dropping by the park we were shooting at and she wanted to know if I could snap a couple photos of the two of them. Here's why - Mike is part of the National Guard, and this spring, he is going to be deploying for a year to Iraq. Mike and Jennifer have 4 kids, and this is his first overseas deployment. He's been in the guards for 20+ years, and while he's volunteered to deploy various times during his service, he hasn't been able to deploy yet. If you aren't familiar with people in the military, you might think 'Why would you ever want to deploy?' Well, there's just something about going where you are needed that makes the men and women of our armed forces sometimes want to go. For themselves. They don't WANT to leave their families, of course not. But the deployment is something that they need and want to do. That's where Mike's at right now.

So, I gladly snapped some photos of Mike and Jennifer. I'd like to ask you to keep their family in your prayers this spring - I know what deployments are like on the home front, but I never had any kids to take care of. Jennifer will be helping 4 kids through a year of missing their dad, all while she misses her husband. So yes, I think they would love all of our prayers.

Without further ado - Molly and Chad, thank you for asking me to photograph your family and for being flexible to squeeze it in when we could. I think you will be happy with the results. Mike and Jennifer, it was a pleasure to meet you and I hope our paths cross again in the future. Enjoy the next 6 months and God bless you both, and your kids, as you go through the year of the deployment.

xoxo, Laura