11/ 11 11: 11 111

Today holds a special place in my heart. I can trace it all the way back to my freshman year of high school when my friend Owen and I created this silly tradition where we'd meet at Dawn Benkowski's locker (#111) at 11:11 am on November 11th. I know it's odd and quirky - you don't have to tell me. With the possible exception of when I was in Santiago, Chili on 11/11, we've made the effort to reconnect on this day for the past 16 years. Well, except for the meeting at Dawn's locker part. Instead we send letters, make phone calls, or write an email.
I'm happy to share that today we were able to mark our tradition with a gathering at Owen and Staci's home.
See, they happen to have a daughter who was born on November 11th and today was a big day for her - a first birthday and she was being dedicated during the family's home church gathering.
After some warm up songs with the kids Moriah was dedicated to the Lord. It was a powerful time of prayer for this little girl and her family. It was a privilege to be a part of it. I am so thankful for the lasting friendship our families have formed. What's that Michael W. Smith song? Friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them...or something like that. That pretty much sums it up. Great faith, great connection, great fun. How lucky I feel that they only live twenty minutes away now! That's the closest we've lived since we were kids.

While we were there I borrowed their wedding album to make some copies of the pictures I took for them over five years ago. I wanted to get some of my previous weddings on my photography blog for potential clients to view. It was 5 and 10 years ago that I photographed weddings. Where has the time gone? I'm more than happy to take up shooting weddings again now that we've entered the digital era. It was pretty scary not knowing if the shots were turning out or not. Everything was manual - apeture, focusing, film speed....
Here's Owen and Staci on their wedding day.
I love that she wore my veil. :) You can see more here.

Happy First Birthday Moriah!