Mama Gene's Birthday

Yesterday, we celebrated my grandmother Mama Gene's 87th birthday! I'm lucky enough to live near quite a bit of family. My husband Opie and I actually live in the same neighborhood as my parents and one of my cousins. My brother, another cousin, and one set of my in-laws all live in our town. Opie's aunt & uncle, grandmother, dad & stepmom and my grandmother all live within half an hour of our house too. Though Mama Gene is now my only living grandparent, I was fortunate to know all four of them quite well. Mama Gene and Papa Daddy watched me everyday when my mom was in nursing school and I was in preschool, so we've always been quite close. She's had a rough last few years with my grandfather's death and some health problems, but Mama Gene seems to be doing much better when I've seen her recently. We had a really good visit last week on her actual birthday, and it was great celebrating with the whole crew today at my parents' house.

I'm trying to get better about documenting my daily life. Since I shoot almost every day of the week in one work capacity or another, sometimes I don't feel like pulling out the camera for my own life. Naturally, those are the photos I cherish the most. I love to document important days for other people, so it's high time I do the same for myself. Here are some that I snapped yesterday.