This year for our end of 2019 holiday card, I wanted to get family photos shot of just us, in the spaces we love. I set some rules for myself: no ordering clothes just for the shoot, no hair or makeup people on a set… I just wanted to look at them and see us in our everyday life, and that’s exactly what these are.

We asked our photographer, Angela, if she’d be willing to drive up the north shore to our lake house and if she could ignore/work around the fact that the photos aren’t hung yet, the furniture is half there, and nothing is *quite* decorated, and she agreed! Our railing unexpectedly got installed hours before she arrived, and while there was dust everywhere, we ignored it and made the best of it.

It’s funny because before we bought it, I texted Drew the listing to the lake house and he was a little surprised. It wasn’t what we had pictured but he was intrigued. I told him the moment I walked in I would just “know.” And that’s exactly what happened.

I remember standing at the end of the hallway, imagining Conley growing up with views of Lake Superior, weekends spent in the small town of Grand Marais, and adventuring through the woods. We’ve been up there almost every weekend since we got it, and we never want to leave. It already houses some of my all-time favorite memories as a family, and we’ve only had it for a few months.

We had to take a few photo breaks for a hungry growing girl, and she demolished some mac and cheese halfway through (yep, I’m a proud mama — the apple doesn’t fall far!). And the wind off the lake was insane, so we opted to stay snuggled in the warm house overlooking the lake.

I love these photos of our fam so much because they have no frills, nothing fancy, and capture us in our favorite place, a place we hope to make a lot of memories in. So grateful to have this season and space and time of our lives captured.

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