There are so many things in my life that I have to be thankful for. I have always looked back and thought about the people I have been blessed with to have in my surroundings, as friends or family. Really. I have been very lucky. God just gave me great people to be around.. always.

This family is one of my blessings.

Just take a look at them. Ashley, one of my best friends in the whole world grew up living next door to me. We broke bones together, did anything possible that considered being daring, had a Tweety Bird and Tax Manian Devil obsession together, hated boys together, jet skied in the winter together, laughed together, got in trouble together, walked to school together, and even started shaving our legs together (even when moms said no). Valeeta, her mom, would walk with my mom every night, while her and my dad would sit out in their lawn chairs in our front yard while me and Ashley played and Alex (my brother) and Mike (Ashleys brother) would talk about snakes, turn over rocks, and bury things.. every night.

It’s almost like a sitcom {.has a storyline and ongoing characters in, essentially, a comedic drama. The situation is usually that of a family, workplace, or a group of friends.}

None the less.. everything we did was together as a family. And they have a HUGE family!

Then the sunshine and rainbows ended for me. The for sale sign went up in their yard. I think I cried for about a week (keep in mind I was in about 6th grade). But really, my ultimate fav family and best friend was moving.. to BATES CITY. Where the heck was that?

Well Bates City, now that I am a photographer, is actually a wonderful place for pictures. The farm the fields, the barns the animals.. it’s perfect. Even though we don’t get to see each other as much as we’d like, these are still some of my favorite people in the world.

And how strange, even though only 30 miles is between us, our time has flow by so quickly. The last time I saw most of these guys, I still considered them/us kids, and even BABIES.. and now they all have kids, and even BABIES! This ever expandable family just keeps going.

And each one of them are stinkin adorable. This was my beautiful Sunday evening reuniting with the entire McGhee family.

But “Shhhhh” these pics are for the ultimate ma & pa’s Christmas gift. Here they are..

My wowza fav. {Angelic}



All the {grandkids}


I have always teased Ashley that I think Brooklyn (above & below) was supposed to be my little girl.. the little stinker.

I can’t get enough of the next three. {Those eyes}



The American family.

I loved all these photos. I had a hard time choosing for the blog. So to see all the rest of the goods, click here. The rest will be up soon.

Dont forget to leave those {comments} below. You can also respond to the cheese the everyone else is saying. Enjoy!