Last month Cortney and I made plans for her Fall family session, which made me super excited!  Compared to where I was living for the last 26 years of my life – in sunny Southern California where seasons don’t exist – we actually have a fall here in East Texas.  Leaves turn to beautiful jewel colors of rubies and topaz, and the greens turn a deeper emerald.  It seems to be the pride of the area too.  Most East Texas natives enjoy it as much as people like me, who migrated here from less fall-majestic states.

Courtney wanted her fall family session at the Mineola Nature Preserve.  This place is awesome!  It’s right outside town and off the highway, so it is always very peaceful & relaxing.  When Cortney, her husband Johnny & their son LJ moved to Mineola, she saw the need for us Moms to form our own community.  She started a Mineola Moms Group, which has been amazing & basically life-saving.  Most of us have children around the same age.  Once a week we meet at the preserve to let them play at the park there.

Johnny and Cortney have a truly beautiful story…

They met in college during a speech class and when the semester was over, it was a year before they connected again.  Courtney text Johnny and asked him to go country dancing with her. Cortney didn’t know at the time he was the drummer of a metal band and that he did NOT like country music, but Jonny had loved her from the moment they met in class.  Of course he said yes, and they have been together every day since then.

He looks at her like they just met yesterday

Their son LJ was hard pressed for smiles, but I saw him a week after the session and he ran to me and gave me a big hug!  He’s such a cutie!