Ah the Jones Family.
These people have been a part of my life since I (Breanna) was 12 years old. I was friends with Ryan back then and once I hit my freshman year of high school, his sister (Tara) became my mentor.
(Ryan on the right…)
(Tara on the right).
It wasn’t until a while into these friendships that I found out that their mom, JoAnn, had gone to high school with my mom!
So I have seen a lot happen in this family as Tara and Ryan have grown up, gotten married, and had kids.
Ironically enough, Tara became a photographer as well (no, she didn’t try to sway me in that direction when she was my mentor… we both did it independently!)!
So we have been following one another’s work for awhile now and when it came time to give her mom a mother’s day present, she decided that a family photo session with Radiant would do the trick!
The best part about it, was that I was once again enfolded into the lives of this fantastic family… and this time I got to be a part of family tradition!
(As you can see by this picture, we’re talking about a REALLY fun family tradition!!! Beach joy is the best.).
Every summer since JoAnn was a little girl, she has gone to Carlsbad, California for vacation. And once she married Doug, they began bringing their own kids to the same spot… and now they get to come along with their grandkids as well!
They stay at the Carlsbad Inn each time and they’ve become so regular with their vacations that they’ve become great friends with some of the other families that stay there every year too!
I am so impressed that they’ve been able to keep up this tradition for so many years… especially because it is one of the best family traditions I’ve ever heard of!
(Funny how it’s easier to get in the hole than out, isn’t it?!).
It was really fun to get to know the little ones in the Jones family now! They all have such unique personalities and it was so fun for me to be able to spot certain parts of each kid that reminded me of both Tara and Ryan as I knew them when they were younger.
(Ryan, I’m not saying that you did, and I’m not saying that you didn’t, put sand in Tara’s mouth when you were little).
(She has always looked like Tara to me!).
(And this little one, actually reminded me of my own brother more than anyone else!).
(I love this slow motion one that starts out as a brotherly hug and ends with a hardcore belly bump into the sand!!!).
I was really glad that my husband got to spend some time with a family who was such a major part of my life growing up and that I got to get to know both Tara’s husband (Chris) and Ryan’s wife (Danae) better as well.
It was also so cool to watch these little siblings and cousins all play together!
Especially knowing that they are going to grow up coming to this exact same spot to play together for years to come and hopefully even once they all have kids of their own!
(I LOVE the way she’s looking at her dad in this one!!!).
(… and the way he’s cuddling up with his mom in this one!!!).
It’s so crazy to think that the children of these kids here will look back on these photos of their parents playing in the same spot when they were little. Awesome. And such a huge blessing for us to be a part of it all.
Thanks to all of you for taking a little time out of your vacation for us and for being such great models while trying to keep everyone together in one piece all at the same time! It’s hard wrangling in such a big group for photos and you guys pulled it off perfectly!
We hope you love all the photos and we’ll see you all soon! 🙂
Click to see the rest of the photos from the Jones Family’s Carlsbad photo session.
