Last year in the spirit of giving, I held a “Pay it Forward” contest. I had a panel of 5 judges to read each entry. Secretly and silently, we each picked our selection for the family that we felt should win. It was a unanimous vote. We ALL selected The “S” Family. At that time I had no idea who The “S” Family was, what they looked like, where they were from, etc. I knew absolutely nothing about them except for the story that was shared about them during my contest. You can read their story HERE.
To be honest with you, I feel like we were destined to meet. Yes, The “S” Family and me were destined to meet each other in this lifetime. After working with this beautiful, loving, caring and funny family I was truly grateful for my time with them—from the initial meeting through email and over the phone, the many emails that went back and forth, the sharing of ideas, the anticipation and excitement of our upcoming shoot together, the experience of meeting and photographing their family, culling through their images and selecting the ones that made the final cut, editing their images and finally dropping off their images to them. It was an amazing experience to give and share my time and talent with such beautiful, deserving people.
I promise that if you are ever lucky enough to meet the members of The “S” Family, you will not be sorry!!! Tracie, the matriarch of the family, is energetic, positive, loving, caring and just downright FUN!!! She is so easy to talk to and get along with—when I talk to her, I honestly feel like I’ve known her forever. She is just that kind of person…one who is easy-going and emits pure joy, integrity and love. I watched her interact with her own children and I can see why she is such a successful and very sought-after caregiver. Everyone wants his or her child to have the experience of being cared for by Tracie.
Matt, is the patriarch of the family. He too is very caring and loving. He is patient and has a great go-with-the-flow kind of attitude. You can tell that he just absolutely adores his little girls and they adore him!!! Together, he and Tracie make a fabulous team!!!
Mikayla, Aubrey and Skyy are their daughters and what adorable little girls they are—they were just a joy to photograph!!! I had so much fun capturing them in forever keepsake images. Skyy, the youngest of the three, is definitely animated. Her expressions bring a smile to my face every time. She is so bubbly and fun too!!! Mikayla and Aubrey, are the big sisters in the family. They are so loving and patient with Skyy. To watch them interact with each other and with Skyy warmed my heart, because it is very evident that they all love each other so much!!!
The “S” Family, I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this wonderful experience of “paying it forward.” I am really and truly grateful for my time with your family and I’m sad that it has come to an end. Or has it…I think I will invite myself over to talk story and eat freshly baked Chex Mix soon 😉 Haha!!! Take care and big hugs to all of you!!!
To view more images from The “S” Family’s session, please click HERE!!!
Min Pin. . . Thank you for sharing. They are beautiful. I have appreciated reading all of your blogs. But this one struck a cord. Tracie. . . don’t know your struggle but your pictures and family are beautiful. You are very fortunate to have met Mindy. She is the best photographer, teacher, friend. . . . and person. She loves big and strong and honors her commitments. She will hold your hand forever now that you have made a bond. You are so lucky to be included into her “favorites”. I know I will love you also. . . as anything Min loves. . . I do too. Mindy. . keep up the good work. Continue to extend yourself and allow your heart to share yourself with the world. I know the world will just get better for knowing you and all you share. I love you. Proud to know you. Can’t wait to see you. Want to hear you belly laugh so I can belly laugh too.
Big hug,
Annie
Absolutely beautiful pictures! I am so honored to know Chelsie, Tracie & ohana! Thank you for sharing such precious pictures of a truly amazing family!!! I could definitely feel the love, warmth & joy you’ve captured so well, Mindy!!!! No surprises you were smitten with Family S & drew such a tight bond…..Tracie is a natural at that with such a genuine, warm & open heart! Love, love, love all of these pictures!!! Such treasured memories to last a lifetime!!!
Out of all the families you have ever done I think these photos are my fave! It could just be that those girls are so photogenic! Great job min!
Mindy, Mindy, Mindy….words can not express the appreciation, care, love and joy in my heart for so many reasons. first of all for this entire experience…this opportunity to actually win this” pay it forward’ contest means so much more than just winning a contest. you are so generous to hold such a contest:) the thought of it, even today, still brings tears to my eyes. the thought that someone so kind like chelsie who would take her time out to write such thoughtful, meaningful words for OUR family…tears,tears tears, but with complete and true honor!! then to be picked by your judges unanimously, wow!! more tears. although we have experienced such a great loss we still came out a winner and we did it together as a family, which means more than anything!! i looked at all the pics you took, and each one says so much. i look at it with different eyes, not just looking at pictures but truly looking deeper and i can see, feel and read everyone’s hearts. their faces light up and make me feel prouder than i have ever felt!! and to know that our angel baby was with us, makes it even more heartfelt and meaningful to us:) these pictures hold value, honor, love, family, memories, and life that are captured with you expertise!!!
i too believe that we were destined to cross paths, with everything that has come across our lives, i am a complete true believer in “everything happens for a reason”. now because we have crossed paths, we have made a great new friend that can come over ANYTIME to talk story, be with our crazy family, and have fresh baked chex mix anytime:) for real, just drop by…as you can tell, everyone does it anyway:) i have found a forever friend and an amazing photographer!! i want to thank YOU Mindy from the depths of all our hearts for making our life something to look forward to and have more reason to still smile. even though we had such a heartbreak in our lives……something wonderful has still come out of it. we have learned to love stronger and harder every day, value and treasure every single minute with our children, kiss them more every day, love them more and more cause they are just plain worth it!! thank you Mindy for these FOREVER keepsakes that we will cherish always in our hearts. words can’t express our gratitude, love and complete appreciation!!! YOU ARE AWESOME!! and btw i already passed out almost all your business cards:)
for all of you that are even thinking about a photographer….look no further, Mindy is THE ONE. she is the easiest to work with, fun, gentle, patient, kind, understanding, and just PERFECT… and needless to say she takes super duper amazing pics!!
friendz foreva…(ha ha ha)
trac and family:)