wilton mint drops
Fudgy Vanilla Brownie
studying
siblings meeting baby
neon orange anchor

So much to be grateful for

November 25, 2010 by · 13 Comments

Grateful for a husband who loves me for who I am.

Grateful that husband is also an amazing father who is affectionate with me and our children.

Grateful that husband plays with our kids.

Grateful my daughters have a sister in each other.

Grateful my oldest is so sweet, he didn’t even complain at a photo shoot when he was so sick.  But I love his sweet face here cuddling against me.  I am grateful he still cuddles with me even when he isn’t sick.

Grateful my 2nd son has a zest for life that spreads to many around him.  He is happy and helpful and kind and a lover of babies.

Grateful my older daughter likes to sing and dance, and is unabashed about it.  She also loves her accesories.  And loves to hug me and tell me I’m the best mom in the whole world (when will that end)?

Grateful I have this baby of mine all to myself during the day.  She follows me around like a little puppy.  Sometimes I get worn out by it, but I am grateful she wants to be with me.  She will likely be my final baby, so I want to squeeze her and kiss her chubby cheeks all the time.  She brings so much light into our family.

Grateful that my 4 children love each other. 

Grateful for fun pictures that remind us how much we love each other.

Thankful my fam puts up with photo shoots…

Thankful for my daughters’ giggle.

Grateful I occasionally convince myself to step out of my comfort zone for the sake of my kids.

Thankful my kids try and smile, even when they don’t want to.  This shot below was our quick 2nd shoot when my oldest was feeling better.

{Images above taken by Katie Evans, Heather Walker, Tricia Dunlap, and myself}  SO grateful for these ladies!  Don’t worry, none of these will be on our card, and did you notice, no FULL family shots represented here;)

So much to be grateful for….Grateful for my health.  Grateful for a nice home in a great neighborhood with wonderful people surrounding me.  Grateful my children are happy and my husband enjoys his job.  Grateful I get paid to do something I love.   Grateful this job allows me to be with my family and not work if I don’t want to.  Grateful for the blogging world supporting me and leaving me kind comments that make me feel special.  Grateful for friends, my friends are the sisters I never had. Grateful for parents who love me and support me and gave me the greatest childhood a girl could ask for.  Grateful that all of my brothers now live in Texas.  Grateful that I have 17 people sleeping at my home the next few days because that means I have those I love the most in the place I love the most.  Grateful my brothers married girls I like to hang out with, and they love me even if I don’t know a thing about Jane Eyre.  Grateful for pecan pie and homemade rolls and apple juice.  Grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, my life would be incomplete without it.

Kristen Duke

Kristen Duke

Thank you for stopping by my little spot on the web! If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to my future posts via RSS, Facebook, and if you are looking to improve your photography, see my beginner books HERE.
Kristen Duke

@kristenduke7

Kristen Duke
Kristen Duke

Latest posts by Kristen Duke (see all)

Kristen Duke
Follow me on Pinterest
Filed under: Holidays, Kristen's ramblings, Life as I know it | Tagged with , , , , | 13 Comments

Don't miss a single post! Get all my posts by email subscription.

Join The Discussion

*

CommentLuv badge

Comments

  1. 1
    Megan says:
    November 25, 2010 at 5:00 am

    so so so many things to be grateful for. Happy Thanksgiving :)

    Reply
  2. 2
    tricia dunlap says:
    November 25, 2010 at 5:51 am

    oh i am going to cry – you really have a God-given gift with how you express yourself in writing and photographs! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your beautiful family!!

    Reply
  3. 3
    brooke schaefer says:
    November 25, 2010 at 5:45 pm

    WONDERFUL!!You family is so adorable. I LOVE the one where they are hiding under the blanket and peaking out. SO CUTE!

    Reply
  4. 4
    Tamara says:
    November 26, 2010 at 1:20 am

    What wonderful pictures! Thank-you for sharing your list. You are such a wonderful person and I am thankful that I have gotten to know you through the wonderful world of blogs.

    Reply
  5. 5
    amanda watkins says:
    November 26, 2010 at 6:50 pm

    These photos of your family are beautifus, Kristen, as are the sentiment behind them all. Happy Thanksgiving!

    Reply
  6. 6
    amanda watkins says:
    November 26, 2010 at 6:51 pm

    These photos of your family are beautiful, Kristen – as are the sentiment behind them all. Happy Thanksgiving!

    Reply
  7. 7
    Lei says:
    November 27, 2010 at 1:13 am

    Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Love your family pics. Super cute.

    Reply
  8. 8
    Emily says:
    November 29, 2010 at 6:10 pm

    I love it. I love that you have such a deep seeded gratitude for who you are and what you do, and what you are surrounded by. Your family is beautiful and I love you guys!!!

    Reply
  9. 9
    Julie Cannon says:
    November 29, 2010 at 11:39 pm

    Love these. I think it’s so fun that they captured so many unplanned moments. Great faces on my brother and on your kids’ faces, and on yours in that swing shot! Great quilt and clothing choices, too, Kris. Can’t wait to see your card!

    Reply
  10. 10
    Raelene says:
    November 30, 2010 at 6:12 pm

    We are grateful for you. Thanks for having us all for Thanksgiving. It IS so fun to all be in Texas again. I love your family shots. I feel so blessed to have all of you in my life!

    Reply
  11. 11
    Natalie says:
    December 4, 2010 at 7:03 am

    LOVE that picture of you on the swing! Hilarious. :) Love YOW. Yeh fay-mus!

    Reply
  12. 12
    Susan E says:
    December 9, 2010 at 9:58 pm

    great pics

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Inspire: Family Session by Kristen Duke Photography - Inspire Me Baby says:
    January 12, 2011 at 8:58 am

    [...] From Kristen Duke Photography: Hello!  My name is Kristen Duke, and I aim to capture joy in Austin, Texas. As a photographer, I had been scheming my family photo session in my head for months!   I knew I wanted the vintage feel, and planning our wardrobe took a major orchestration for my size family.  I knew I wanted to have a touch of charcoal grey on each person.  I then wanted each of us to have a different pastel color to still make it colorful and fun, with multi layers for that added texture.  I even made a night before photo shoot run to good will and found pastels for my boys because they weren’t selling them in the fall. I also made my babies’ ruffle shirt.  I really wanted the more lifestyle casual feel, and had ideas to capture cuddle time and made the quilt specifically for the shoot. I am blessed to have a great network of photographer friends in my city and we swap shooting for each other.  We then get to edit our images to our liking.  It works out perfectly!  My friends Tricia Dunlap, Katie Evans, and Heather Walker get the credit for the candid images while my tripod gets the credit for our posed with the bike shots.  I think it is SO important as a photographer to know and understand what your clients are experiencing in preparing for a session as well as enduring a session.  It is tough work!  My oldest was sick when my friends came along (look closely, you can tell) that’s why I did a few with the tripod a few days later.  I had to just let it go and try to be ok with it, even though on the inside I was bummed about it.  I am also a big advocate of being IN pictures with your own family, and not just taking their pictures.  I hope this can inspire others to a) make local photographer friends to swap with b) get in family portraits yourself c) attempt to orchestrate the perfect portrait ensembles d) go with the flow no matter what happens in your session.  See more from this shoot here. [...]

    Reply