A rain delay brought us together on a beautiful Sunday morning to capture all the love in the Turner Family!

Rain. Rain. More Rain. Storms. Rain.

The radar was not looking promising as our date approached for the Turner Extended Family Session this past week. With juggling very busy schedules, they didn’t see another date to get together for family pictures until November, so we just had to figure out a way to make it work. So the morning of, we finalized a Plan A (great, no rain!), Plan B (A little rain won’t stop us!), and Plan C (try again in the morning and cross fingers).

As I loaded up and began my drive to Winona Lake, I checked in with Janelle, Turner coordinator extraordinaire, to let her know I was on the way. It had just started raining pretty heavy as I started out and Janelle said my phone was breaking up a bit. And that happened to be because a tornado warning was coming through for the area. So instead of heading to Winona Lake, I was headed to the basement. And each time I thought I might be able to leave again, another wave of storms came through.

So we moved to Plan C.

On Sunday morning, the Turner family gathered together on Grace College Campus and we enjoyed what turned out to be an incredibly beautiful morning together!

Extended Family Session in Winona Lake Indiana

Placed amongst the grand white columns and pergola of Westminster Hall on Grace College, between the bright, budding flowers, the Turner family had chosen the perfect backdrop to kick off their family session. Honestly, it’s hard not to find a beautiful spot in Winona Lake!

Dave and Claudia’s three sons are all married off to three wonderful women, and they are blessed with 7 grandchildren. The oldest of those grandchildren, their two grandsons were eventually put in charge of corralling the five younger grandchildren: five lively little girls, each as cute as the next. But more on that later…

This particular session was a birthday gift to Claudia from her children. Now I’m not just saying this as a photographer, but I truly do think photo sessions make the perfect gift to give for multiple reasons. The top reason being that often times mothers and grandmothers tend to be taking the pictures rather than existing in them. Having someone else behind the camera allows them to be captured enjoying their greatest treasures in life, their children and grandchildren.

It’s also a gift you can give again and again and it will always be a great update. Especially with little ones in the family, imagine how much these images change from year to year! These grown guys used to be as tiny as their little cousins!

One of my favorite parts of this session took place while we were focused on just the grown ups. Just feet away from this image were five very excited little cousins catching up with one another. And as their happy little feet danced around they would slowly drift into frame. We would laugh and reset and repeat.

So we had to call in reinforcements to make these shots possible. AKA: grandsons Josh and Sam were summoned to keep the little gals busy. And they did so by forming a small parade of “Do what I do!” commands with clapping and marching and arm waving and more.

Claudia and Dave will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this September and are still just smitten with one another. What a huge milestone in their life, and a gorgeous family to show for it.

Claudia has the kindest heart and gentlest spirit, and a genuine laugh from Dave will always make me smile. Their eyes light up when they are with their grandbabies and they are clearly so very proud of their grown boys (even if I told their middle child they requested some photos without him).

Thank you, Turner family, for bearing with me as we weathered the storm, rescheduled, posed in the humid air, and endured one scraped knee along the way. It was a pleasure capturing your family and families in beautiful Winona Lake!