Photorange Blog

i laughed, i cried, and i loved seeing, at a glimpse, the way you see the ones you love. thank you for all the entries! i couldn’t believe how many of you took the time to send in a photo and a brief description of those you love. I wish i could post all of the amazing entries i received!!!! it was a painful process trying to pick my favorite photo so i asked Rebeccca and Jon (two peps who help make Photorange possible) to help me narrow it down.

here is the entry that all of us loved and the winner of this contest:

Kelli and Josh Henderson

this picture is my absolute favorite of our many baby
pics after Huxley was born.  I had gone to take a bath one morning and
came back to find my boys snuggling.  My husband can be all business,
somewhat blunt, and kind of a no-nonsense guy.  But under all that is
a big softy who loves to snuggle.  :)

Congrats Kelli and josh! i can’t wait to take some family portraits!

…now enjoy the other entries that we loved…

This is a picture I took after Jason had just finished setting up the mailbox at our first home together. I love it because it captures how much he loves doing even the simple things in life (who knew that a mailbox could bring such joy to someone?) His huge smile is a daily reminder that I’ve married my best friend, and together life will never be boring

This is my favorite picture of us. Very often I’ll be telling some story about my day or complaining about something silly and I will look over and see my twinkle eyed, crinkle eyed husband smiling at me. He doesn’t look at anyone else like that and it makes me feel so loved. This picture captures that smile and his sweet eyes perfectly.

This is my son Nikolas.  This picture captures the essence of how I see him.  Bold, beautiful, full of life and energy.  Ready to take on anything that comes his way with full body and soul.  He has the biggest heart and shares it with the whole world.

Just looking at Jacki gives me an incredibly feeling of joy and calm that I never thought possible. Since she’s gone this week I’ve been looking at this picture she sent me on my phone often and, I’m sure you know the feeling, it’s nearly impossible to put into words the emotions you feel when you look at your love and really ruminate on what it is they mean to you. When I look at Jacki I see the best five years of my life and the promise of a seemingly infinite amount to come. I see my source of peace, stability and sanity. I see my future. I see her holding our child that, Lord willing, we’ll have some day. I see the way her face illuminates when I know she’s happy. She has absolutely gorgeous green eyes with just a flash of yellow around the pupil and whenever I look into her eyes it’s like looking at an eclipse, and I can’t help but wonder what brilliance she’s hiding inside. I see a women who doesn’t seem to have a clue at just how amazing she is, and how completely undeserving I am of her. But anyway, I could go on but I’ll stop there before I take up too much time.

I love what I see… her cute smile and bright eyes while strolling through the farmers market

I love seeing him and his girl together.  She adores him, he adores her.  It is a truly special thing they share.  This is a picture of Quinn, but for me is the perfect image of Kevin’s love for her.  For the way he holds her in the sling every chance he can.  For the way he looks at her from across the room and she smiles.  For the way she melts in his lap for hours.  I love my husband Kevin.  And I am so thankful for his love for our children.  They are the sweetest Valentines!

The three lovely ladies are three of my best friends, and the bride is
one of their good friends.  When I took this picture I hoped (still
do) that one day I would be the bride and these three ladies would be
walking with me on the big day.
They have become my family in San Diego, and I don’t know what I would
do without them.

I love to watch my husband work with his hands. I am so grateful for all his abilities and his willingness to tackle my home improvement projects. He has been doing them for me for 32 years and counting!

She is constantly running around, busy from the minute she wakes up until the moment she lays down to go to sleep. She is always the one to make sure everyone else is comfortable first before she’ll take a break and sit down for a second. She is a whirl of long brown hair and cotton candy perfume.. running so fast it’s hard to catch of glimpse of her beautiful smile. But when she does finally settle down, whether it be with her brand new baby niece, or favorite kitty, just seeing her peacefully resting with the ones she loves makes me love her a little bit more.

I know that you said that it should be someone that you love but I couldn’t help but choose Riley right now. God graciously gave me Riley in a time that He is choosing not to give me children. Even though Aaron and I have faithfully planned and trusted God, He has in His sovereignty not allowed me to become pregnant. So in the meantime I have someone (thing) to take care of. I love dogs because they are a picture of God’s unconditional love (I dont know if this is blasphemous but its pretty true)  I don’t care when it is Riley is always so excited to see me and always gives me a grand entrance. He unconditionally loves me and always wants to hang out with me. He even recognizes when I cry and runs to give me kisses. I have been loved by Riley and have been able to give him love. So Riley is someone(thing) that I really love. Plus look at how stinkin cute he is!

I love the pure innocence of Niko. He has not a care in the world. The smallest things make him laugh. He loves the way the blue seal spits out water while he is taking a bath. He squeezes the seal and as water starts flowing out, Niko lets out a true gut laugh that just makes me smile. He melts my heart.

My thoughts about this photo:  My Drew.  Like this yellow door, he may be a little rough and shut on the outside, but if you’re one of the lucky few he lets in, you’ll never want to go home.

This is my best friend, Stacy. We started as pen pals, now we’re more like sisters. We’re the type who finish each others’ sentences and don’t have to do a whole lot of explaining. She is a pianist and a visual artist, among other things, and has the loveliest hands.

i was looking through old pictures, took some new ones - but this described what i love best about him. it was the first time i made cupcakes, red velvet - i was trying 3 different recipes and was so afraid they weren’t going to be any good. eric took a huge first bite (as pictured) and loved it. he’s so supportive not just in my baking/cooking experiments but in everything i do - sometimes at the cost of his emotions and physical health. he just takes the risk and backs me up all the way.

her mornings always start the same. a lot of jumping- a lot of laughing. tons of joy- for her and her mama. this is probably my favorite time of the day with her.

He’s reading a book about love. For me. He’s investing in me. I love that.

you have to have both pictures to fully understand what is going on and why when i walked into the bathroom, i just laughed and thought to myself, this is why i love him.  always thinking outside of the box!  kids need a bath, but the laker game is on… hmmm.  it’s the child-like nature in him that i love so much (and get frustrated with) but his quirky thinking that always leaves me smiling… the way he one ups me by getting into the bath with them- and had i taken the picture 5 minutes later you wouldn’t have been able to see them because there were SO many bubbles!

Just a picture of Ben practicing his guitar and being a dad.  Not especially original or one of his ‘quirks’, but a picture/scene I like.  He knows how much I love the sound of guitar and he’s really made it a point to get better which makes me really happy and flattered.  And of course seeing your husband with your baby, having fun..

This picture reminds me of being alive and free.  We took it while traveling in South America and just happened upon this beautiful church lit up on a side street.  Traveling makes me free, from the worries of everyday life; jumping makes me free, free from the social boundaries that I tend to live too much by.

this is how i see joe.
warm, kind eyes, sincerely sweet, and tan.

She’s fearless and loves to get dirty. I love the way she’ll charge ice cold water and then cry when I make her get out. She’s independent and strong willed yet she’s also an example to me. Be unique and hold your ground.

I thought I would send this even though I’m in it because it is soooo Jason! He humors me for silly photos, supports me in anything I want to do and always puts me first. I feel like my best self whenever he is around, and this picture pretty much sums it up!

The way I see… this picture combines my two favorite things- my boyfriend of over 2 years when he first wakes up with his fluffy hair and weird stories about his dreams, and animals. In recent years the only two things that have made me happy have been Dale and working with animals. Technically speaking its not a good picture, I took it with my phone. But it captured exactly why I love him. A love I can’t explain, but I feel it. I know it’s there… and something as simple as holding our roommates cat or letting her sleep on his pillow when he’s at work shows me I have found a sincere and loving guy. My single friends say that is rare these days! I consider myself lucky.

Hearing Shay read to our kids is one of my favorite things about him…so since we can’t take a picture of that sound…maybe this will give you a glimpse to how it makes my heart feel.If only a picture of me could be taken when I hear him. :o)

Don actually shot the picture right as they pulled Ava out of my belly.  I love how the light from the surgery looks like it was God saying “look at this new creation”!  It really magnifies the picture….I think its my favorite one.  When I questions myself and my ability to parent these three kids I always go back and look at these pictures of them as newborns and see how far I have already come.  God won’t give us anything we can’t handle with Him…right?

the way i see him….after a long day he makes his way to the floor and the kids pile on top, play time with daddy begins. I see the boy i love inside and fall in love all  over again

and my personal favorite.. my baby with his papa (thanks for capturing this mom!)

Dad with his earphones on loving baby Sam.  Sheer joy!

Thanks again for all the amazing entries (and sorry i couldn’t post them all).

We loved every one of them!!!

Happy Valentine’s Day!