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

allison {maternity}

It's so so beautiful to watch a family grow. I have been there to capture Matt & Allison when they were engaged, when they said their vows, and now they are about to have their first baby, a little girl named Xayla Belle. This time, Matt couldn't be there for our photo session though. Two weeks after this couple found out they were expecting, this U.S. Marine was deployed to Afghanistan. Shortly after his deployment, Allison moved back to Michigan from the base in Arizona to spend the 7+ months near family. My heart broke when I heard that Allison was spending her first pregnancy thousands of miles from her husband and I insisted that I do a session with her to celebrate the joys and challenges of this time in their lives. Don't worry, we made sure to involve Matt somehow into this session! The two of them are troopers and Matt will be home very soon... in time for his daughter's arrival into the world. Yay!

With Marine camos and Matt's dogtags, it was like he was spending the afternoon with his wife and baby girl...

Allison is one hot momma... don't you agree? :)

 

Come home soon, Matt!

the allen family!

This is the second time I have photographed the Allens. Last summer, Brendon was a bubbly 4 month old only child... now he is 16 months and ready to be a big brother to his two new family members. Yep, twins are on their way and will turn this family of three into a bustling family of five any day now!! I love watching families grow! Without further ado, here are the Allens (+) again!

Christina, you are one hot momma!

I told you she is a hot momma ;)

Are you kidding me with the little pose and those cute rolls?? Brendon, you are adorable!

Brendon, I can't wait to meet your new little brother and sister!

a quick post: patrick & beth

This past Saturday, I had the joy of attending my cousin's baby shower. Her and her husband are expecting their first (a boy!) this coming June and we are so excited for them! Patrick & Beth live in South Carolina, so its always a joy when we can spend time with them. Before they headed back home, I told them they needed a few "belly" pictures because this is such a special time in their lives! Here are just a couple from our 5 minute session...

Look for Analiese's preview later today!

Happy October and the Genuise family!

Happy October!!! Autumn is officially in full-swing here in Michigan and Birthday Season is here, too! October is the birthday month of my dad, my maid-of-honor, my mother-in-law, our best man and my housemate (and I'm sure some others I forgot)! *whew* So many birthdays! Does a shout-out on the blog suffice as a present? ;)
And since it's the first day of October, that means it's almost my wedding month. haha! But really, I LOVE autumn. It's my favorite season - especially since Michigan has pretty awesome autumns. I love watching the trees slowly change all different colors and I love the cider mill, of course! I've already been once and I think I'll need to limit those visits this year so I don't eat too many donuts - I have a wedding dress to fit into! Maybe I'll just visit the apple orchard more and eat lots of apples instead! Anyways... you are here to see some images, not hear my opinions on autumn, right? :)

Last week I had the opportunity to hang out with a pretty cool family... that is about to grow into a bigger cool family! Kim is expecting a baby girl annnyyy day now... soon I can add the little one to my list of October birthdays, too! In fact, because Kim is waiting so patiently, I knew I had to get this blog up quickly to give her some eye candy to keep her occupied until Baby Girl Genuise decides she is ready for the world!

Kim contacted me for family pictures of the four of them, but also specifically highlighting her oldest son, Collin who just turned 5 and some maternity pictures, too. This session really reminded me of my own family. The age distance between the kids is pretty similar to our family. Also, my parents had two boys before they had me - so it was fun to watch Collin and Alex interact with their sister and talk about being her big brother. It warmed my heart a little bit because I can tell they love her already like my big brothers love me!

I had a blast getting a wide variety of shots during our session and they were especially fun to edit! Thanks for letting me spend some time with your family, Kim and Andy! I pray your daughter makes a healthy arrival soon! She is going to have great big brothers and parents! Enjoy your preview! :)

Love this brothers snapshot!

I told Alex and Collin to make sure they love their sister this much when they meet her face-to-face... and as she grows up too! :)

This handsome little man is Collin and he is 5-years-old!

Beautiful, beautiful Kim. She certainly has a glow about her, doesn't she?

I love baby-bellies! Kim is a gorgeous momma!

I love these next two... they are so soft and sweet - these three kiddos definitely have some awesome parents!