the peterson family

There may not be a happier set of grandparents in the state of Nebraska. The evening these photos were taken was a special one, celebrating this beautiful lady in the middle with a surprise birthday party as she entered a new decade. Her kids and grandkids had come from near and far, and we marked the occasion with pictures. It was SO much fun!

After being welcomed into one hour with Jennifer’s and Russ’s family, I left with such a full cup. These two have raised and influenced an amazing group of people and are hard at work loving on the next generation. On the left, they’re laughing at their sweet and spunky granddaughter Jane. 🙂

What. A. Crew. The fun to be had at cousin gatherings is going to increase exponentially with every visit with these sweeties. I won’t lie, I’ll be a little disappointed if in 15 years, these guys don’t recreate this photo as teenagers.

Hey, look! It’s Blake! 😉

Matt, Anna and Julia. Host & hostess of the party and providers of the most beautiful backyard! Julia’s little smirk/smile is just about as bright as it gets.

I think she has her daddy’s eyes, and maybe she’ll get her mama’s gorgeous curls, too. I doubt her parents are getting much done these days except admiring all her cuteness – just the way it should be.

Ok. If you know my photos, you know this is a favorite. Little Isaac’s suspenders are killin’ me. Mackenzie’s family had a number of travel hours on ’em this evening, but they were basically perfect. (Read: mom was on her A-game.)

Oh hi, sweet Jane! This girlie was my helper for the evening. She pretty much posed everyone, and provided some killer handmade jewelry for a select few family members. My favorite thing about her is her unicorn sandals (with socks, duh).

Big brother Eli was my other helper. Light tester extraordinaire, and as you can see, also a very impressive and frightening dinosaur.

Isaac!!! This guy goes and goes and goes. He’s determined to keep up with his siblings and basically be on the move constantly, and his smile takes up his entire face!

As someone who has children with cousins their exact same ages, my heart is smiling for this family to have Isaac, Julia and Adelaide so close together. Kate and Andrew snuggled their little swaddled-up burrito baby the entire night. Wouldn’t you? You’ll be seeing more of this sweet trio on the blog verrrry very soon. 😉

Addy’s just calmly, quietly over here stealing the show with those wide, wondrous eyes.

Papa Russ loving on that sweet new babe.

Another good candidate for future photo recreation! Yes, I did laugh out loud the first time I saw Jane’s side-glance up at her aunt. “Umm…are you gonna come get her?”

Peterson family, it was such a pleasure to preserve this night with you. Happiest of birthdays to you, Jennifer!

JR