Arizona Family Photographer | Gilbert Arizona Family Pictures

It’s safe to say that this family photo session is one of my all-time favorites, but it’s not just because the location was stunning, or because the sunlight was dreamy, or because the outfit coordination was on point, even though all those things are true.  This is one of my favorite photoshoots primarily because I love this family so very much, and they were one of the very first families I ever took pictures of a couple years ago when I started my photography business.  (You can catch a time machine back to my first photoshoot with them right here, I can’t believe how little their kids were back then!)

Have you ever felt like God placed a certain person in your life at exactly the right moment to help you through a hard time?  Sabrina is 100% one of those people for me.  My husband and I had just moved to Arizona from northern Utah, so for the first time I was living nearly a thousand miles away from my family.  Sabrina and her cute family lived in our neighborhood, and she was one of the first people to welcome me into our church congregation.  She quickly became a good friend of mine, and after dealing with infertility for a few years and feeling pretty left out of the mom club, it really meant a lot to me that she wanted to be my friend even though I wasn’t a mom yet.  I confided in her about our infertility struggle, and even though she hadn’t experienced infertility herself, she responded in a way that showed so much genuine empathy and understanding.  Sabrina and her family prayed for me and my husband throughout our fertility treatments.  She brought me dinner on the day of my egg retrieval.  When I wasn’t supposed to be alone for the first 24 hours after being under anesthetic but Shawn couldn’t miss class for his grad school studies, Sabrina brought her kids over and stayed with me while I laid on the couch for a few hours.  And, after Shawn and I got the call from Boston IVF that the embryo transfer had been successful, Sabrina was the first person I got to share that good news with in person, and I remember that she gave me the biggest hug and immediately started crying happy tears right along with me.  She was there for me through that whole process when I really needed a friend to rely on, and I’ll be forever grateful.  Fast forward to now, two years later, and it just made my heart so happy to spend time with Sabrina’s family taking these new family pictures for them and be reminded of how lucky we are to have them as our friends!

(PS–Sabrina’s dress is a perfect example of the kind of romantic, flowy dress I love to recommend when ladies ask what to wear to their photo session!  You can find this dress and several more dresses that look gorgeous on camera at Wren and Ivory.)

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy this sunrise family photo session in the desert.
Check it out here.