welcome to

THE JOURNAL

I'm a hopeless romantic who finds great joy in creating and capturing connection and beauty wherever I go.

welome to my blog

Welcome to the blog, a highlight journal about our photo sessions, our home wedding venue and gardens, and favorite kid’s clothing. Stay a while and say hello!

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kid birthday party lauren westra

Ellie’s Third Birthday

Ellie waited so patiently during the six weeks between Mina’s birthday and April 1 for her turn to be IT.  Quarantine notwithstanding, we did not disappoint her. I had grand dreams of making the cutest ice cream stand, and it executed good enough for the party, but really, the girls most enjoyed playing with pvc […]

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Because your normal might be their magic

To the moms: I’ve only been in your circle for 15 months, and I know I was a kid for longer than that.  So I remember kid better than mom. Maybe you do too. I remember tricycle laps on the driveway while mom weeded.  I remember which rocks in my mom’s backyard covered the biggest worms.  I […]

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Van Dyk Family

Morning is the worst of times and the best of times. Two summers driving past this location (which really is just a few old buildings just barely off the highway) to get to the lake had me ITCHING to take photos here.  I made Daniel pull over (boat in tow) once this past summer so […]

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