a letter to my husband & an announcement...

What a year it has been, 'eh? Lord knew that marriage wouldn't be easy, but I never thought we would face so many joys and challenges in our first 12 months.

The mountain tops were high: We rented our first apartment together and made it our home. We traveled the states and beyond. You completed your bachelor's degree - with flying colors! We found a great church community and made lots of new friends together. We joined one of my best friends as she said "I do" and witnessed as other dear friends jumped into forever with each other. You began your seminary journey - Yay Greek! We shared the joy of adding another little nephew to the family and celebrated with our families during great accomplishments.

The valleys were terribly low as we stood with family and friends during heartbreak and tragedies, carried the casket of one of your best friends, experienced deep grief and confusion, juggled broken cars and pinched pennies, sometimes with only our trust in God to carry us through the days and weeks.

Merging two lives together has been an exciting, difficult and rewarding thing.

As I proudly and confidently took the leap into joining you as your wife, I am now finally taking the leap into rebranding as Jenn Anibal. Thank you for loving me, supporting me, laughing with me and holding me when the days were too much to bear. It's been a crazy dance through the minefields, but you are the best dance partner I could have. I love you, hubs. Don't give up on me.

Becoming Jenn Anibal... from jennanibal on Vimeo.

"i do" are the most famous last words, the beginning of the end. but to lose your life for another, i've heard, is a good place to begin. because the only way to find your life is to lay your own life down and i believe its an easy price for the life that we have found.

we're dancing in the minefields. we're sailing in the storms.

this is harder than we dreamed, but i believe that's what the promise is for

we bear the light of the Son of man so there is nothing left to fear. so i'll walk with you in the shadow lands until the shadows disappear. because He promised not to leave us and His promises are true. so in the face of all this chaos, baby... i can dance with you. don't give up on me.

the announcement . . . 

I alluded to "something big" happening recently on twitter. To all of you who thought I was pregnant... I'm sorry, you're wrong. Ladies, gentlemen, friends and family. This concludes my journey as JennWebber Photography. It has been a rewarding path, but from this point forward, I will be walking on a new path. Don't worry, I'm not putting the camera away, this is a simple rebrand that has been a year in the making... 

Change your bookmarks, folks. 
You can now find me at:

 www.jennanibal.com

fall, family and horses!

To me, in order to grow in photography,  I need to continually be inspired and continually stretch myself. When the three families invited me out to Clare, MI for a few family sessions, I knew I was in for a fun afternoon, but I would also be stretched as a photographer. Yes, I have photographed many families and children before, but these moms had an additional subject for me - their horses. The ladies invited us out to one of the family farms - a piece of land filled with glowing trees, a vast field, a vintage barn, a creek... it was a dream. Add a few adorable families and some horses to the mix and we had the recipe for a wonderful afternoon. Here are some of the results!

It was then that the husbands and kids stepped aside to let these cowgirls have their time to shine ;)

 

Beth, Jamie, Tori and companies... thanks so much for a fun afternoon an excuse to play on the farm!

the molhoek family!

Blog, meet the Molhoek family! Sally & Andrew have five kiddos - their youngest is Amelia, born in August. With five kids under the age of 10, I knew I was in for a treat :) It was fun to see all the kids interact with each other. The four older kids love her to pieces and couldn't wait for their turn to snuggle and hold her!

We dodged rain drops and ran around the cider mill for this session, but Jonathan and I had a great time with this family! Here are a few favorites...

 

the miller family!

I really love the way that my job has brought worlds together for me! Sarah, this wonderful momma, is an avid follower of my sister's blog and they met through a coupon class. After Laura shared about her family session this summer, Sarah contacted me about doing her own family session with her little girls and took husband. They recently met me in Grand Rapids for a long overdue photoshoot. These four individuals are loving, joyful and have so much fun together. We had to wait on the rain to stop for our shoot to begin, but it was well worth it! Here are a few of my favorites from the evening...

The Millers brought a beautiful butterfly to join them in some of the pictures. The butterfly symbol is a reminder of their second daughter who only lived to be one hour old. What a testimony to how a family can bond together, persevere the hard times and celebrate love. What an honor that they would trust me to capture these moments for them!

Thank you for allowing me to step into your lives and celebrate your family, Millers! And, Happy Birthday, Sarah ;)

the hayes family!

One thing I have not done well during my first summer as a West Michigan resident is take advantage of the beautiful beaches of Lake Michigan as much as I could. We have been able to go a few times for dinner on the beach, or to peruse the pier and splash in the waves a bit, but we definitely could have gone many more times. Fortunately, aside from the personal time on the beach, I have had plenty of opportunity recently to enjoy our state's beautiful beaches as I photograph families and couples in the sand and water under the golden summer sun. One such family was this adorable family of four. They met me at the Holland State Park recently. Here is just a preview of the fun we had that morning...