Brewer Family Shoot {I'm Kristen - MD/DC/VA Photographer}

"these are some good times
so take a good look around,

you're gonna miss this."
trace adkins

I think I was in middle school when Dave become a youth pastor at my church.  I remember the night really well - I felt very out of place.  I wasn't exactly a cool kid and the highschoolers scared me BIG time.  And I had no idea who "Dave and Jen Brewer" were, but they seemed fun. We all clapped and welcomed Dave to the group.

Dave was a highschool teacher, Jen was a fabulous highschool athlete and they met in highschool, so I guess it works well for Dave to be a highschool youth pastor!  I always thought they were a great couple and I even remember the first time they "knew" who I was and said "Hey Kristen!" I was like "Yes. Score. They know me." haha I told you I wasn't very cool ;D

And soon this great couple turned into a great family :D  I remember each time Jen was pregnant, and all of us highschoolers loved to guess what she was having, and talk about names, etc.  Needless to say, this family has a special place in my heart.

Even though I'm a few  years out of highschool, I think I see them more then I did while I was!  I love going to youth events and seeing little Brewer children running down the halls, while calm, steady Jen looks on and Dave, like, I don't know, throws balls at them. Basically they are a loud, happy, fun family and I love it!

For two years I helped on a team that ran and organized the youth events and I was constantly teased by Dave and other guys about being "Kristen LAY PHOTOgraphy dot BLOG spot DOT com" and they'd mock me about treasuring moments. Someone was always bound to yell "Kristen! Did you see that? Did you capture the moment?" All in good humor of course...

It was fun times but I have to say, I was pretty honored they wanted me to really do a shoot with them ;D  They are honestly such a down-to-earth, enjoyable family.  And I love them!

This actually is the second time they have been on the blog.  Once when I baby-sat I grabbed some shots of the kids.  You may remember the story of Sarah, and how she had cancer in 2008.  I remember that horrible-sick-to-your-stomach feeling I had when I found out, and I also remember how amazed I was with the peace and hope the Brewer's had. 

And happily, Sarah is doing great!  There are still some side-effects she is fighting, but she's alive and well!

As much as I love Sarah, I really love the other kids too.  Caleb (the only boy) is such a funny little guy.  He has some of the best one-liners you will ever hear.  He's one of those kids that makes you say "How did you come up with that?!" haha He's pretty awesome :D

Alethea and Mikaela  are great too.  They are such good big sisters.  Alethea is more on the quiet side and loves to read, and Mik is very bold and loves to run around!  It's so sweet how their different personalities work so well in their dear little friendship.

Hello big girl!  She really grew-up this year.  I don't know when it happened, but goodness gracious, she turned into such a big girl!

Oh I love her.

Dave and Jen, thanks for coming out for the shoot!  And more than that, thanks for teasing me, laughing with me, listening to me and being such good friends.  And so sorry the whole couch-in-the-woods thing didn't work out this year ;D

Enjoy the slideshow!