Sep 18 2013

{Downers Grove Photography} Our Trip to Lancaster County

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{this post is a re-post from this past summer, but now that I have a brand new beautiful blog in which you can actually see the images, I wanted to show them again}

 

This may be one of my favorite photography posts ever! Oh, how we love this family. This past summer, our road trip brought us to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania {Bird in Hand, in fact} to see our Amish friends in person.2013-09-17_0002

We went to church with them {3.5 hours of singing, preaching, devotional, prayer, testimonies, & do it all over again; sweet little toddlers passed out on their mama’s laps all around us, large families coming together into real community}. After church, I drove “B” & their 5 kiddos in our minivan to their home while “A” drove Sam & our 3 kiddos in the horse & buggy!
{btw: can you imagine a family of SEVEN fitting into that buggy?! well, they do!}2013-09-17_0003

We came at a good time:  the mama cat just had kittens about 3 weeks ago! The bulldog mama had puppies about 6 weeks ago {i think}.My kids were in animal HEAVEN at their home: my favorite little mister caught bugs & toads all day {the boys said, “they had never seen anyone go crazy for bugs before” … my poor city boy} & the girls chased kitties & puppies for about 5 hours straight! {I am allergic to both, so the fact that they were free to play with animals in the barn was the best part of vacation for pumpkin-poos. It was a hot day & of course, no air conditioning in the barn, so they would periodically emerge red-faced & sweaty, with big smiles on their faces.}

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I was THRILLED to do their family portraits!!! 
{maybe their first, in fact?!}

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I did all of my typical poses.

 I think it is safe to say we all had a great time.2013-09-17_0006

Many people have asked me how on earth did I {a midwest girl} attain an Amish friend?! Well, that Amish friend of ours started as a business partner of Life Verse Design. He is a framer and contacted me to see if I would partner with him to frame my art & sell it to Christian bookstores, gift shops & furniture shops. I love the above photos of the frame shop, Beechdale Frames, as it shows the heart of the business: family. It is run by the Millers and is definitely a family affair! They work hard together & play together. The showroom is filled with my art and the reason we went was that they had an open house to meet the artist and allow buyers into their showroom.

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At the open house, they offered free lunch & fresh lemonade! Their oldest son {who is all of 14} manned the grill all by himself!!!! He is also able to create a frame & plaque from start to finish all by himself!!!! What a mature & responsible young man. And so humble also. If you are ever in Bird in Hand, Pennsylvania during the summer & meander down Beechdale Road, you will come upon the sweetest bunch of kids selling THE BEST fresh squeezed lemonade you have ever sipped. Trust me, you’ll go back for more.

Meet Mr. Miller! He has a heart of gold: wanting to encourage others with the beauty of art, the truth of the Word of God, and always keep family first. Our work is currently featured in the Christianbook.com catalog that arrived in the mailbox the other day! {Funny God story: I normally flip through the first few pages to see what’s “hot” in the book industry since I design books for Tyndale House Publishers, but this day I kept flipping & ta-da! I got to see my artwork! What a blessing to see my little nephew’s feet featured in a catalog}

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 The other fun little surprise I got while at the Beechdale Frames open house was that I got to meet author Ira Wagler who drove a half hour just to see me! Turns out Mr. Miller is friends with Ira! Ira wrote his memoir “Growing Up Amish” a few years back and Tyndale published it!  My best friend at Tyndale designed the book and he claims she has “sold him many copies” {as he knows people pick up books often due to their covers… music to a designer’s ears!}

I JUST finished the memoir the other night & I highly recommend it. If you love auto biographies as I do, you will love to get a glimpse into Ira’s world as he grows up Amish & struggles with the desire for freedom in the “outside” world, yet constantly feels pulls back to the safe & secure world he knows. It is a story of identity struggle, yearning for freedom, and finding the truth that alone can set our hearts free.2013-09-17_0009

I created this custom Life Verse Design art for our friends & I am happy to report it brought tears to the parent’s eyes. YES! My job is done. It is the highest compliment {I think} when my art makes someone cry.

I love immortalizing not only an image, but a moment & feeling in time to create a memory forever. Though their kids will grow {& grow quickly!}, I hope their closeness, bond & direction in life will remain the same, as shown in this image.

If you have an image of your family that you would like created into a lasting memory, contact me & I would be honored to create it for you.You can find more information here.

FREE SHIPPING in the shop ends tomorrow night, so if you are interested in any custom design work, or any other inspirational art, order now!

Grace & Peace,

Julie

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