I don’t usually like to be surprised. In fact, I am more of a plan every minute of everyday kinda girl. (Boring, I know!!). However, to both witness and be a part of someone ELSE’s surprise might just be my very favorite thing ever.

I think he was pretty surprised AND happy!

Krystal contacted me a few weeks before their shoot to schedule what I thought would be regular old family photos. I quickly discovered that these were not just standard holiday family pictures but a reunion of sorts since they had kids coming from North Carolina for the holiday. The best part of the whole thing came when I learned of all the mischievous, behind-the-scenes scheming involved in this family photoshoot.

Krystal and her daughter Paige decided to buy a cute little fishing hook that said “New Fishing Buddy Coming Soon” and give it to Mark (Paige’s dad and Krystal’s husband) at the end of our family photoshoot. This is the first grandchild in the family, and it was a big, exciting announcement.

We plotted and reviewed all of the details and specifics ahead of time, and I was SOO excited.

Then, to add even more excitement to this epic shoot, the day before we were scheduled, Matt (Krystal and Mark’s son and Paige’s brother) sent me a text letting me know of ANOTHER surprise he had up his sleeve.

I will let you watch the video and see the second surprise for yourself, but needless to say, this was an excellent capstone for my year. I loved being a fly on the wall (with a camera, of course) of this beautiful, tender and pretty magical family moment.

I had to work hard to keep myself from tearing up and joining in on all of the family hugging!

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