My trip to Washington..

About a week ago, I got back from an amazing trip to Washington! If you don’t know, my family and I used to live in Woodinville, WA…for about 10 years. I was there for all of my “growing up” years. The years that you don’t care about running in the mud, when you ride your bikes to everyone’s house, and when you chased down the ice cream man in the neighborhood. I met my best friends (and sisters) and made relationships that have lasted 20 years. Seattle has also been my summer getaway, but as life gets busy…I hadn’t had time to visit as much as I’d liked, until this year. I wanted to make a point to visit my friends who had turned into family and their growing families!! Obviously, I couldn’t go without working a little bit and taking photos along the way! My first stop was in Seattle, where I took some family photos for Derek and Courtney. If you recognize Courtney, it’s because she was a bridesmaid in Kim and Pat’s wedding in Hawaii. I met her through Laura..( you’ll find out all about Laura later…) and have known her for quite awhile. But…there will be more on their session in a separate blog post.The next day, I photographed Kinsey and Zach’s engagement session at Gasworks Park in Seattle..(more on their session via their own blog post as well, coming soon!) Kinsey and my brother have been close friends for YEARS, they met when I was just a little annoying first grader and I just wanted SO badly to hang out with my brother and his friends. They’ve stayed close over the years and I was SO happy I was able to photograph their engagement photos…

Alright, here comes the personal stuff…and a lot of it! Laura and Julie have been my big sisters since I was 4 years old. Their family lived across the street from us when we lived in Woodinville. They taught me how to ride horses, how to put my hair up in a bun, how to do my makeup, how NOT to sweat the small stuff…boys,life…I could go on forever! I was a bit younger than them but we were still insanely close, more than friends, sisters! I once told Trent, if you want to know why I am the way I am, you have to meet them. Which is SO true. For any Grey’s Anatomy fans out there..you’ll get me, they are my  “people”. We made plans to have houses next door to each other, have families together, and to always stay close. But life changes..and at least one of those things stayed true! They will always be my longest friends and sisters…which is why I claim their babies as my nieces and nephews. So, after Seattle, I flew over to Spokane and first drove to see Laura who lives in Moscow, Idaho. We took some quick photos in an awesome wheat field. I was in heaven, because..as a california girl now, we don’t see many of those around these parts. Look at baby Grace. How cute is she?!

It started raining, so we had to quickly get the rest of the photos we wanted.

The last photo we took was to match one taken on their wedding day! Fun fact: being in Laura and Julie’s weddings is one of the main reasons I was inspired to be a wedding photographer.

Laura and I then traveled back to Spokane so we could all be together for a few days…which obviously calls for a sister photo shoot.

We attempted to recreate old photos of them holding me…but obviously things look a bit different now…

Had to get our classic faces in, obviously.


This might be my favorite photo ever!! Only missing a few significant others…but Ryley, on the left, has been with Julie since they were 16. Meaning I’ve known him since I was EIGHT! So he’s family too 🙂 I call this photo “Friends with Babies…”

and this….this is Desi. And yes, he is winking. PS. HOW COOL IS THEIR BRICK WALL!?

We took some family photos of Julie and her boys in the back yard…because, I mean, how much prettier of a backdrop can you get?!

and this…this is Preston. He is the cutest little minion around.

Ah, just writing the post makes me miss all of them! After tearful goodbyes, we all went back to our normal lives. My trip wasn’t filled with many tourist stops, crazy nights at bars, or ever even that far from their house…but I wouldn’t have had it any other way!