leos family photos // dallas, texas

So this one day, I woke up at 2:30 in the morning/slash/middle of the night, drove myself and all my equipment to the airport to hop on a 5:30am flight, landed in Dallas at around 11:30am or so… and by 1pm was completely and deliriously wrapped up into the most beautiful chaos of this home full of kids, dogs, light, love, laughter, lizards, and joy. Just pure, unfettered joy. It was absolutely the most perfect and worthwhile reward to a long day of travel… I mean, just look at these beautiful faces!

Ollie, Hawke, and Stone. The coolest, most loved kids in all of Texas.

I met Jesse in Rachel in South Carolina nine years ago; which, saying out loud doesn’t feel like much, but my goodness have we done a lot of growing since then. Literally. The last time I officially photographed their family, was when their oldest—now eight years old—was just a babe in their arms, and so it’s even more extraordinary still to see all that they have made together.

The beauty of doing family photos has many benefits, with the less obvious one being that I have the privilege of being inspired by the parents and kids that I photograph. And with these folks, I always leave in absolute awe. The amount of energy in their home could power the Dallas County grid, and I’m not just talking about the three littles! Jesse & Rachel—unsung heroes that they are—have enough energy to run their home with such laid-back ease, that no matter the amount of circles being run around them, all you feel is the love. That, I’m telling you, is a wonder to behold.

If I come back in another life as a parent again, I want to be Jesse & Rachel. Or if I come back as a child, I want to be their child. Y’all, I’m not even joking. And when I come back to Texas, not only will I be saying y’all with much more y’alls in me, but I will most certainly be visiting them again just for another healthy dose of all that is good in this world.

Thank you, my friends. Everything is bigger in Texas, right? Because my love for you is out of control almost too big for just my little piece of land way up here.

…………………….

for some cozy nostalgia and I’m sure just a few tears, be sure to check out their family photos from many moons ago, as well as Ollie’s adoption story, written by Rachel.