There are so many joys of being involved in people’s weddings. One of them is celebrating God’s joining of two people who are perfect for each other. I’ve enjoyed knowing Jenn for many years, and she’s been a close friend to my family as well. So when I heard about Jeff, I knew he must be a special guy, and I was eager to meet him. We finally met at the wedding, and Jeff was the perfect guy to marry Jenn. From their incredible intelligence to their love for God to their understated senses of humor, anyone can see that they’re made for each other.

Jenn.

Jeff.

I love this shot.  Plus, you can show all your friends in Kentucky that they really have trees in Southern California…

Possible favorite.

What a fun group of guys!

FYI, he didn’t shoot the deputy.

Love those Christmas lights…

I’m not sure who invited these guys.

And they’re off!

Jeff and Jenn, I’m so excited that God has brought you two together.  I know you’ll be able to do and be far more together than you ever could have apart.  I’m so encouraged by your unabashed passion for the gospel and I can’t wait to see where you go next.  Much love to you both!

My brother Ben and I grew up doing everything together. We went on all kinds of adventures, and we shared so much in common that we could finish each other’s sentences. But as we’ve grown up, those adventures have become far too scarce. So we determined to spend the weekend before Christmas going on another adventure, and catching up on each other’s lives.

But the weekend before Christmas was promised to see nights well below freezing just about everywhere within 300 miles, which didn’t fare well for our plans to tent camp. So we followed the weather maps, and found the warmest places we could find.  We ended up at the Salton Sea and Anza Borrego State Park: a fascinating part of the desert we never would have found otherwise.

Nothing beats the desert sunrise.

Snow!

Straight out of the camera…

More snow…

We watched a strong breeze blow the haze and dust out of the valley below…

To brother Ben: thanks for carving out the time to go on a roadtrip.  It was an epic adventure bringing back the memories of the old days.  I can’t wait to see where our next expedition takes us!

Like the Kellers, the Gundersens also contributed in a big way to our wedding day.  Cindi made an individual cake for each one of our guests.  We didn’t learn until later that she recruited a whole team of people to help her pull it off.  So, I offered to do some family photos for them as a small way of saying thanks.

The Gundersens adopted Judah from Uganda about a year and a half ago, and he’s grown so much since then.  I’m convinced that he’s going to grow up to be an entertainer of some sort.  He’s very perceptive of what makes people laugh, and knows just how to act to get everyone to smile.  Which made this shoot a lot of fun.

Judah wanted to drive the train… to Oklahoma.

King of the rock!

I love this one.

Every hole we passed was just screaming for Judah to throw rocks into it.

Judah was singing “King of New York” from Newsies.  I couldn’t believe he knew all the words…

Gunner, Cindi, and Judah, thanks for being involved in our wedding and our lives!  We’ve loved going through life together with you, and look forward to seeing where God uses you in the future!