A very great story-long, I’ll try to tell short.
My dad and his brother always knew they had a step sister. Their dad left them when they were young and moved to California and re-married, soon after leaving that family as well. My dad had met his other siblings once when they were younger but never knew in their adult age who they were or where they were. My dad, last year sometime, decided he’d try to find and meet his sister. Within a month or so, they had found each other (such a funny story), and planned a trip to California, my dads first since he was a child, and met a whole new set of family members. And BAM, that’s where it began. His sister came to visit us all in KC a few months ago to meet everyone, and rapidly our family grew. All of a sudden I have more aunts and uncles, cousins and even more SECOND cousins. It seems to be the trend with lots of seconds running around.
This year, November 31 was my Aunt Linda and Uncle David’s 50th wedding anniversary, and they threw a HUGE party Dec 1 for 80+ family members from all over the US to travel in for. Of course, I miss it as I have a wedding to shoot that Saturday, but we had a whole week to spend with our new California family and tons more. White elephant gift exchanges, lots of big meals and Christmas parties and somehow I have well over a few hundred pictures of our family ALL together. And blessed is this adorable little baby girl, Evalee… my second cousin. The only baby in the world who is content 100% of the time. I don’t think she “can” cry. Misha is my first cousin and such a good mom to Evalee. Evalee had never had professional pictures taken so of course we had to get some images while they were here. Visiting and showing them all our homes, we had quite a variety of images for her from vintage beds and wallpaper, to rustic hollywood couches, to an old vanity of my moms. Naturally, Evalee made it to our Christmas tree where all the glistening ornaments were. As you can see… we have a wide range of adorable pictures of her.
It was so nice spending time with family for the week as they stole my attention away from work. There’s nothing better than having more people surrounded by you that love you and support you. And holy moly, they’re all SO much like us, it’s almost dangerous putting so many crazy people in one room who love to dish out jokes and pick on you all day. 🙂 We’ve just always wanted a bigger family, so I am thrilled to call them now, “OUR family.”
If you’d like to see the rest of her images, and to even purchase some great professional products, click here.
After my Aunt Julie left Kansas City, she wrote such a sweet thing on Facebook about family. I hope she doesn’t mind me sharing:
“Do you know the meaning of family? Imagine you ……close your eyes….you saw them when you were 7 or so…just a little bit of a thing….and they were gone…….you grow, they grow, you age they age….life goes on. You have birthdays, graduations, weddings, funerals, and so it goes……..all the time wondering and wanting! Then maybe you give up or loose hope, but don’t ! Cause all the time you want them and they want you! And so it has been said…..the more the sin the most grace has been received…or such! The more the want the MOST LOVE I have had!….not only did I get the one brother I knew I had…….I got TWO!…and two sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins, 2nds (seconds are my fave) and 2nd 2nds…….I come here and am family…I move about like I live here…..yes it could be rude but they seem to be ok with it……I just watch them move about and “do what they do”…..and just wish I was here so much more. I am a lucky, HAHA blessed woman to say I am a Marler…….I am not so much my fathers daughter as I am MY BROTHERS sister!”
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