Sunday Breakfast with the Maxwell Family | Southern Indiana Family Documentary Photographer

My sweet, good friend Deanna Maxwell took some time to share her thoughts about her family and why capturing one of their special traditions was so important to her. I would love it if you took a few minutes to read. I promise you'll enjoy it! :)

Blended: 1-To combine different elements into a single entity. 2-To combine or mix different substances so that the constituent parts are indistinguishable from one another.

Blended. That's how I like my foundation, my guacamole, my chocolate mocha's and my fruit smoothies. But growing up, I never imagined that's how I would like my family too. Like so many others, after a rough divorce, I found myself a single mom of two young kids. I never imagined my life would turn out that way. But, I knew my God had a plan for me. 7 years later, I married the most incredible man I've ever met. And... his 2 kids. We did a lot of reading. Every self help book I could get my hands on, on how to be a "blended family". We have had our tough times, our arguments, our make ups. But through it all, we have remained committed to each other and our children, and grown closer as a result. I remember one book I read telling me that it would take 3 years to feel like a "real family". I remember thinking... what? How will we ever feel like a real family. We can't possibly love each other's kids as much as our own. Then one day, a few years later, I was sitting in an auditorium watching our oldest, my stepson, play the leading role in a high school production. He was acting out the part of a married man, and was performing a scene with his wife. I started crying. Seeing him like that, like a grown adult... I was overcome with emotion. How can he grow up? How can he move on? We haven't had enough time! It was in that moment that I realized it. We were no longer being blended. We just were. We were a REAL family and it was MY family. That is when I realized I needed to capture it. I wanted to remember us as we were. A family, like any other.

Our oldest leaves for college this fall. I don't know how to describe the feeling. It breaks my heart. I am thrilled he is making his way, but so saddened that our family dynamic is changing. I want to remember us now. What we are like before they all start flying out of the nest. We have lots of family pictures of us posing together with smiles on our faces. That's great. But... when I think of our family and what blended us, what made us who we have become, I think of Sunday breakfast. With 4 kids who keep busy schedules, we always make time for Sundaybreakfast. That hour is my little slice of heaven. It's the time when the whole world fades away and the only thing that matters is us. We cook together, we laugh, we eat like pigs. It's the thing I will always remember. When I am old and spoiling my grandchildren, I will think back on those mornings with a blissful smile on my face. I am so grateful to Kelly for capturing them so perfectly.