Transitions.

We all go through them. Some happy. Some sad. Some both happy and sad!

Our families experience them all the time, and yet how often do we document them?

"What do you mean by that?", you ask?

Well, take a look at this canvas hanging in our family room. This photo was taken a couple of Christmases ago during our kids' college breaks. It was taken in one of my absolute favorite spots, a wide open field near our house, and at sunset's golden hour, (my absolute favorite time of the day!)

Now, what you don't see is the fact that I had to bribe all four of my twe

nty-somethings with wine to get this photo taken! This is our four children at a transition phase of our family life, the last holiday season before three of our four kids got engaged & married. Our middle son was seriously dating at the time, and just one year later he and our daughter would both be engaged.  The time went so quickly and before we knew it we would have 3 new wonderful in-laws joining our family!  Transitions. In this case, happy transitions. :) But I had these 4 children all in less than a 5 year span of time and I wanted to remember them forever just like this.

Sometimes transition phases need to be thought about in advance. That child leaving for college next year. Our last Christmas with baby Johnny before he is joined by a sibling. Pregnancy, first birthdays, first steps, first tooth lost! All of these moments of life are worth documenting, from the simple everyday to the monumental life changing moments...each one is a snapshot of your lives as families.

As is so often with transitions, and the importance of documenting them, is that you are capturing a moment in time that can never be gotten back. It's like a wisp of wind that can't be retrieved no matter how hard you try. All you have left is the memory...and hopefully, a photograph.