15 Jul These pictures from my trip to Springfield, Missouri had me feeling a certain type of way

Hello, hello! It’s mid-July, and I’ve been running around all summer like my tail’s on fire and there’s a drought. Felix and I had planned to make a trip to Missouri to visit family, but we had to bump up our trip due to a funeral. This threw our entire summer plans into chaos, but that’s OKAY! I managed to visit with my family in Springfield which made my heart really happy.

You see, my sister Liz passed away 8 years ago, and I have been missing her kids. It has been some time since I managed to make a trip to spend some time with them, and I wasn’t about to leave MO without doing so! So Felix and I made the four hour trip to see as many of them as we could.

One of the things I’ve learned while living on a reservation in Northern Minnesota (just north of Duluth!) is that in Ojibwe culture, when your grandma passes away, her sisters step in to become grandma to you. I have to admit, the first time I heard this, I had prickles in my eyes, because Felix never got to meet his grandma. His auntie Jacque told him to call her grandma without hesitation and I swear, I could feel love coming off of her in waves as she enveloped him in a big bear hug! I thought this was beautiful and told my nieces. If their babies ever need an honorary grandma, I’m all for it!

When I visited, I knew I wanted to get lots of pictures of them all, especially the newest grandbaby – I knew my sister would have been over the MOOOOON to meet her. What made them more special (excuse me, I’ve got prickles in my eyes again) is that I took them in my sisters backyard. And yeah, that’s the moon in the background. Which is also special, because, as my husband always calls the moon Nookomis, which means grandmother. I like to think my sister is looking down lovingly on my niece and her babies.

T

If you really love these relaxed style family photos, why not hit me up so we can plan a little sesh of you with your littles, too!

Let’s make some memories!