The Hostetler Extended Family Session at Potawatomi Conservatories
Confession: I get extra nervous when I have sessions with personal friends and family for the first time.
Luckily this was far from my first experience with this rowdy crew.
The whole darn family!
Travel back in time with me for a moment…
It’s the fall of 2006. Another beautiful evening on the campus of Ball State University. A bashful freshman gal from a small town is finding her way in the world (er…Muncie, Indiana) and stepping out of her comfort zone to meet new people. Having already built a foundation of friendship with a young man named Brandon over a bowl of mashed potatoes, I was now ready to become friends with his quiet roommate, Eric.
I knocked on their dorm room door. Eric answered.
“Hi, Eric! I’m Sheri. You have really nice eyes! Also your shirt is inside out. And backwards.”
Nailed it. And we’ve been buddies ever since.
Enjoy this grainy digital camera image from the college days featuring Brandon, myself, and Eric.
So Eric and I have been friends for quite some time. When his baby brother Alex came to Ball State I was still around for grad school followed by working for the University so I was luckily able to rope him into dog sitting for me here and there. Years later I was able to photograph Matty’s wedding and I believe that legally makes me some version of adopted family. And after a handful of reschedules due to schedule conflicts, illnesses, weather and what nots, I have now photographed the entirety of the Hostetler family and these boys made good on their Christmas gift to their mama.
Darla and her baby boys.
And luckily those baby boys married some wonderful women.
The beautiful thing about sessions at the Potawatomi Conservatory is that you’re not impacted by weather. You’re not tossed by wind, drenched by rain, frozen by snow, etc. However, you can get a little warm in the greenhouse. Or perhaps it was chasing after six little ones to win them over and get their best smiles and giggles. Regardless, it was worth it because these kids are the cutest and definitely earned some Sour Patch Kids! Darla is one lucky grandma to have such beautiful grand babies!
You can tell there’s a real lack of personality from these six…not an ounce of ornery in the lot… (just to be clear that is sarcasm.)
Thank you to the whole crew for hanging in there for a crazy morning of photos!
It was so much fun to see you all once again and capture your entire family!