Celebrating 41 Years of Marriage: The Forrester Family

Jon and I met Mike Olynyk right after we were married and had started attending Blue Mountain Baptist Church. We got involved with the youth group shortly after we started attending and enjoyed working with Mike and seeing his passion for youth.

It was so hard for us to leave Blue Mountain when we moved to Langley so we were thrilled when a little piece of Blue Mountain came to us and Mike and Kim started attending Jericho Ridge as it provided a chance to reconnect.

I was so excited when Kim asked me to do an extended family session for her side of the family in honor of her mom and dad's 41st wedding anniversary. Mike and Kim arrived first so here are a few shots of them to start things out.

I love this photo on the right - such a beautiful couple!



The next family to arrive was one of Kim's sisters and her brother in law and their 3 adorable kids. I love the boys matching shirts and we all had a good laugh at the men of the family who were apparantly sore from some recent adventures involving lazer tag :)

Kim's other sister and fiance arrived next and you could tell they are very much in love! I love extended family shoots because I get to meet so many new people but it turned out that I actually knew Kim's sister, Dawn, as our kids had the same daycare provider when we lived in our townhouse. Such a small world!

Kim's main request was to get a nice family shot of the whole bunch so we made sure to get group shots in a number of locations all around the Derby Reach Heritage Site. Looking through them after, I couldn't believe how many shots we got where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling. What a photogenic bunch!

Kim had wondered how well the kids would fare for the full hour and a half so she came prepared with goody bags to give them when the shoot was done but they were incredibly well behaved. They were even acting as my artistic directors, setting up all of the shots you see below so instead of just one 'cousins' shot, we have quite a few to choose from!

So much love! You can tell these cousins love hanging out :)

We couldn't go without getting some shots of the 'original family' so here are a few of the 'sisters,' Glen & Sharon and one of just Sharon and her girls!

Three generations of boys & three generations of girls!

Second most important on the list was a shot of Glen & Sharon with their beautiful grandkids. I couldn't have asked for more co-operative subjects and smiles on Glen & Sharon's faces say it all. They are definitely proud grandparents!

Some more shots of the original 'Forresters!'

We were approaching the hour+ mark and decided to add some fun jumping shots in.

Some sibling shots - gotta love the 'headlock' pose in the bottom right photo. I'm pretty sure half of the photos of me and my brother growing up display that pose.

The cousins!

We were almost at an hour and a half now but were able to squeeze a few more combinations in before the end of the shoot!

And now for the long-awaited goody bags! Kim, you are one smart aunty :)

And, last but not least, one of my favorite family shots!

A huge thanks to Kim for setting this up with your family and including me in this great celebration of love and commitment. Your parents are such an example to those of us early on in the marriage journey. You have a wonderful family and, Mike, it looks like you inherited a great family-in-law. Enjoy and God Bless!