Our Roadtrip: Part 3

 This may be one of my favorite photography posts ever! Oh, how we love this family. Part 3 of our road trip brought us to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania {Bird in Hand, in fact} to see our Amish friends in person.

 We went to church with them {3.5 hours of singing, preaching, devotional, prayer, testimonies, & do it all over again; sweet little toddlers passed out on their mama's laps all around us, large families coming together into real community}. After church, I drove "B" & their 5 kiddos in our minivan to their home while "A" drove Sam & our 3 kiddos in the horse & buggy!
{btw: can you imagine a family of SEVEN fitting into that buggy?! well, they do!}

 meet the youngest son, a 4.5 yr old sweetie. quiet & kind.

 meet the only girl, a 6 yr old darling with spark in her eyes.

 meet the 10 yr old son, who instantly bonded with our 10 yr old!

 meet the 12 yr old son, i cannot get over his freckles... so cute!

 meet the 14 yr old eldest brother, who is the sweetest most respectable teen i have probably ever met who has a hunger for knowledge and a heart of gold, selflessly serving & quietly leading his siblings.

 we came at a good time: 

the mama cat just had kittens about 3 weeks ago!

 and the bulldog mama had puppies about 6 weeks ago {i think}.

my kids were in animal HEAVEN at their home: my favorite little mister caught bugs & toads all day {the boys said, "they had never seen anyone go crazy for bugs before" ... my poor city boy} & the girls chased kitties & puppies for about 5 hours straight! {I am allergic to both, so the fact that they were free to play with animals in the barn was the best part of vacation for pumpkin-poos. it was a hot day & of course, no air conditioning in the barn, so they would periodically emerge red-faced & sweaty, with big smiles on their faces.}

 I was THRILLED to do their family portraits!!! 

{maybe their first, in fact?!}

 I did all my typical poses.

 I think it is safe to say we all had a great time.

 There are so many fun out-takes of these progressions... 

maybe I will post another night.

I plan to make a little Life Verse Design custom art with this piece! 

{to be continued...}

It was a true joy to spend time with their family, learn more about their culture, and just see how God has given us all instant friendships. What a blessing.

Grace & Peace,
Julie