Hiester Family Antics: 05.12

The Hiester Family in a nutshell - a big one, like a coconut or something

We are a family of a whole bunch of random people, thrown together in one small house, who all happen to look alike. Each member of our family was hand-picked by God... that's the only explanation for the saga that is our family. Here's the story from the beginning... My husband, Todd, was married before me. His wife's name was Carrie, and together they had 3 kids: Tyler, Kurstin & Elissa. Todd's parents were divorced and his mother remarried. Her new husband, Don, had 2 small children: Ally & Wesley. Their natural mother was killed in a car accident when they were 8 & 11. One year later, they lost their dad and Todd and Carrie took them into their home. 6 months after Ally & Wesley were added to the household, Carrie died of cancer at age 26. Her own children were 3, 6 & 9 and Ally & Wesley were 10 & 13. And Todd was alone with them. Think Lord of the Flies. So when I fell in love with Todd, I got these 5 kids as a bonus. We married about a year and a half into our relationship, with the kids as our wedding party. We made it all official with an adoption lawyer and lots of money, ensuring that we are LEGALLY their parents. They even had to take oaths saying they would perform the duties of sons and daughters, which I think means I have someone to change my diapers when the time comes! After 2 years of marriage we added Robben Carey to the mix. And now we've welcomed Livi Claire...the seventh, and final, Hiester kid (unless, of course, God has other plans). Todd and I are 37 and 35, respectively, and our kids range in age from 1 to 21. It's great because we're cool and always the youngest in a crowd of high school parents.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Kimberly

Seriously? The camera LOVES this girl!! If I knew all my photos would turn out this good, I'd definitely go into business! Kimberly looks SO beautiful, and it comes naturally. So fun to take pictures like this...and mama even jumped in on a few :)

Sharon

This sweet girl really works the hair. It looks good no matter what she does with it. It was kind of a prop in itself :) I think she had a good time, and I KNOW she loves her pics :)

Sharon & Friends

Of course they all have names, but to minimize the risk of misspelling, I have chosen to label them according to who was the spokesperson of the group. These friends had a great time during their "shoot". They knew of this awesome place. And now I do :)

Senior Pictures!

Because I love photography, I offered to take senior pictures of some of the kids' friends from school. By special request, I will be sharing my favorites of those photos with you. Feel lucky? Stay posted...

Scarlet Press

I know. This blog has been grossly neglected. I see that I last posted pictures of Janine's bridal shower...back in September!! Since then, she's gotten married, I cooked my first Thanksgiving turkey (quite successfully, I might add), Livi celebrated her first Christmas...and her first birthday :/ Yes, yes, pictures of the party, I know. I will. I must say, it was pretty awesome. But I'm still collecting photos from all the various cameras that were present. Anyway, the reason I'm finally here is to announce my latest endeavor: Scarlet Press. You know I love planning parties, making invitations and paper crafts, taking pictures, yadda yadda yadda. Well, I decided to actually start my own paper crafting business. Enter Scarlet Press. I will be making cards, invitations, announcements, postcards, whatever...for actual profit! So really this is just a shift from Pro Bono Parties :) I'm very excited about this new adventure! I've already been working closely with my dear friend, Lyndsay, who is an up-and-coming photographer in Larned, Kansas. I'm looking forward to the opportunities to expand my skill set, use my creativity (in a productive way) and glorify God in it all :) Want to check out my brand spankin' new website? www.scarletpress.net Take a look and let me know what you think...