Watching these two interact really brought back some memories of when Payton and I were first engaged. They are so in love and excited to start their lives together! With chasing a one and a half year old around, working full time, and having no family close by… Payton and I are really in the thick of what we call “survival mode!” Too much frozen pizza, too many late nights working, and too much tag-teaming with Jett. We are exhausted. Seeing Hailey and Danny in their current season in life made me realize I was a little sad – because once I thought about it, Payton and I never really actually spend any time together. And the time that we are together, we don’t always make it count.

It was a total reality check. Pure love and joy just radiate from these images. I think what I was so in awe of is how effortless it was for them! Makes my job so easy when couples are just naturally posing! But the emotion is almost palpable. Since their session, I have made an effort to make our marriage and relationship more of a priority. And by no means was it ever in jeopardy, but it gets hard not to get stuck when sometimes you feel like you are just trying to make it in bed before midnight every night.

If I had to give them any advice, it would be to make each other a priority and don’t take each other for granted. (Sorry Hailey and Danny… didn’t know you were getting marriage advice with this session! Lol!) Life will sometimes be hard and you’ll be dealt a bad hand occasionally but remember you are not alone in this journey. And the partner you chose will be there to support you when life gets hard. Knowing that I never have to go through anything hard by myself is such a comfort.

Hailey and Danny are stepping into this new season of their life not only as an engaged couple but also as parents! They are excited to welcome their baby girl this July and I am thrilled for them to experience my favorite thing in the world! Being a parent! And my advice on that: find a pediatrician you love, at some point someone’s gotta be the bad cop, and chicken nuggets are absolutely an acceptable dinner for a one year old. Sometimes twice a week. 🙂

Love you both and hope you enjoy your gorgeous photos!

There are actually deer in the bottom center of this picture! We usually see more coyote than deer so this was a nice surprise!