Meet the Mace Family!

This is what I see when I look at this family. I see the love that Julie & Gino share for each other in the way they're touching, how much they love their son and the way Joey looks at his parents, not only with love but as friends.

I'll never forget the first time I met Julie and Gino. We were living in our rental house in Roseville and pretty stoked about having people our age living next door. One day I saw Gino outside cutting the grass and thought it was the perfect opportunity to introduce myself. As I approached, he shut off the motor and turned towards me. All of a sudden I wasn't so sure about them... There he was with his U of M sweatshirt facing me in my MSU sweatshirt.

And that is where it began... From us serenading them while they tried to sleep. Gino renaming my Kitty from Bo Duke to Bo Schembechler. On game day they awoke to a couple of Spartan Scarecrows chilling on their front lawn, only for us to come home that night to the largest U of M sign I've ever seen nailed to a tree in our front yard! It was definitely fun having them as neighbors and I'm so glad that we've been able to stay close all of these years!

I met with the Mace family at Metro Beach for a nice walk through the Nature Trail on a beautiful afternoon. If you remember the surprise Mother's Day session I shot earlier this year, well now they wanted to have some family portraits done! Holla!

Such a beautiful family!

The colors were amazing! We seriously could have wondered around the rest of the evening taking it all in and catching up!

If you didn't notice from the early post, Joey is a crackup! He has such a joyful personality and is always laughing. Wonder where he gets that from? :-)

Just love his toothless smile!

Most of my typical catch phrases that I use to get kids smiling and laughing just weren't seeming to work that day. Maybe I'm loosing my "coolness". ha-ha But Joey sure did have some things of his own to say that had us all doubling over in laughter.

One of my favorites from the day!

See what I mean? You can just feel the love in this image.

Joey & Gino

Julie & Gino

Guys it was so fun spending the time with you and we're looking forward to the next time!