I could write a book about this family– and someone probably should.  They have overcome so much.  So much loss, so many victories.  They choose to look at the bright side, and on this day, they celebrated.  What were they celebrating?  Family!  And also, this is the first time they’ve all been together in over 2 years– and I photographed their last family picture at Chelsea + Jacob’s wedding!

If you know them, you love them.  I first heard their names when I was marketing for Chick-fil-A in 2011.  My boss said there is a family that needs help and the story was unbelievable.  They lost a son very suddenly due to an unknown medical condition.  And then… it happened again a few years later with another son, Silas.  It didn’t make sense, and yet here they were– fighting for his life.  Six years later, I know the family for so many other things– their smiles and positive outlook on life.  Jen (the mom) has this eternal happiness that just radiates and lights up a room.  They have overcome.

And when we started sharing about our adoption journey, Jen was quick to offer all sorts of helpful medical advice!  She even did surgery on a teddy bear to give him a g-tube and a trach so we could practice on something before we were hands on with Zane!  Thankfully, we never had to learn how to use the trach. We’ve used the g-tube countless times to train ourselves, Hazel, caregivers, and even to let Zane play with so he could play with a toy that had a g-tube like him!  Jen is so thoughtful, and I was honored to do these family pictures for them!

Jon Jr. surprised his mom with coming into town!Now this is a great looking family!
Siblings.  <3Yeahhhhhh…. sometimes we just have to embrace the awkward family photos!I tried to taper down the number of black and white photos, but there was so much emotion that I just couldn’t!