When we found out that Paul and Rachel were expecting it felt as if our very family was growing.  Paul and Rachel's wedding was the second wedding Noah and I had the honor of shooting.  Paul and Noah were classmates and I knew who Rachel was but truly met her for the first time that day.  Two weeks and an excellent Seminary wives' brunch later and it was like we were old friends.  Two years later, more like family.

On November 25th Paul and Rachel welcomed Titus Victor into the world as a happy, healthy and loved bundle of joy.  They named him Titus, a family name, a strong name and the name of the apostle Paul's most trusted companion.  Hearing the story of his name brought tears to my eyes so seeing Rachel's smiling face holding this little cuddle bug when I arrived in Chicago recently conjured emotions that could only be described as my heart swelling.

We had the chance to spend a lot of time with friends and family the week we visited but on the last day I took out my camera, rearranged pretty much all the furniture in Paul's parents' house where we were staying, and tried to capture how much the hearts of everyone swells around Titus.

Let's be honest, if this doesn't make your heart swell, you need to get your pulse checked.  I mean look that face!

I had been looking for a way and an excuse to get to Chicago for over a year now.  I miss my sweet city, the food, the culture and especially the people.  Erick and Reynonda are two of those people that go on my "top missed" list.  So when I knew I would be in Chi for a week, and that they just had a sweet baby girl I was not going to miss this chance.

It's not often that you head to Chicago in February and you're greeted with 50+ degree weather and blue skies, but the sun pouring in through the windows made for not only great light but gave a certain lightness to the day.  Not that these three need any help having a good time, doing Erick and Reynonda's engagement photos was filled with laughter, their family photos were no different.  Granted, it first started out with a little nap.











Family time!

In December Noah and I had the chance to head to the wonderful, what was supposed to be snowy-white but turned out to be rather brown, world of Minnesota.  It was amazing to be home.  We were able to see much of our family including aunts, uncles and cousins, but a serious highlight was definitely meeting our new nephew.

Ladies and gentlemen may I present, Trigg Elijah:





The life of this little baby boy totally fits into the idea of "Best Story Ever..."





The following picture is my absolute favorite.  Uncle Noah with Josie, Trigg and Kaja.  Those little girls love their uncle Noah, particularly because he beatboxes Dr. Suess.