When I get to shoot for myself, I almost always don’t edit the images for months. It was no different with this session for my cousin, Jenni, and her girls. Jenni is more like a sister than a cousin. Though we didn’t get close until later in life, we are thick and thieves and I love her and her heart so damn much.

I visited Iowa for the first time in years over the summer. My mother and I moved there when I was a sophomore in high school and I moved away shortly after I graduated. My mom stayed, along with a lot of my mother’s family. My cousin Jenni and her family hang their hats there too.

When we made plans to visit, the first thing I did was convince Jenni to let me photograph her and her girls in the water. This session was bucket list for me. I styled the clothing 100%. Jenni is wearing my wedding dress from the amazing We Are Reclamation. Her girls are wearing dresses that I hand-picked to go along with that dress. Jenni and her girls played barefoot in the creek, over the rocks and trees, and enjoyed each other. They let it all go. We just relaxed and I documented the love she has for those little girls and the love they have for their mama.