...my precious Annie & her friends

My dad has a brother. And a sister, but thats insignificant at the moment. His brothers name is Gary. Gary has an ex-wife. Her name is Kathryn. Gary and Kathryn had a daughter 10 years ago (in Jan). Their daughters name is Holland Annie Gebler, or Annie, for short. That is where this post begins....

My precious cousin Annie was born ultra preemie...as a result, she is severely handicapped. The most amazing child I have ever met, Annie is a blessing to everyone around her. She has CP and a myriad of other issues that prohibit her from talking, walking, and a whole host of other things a typical 10 year old would participate in. She is a beautiful child, and Kathryn is an incredible woman.

Originally from South Carolina, and a former kindergarten teacher, Kathryn married Gary about 13 years ago (I may be off by a year or two, but I know I was young). When Annie came much earlier than expected, Kathryn's world suddenly turned from revolving around her students to entirely being about her tiny little girl. She is a picture of strength, and optimism. Truly a hero in my book, Kathryn has, for the last 10 years, taken every care with Annie. She takes her to school, swim therapy, horse-back riding therapy, "spider" therapy, doctor appointments galore, and all sorts of errands, and such. It is incredible how much love Annie has been blessed with. In our family, that little girl has helped many of us appreciate life to the fullest, and brought us close at times. She is a constant reminder that God's love is completely unbiased, as our should be! She is a wonderful blessing.

We went to Woodland Hills (where Kathryn lives) on Sunday after church to visit the girls. A couple weeks ago, Annie had a 7 hour back surgery to straighten her severe scoliosis, and to anchor her spine. Now, at home recovering, I figured Kathryn could use a little company. As it turns out, there were people in and out of the house all day, and perhaps it wasn't the bestday to hang out. However, we had a total blast! A little girl in Annie's class came over with her mom, and two little sisters. Zach and I wound up playing in the back yard with them all afternoon. It's been a long time since I've had the opportunity to play with little ones (the girls are Madeline-8, Olivia-6, and Vanessa-4). These girls had so much spunk, and personality, and I had the 50mm 1.0 on hand, how could I not decide to do a little fun shooting? Here's what I came up with (I really should say "here's what Zach and I came up with...he shot several of these actually!)....

















P.S. they LOVED Zach....it was hysterical!