It was SO difficult to narrow the finalists down to only 5…and that’s why you see more than 5 here! Thank you so much all who entered. All of your stories were amazing and worthy. I’m just happy I wasn’t the one deciding the finalists–thank you judges for toiling over this on my behalf! Without further delay…THE STORIES! Below you’ll find a section of each finalist’s story. You can vote by clicking the survey link and selecting your favorite entry! Good luck everyone! I’d choose each of you if I could!
Michelle:
Time moves too fast. The excuses are always there for not doing professional photographs – “maybe when the baby loses his infant acne”, “maybe when I lose 10 pounds”, “maybe when I get a ‘good’ haircut”. And before you know it, your kids are almost 7 and 3 and you *still* have never done any family pictures. Your mother-in-law offers to get them done at Sears/JCPenney, but it’s just not your style. So again you think of more excuses.
And then when your boys have lost their grandfather and you are looking back at old photos at his memorial, you realize that time moves too fast.
Kathy:
I was just reunited with my boyfriend of 2 years (Mike) after he spent a year overseas. I have two boys – Andrew, 6 and Matthew, 4 – and a 2 year old black lab named Trixie. We’ve been a strong family through and through, but are just now beginning the process of becoming a blended family. It’s been my dream to be a whole family – mom, dad, kids and dogs – for my entire life. I’m in a totally blissful state right now, knowing that this man is “the one”. My outlook on love, trust and forever is being restored. We’re all riding the pink cloud and I would love nothing more than to document this magical time in our lives! Who knows…there may be a wedding somewhere down the line, too 
Kim:
I don’t necessarily know if our story is extra special or anything but it is an event that I am extremely proud of.
Last year our family found out that we were expecting! We were over the moon, super excited and couldn’t wait to meet the new baby. When I was 7 weeks along, I was having some severe stomach pains and my doctor decided to order an ultrasound. Much to our suprise we were shocked to find out that we were having TWINS! We were excited but afraid because I was instantly labeled “high risk”. The entire time, I was warned about the NICU, preterm labor and premies. At 31 weeks, to my horror, I started contracting and was put on bedrest until the babies were born. My rockstar husband took over all of the household responsbilites including tending 100% to our three year old daughter… This was probably the hardest thing I have ever had to physically endure but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Corey:
The reason why I think My Wife Alyssa and I should win a free session is……..I met Alyssa Online in 2008 we started talking, and I really liked her. So her mother and her flew to Seattle to come to Fort Lewis to meet me. And it was Love at 1st sight. I proposed to her 2 weeks later on Valentines Day in 2009. And we didn’t see each other again until July. I flew out to VA for a week to meet the rest of her family and then she flew back with me for a week to meet my family in WA. I was set to deploy to Iraq 2 weeks after she left WA, and we had planned to get married in 2010. But While she was in WA with me meeting our family, we decided to elope and go ahead and get married and we did. She had to fly back to VA 3 days after we were married for her job, they wouldn’t let her have time off unpaid. 
We were apart for the 2 weeks I was left in the states. She wasn’t even there to watch me leave for IRAQ. I know it was hard for her. I was gone from August 2009 to June 2010. Almost the whole 1st year of our marriage, She is one of the Strongest most beautiful Amazing Woman I know. She sent me care packages every week, emailed me everyday, didn’t mind getting woken up at 3 am to talk on the phone even though she had to be up at 6am to go to work. She moved all the way from VA to WA in May by herself, I know she was so scared and was having a hard time, but she always kept a smile on her face and in her voice. I arrived back in the states on June 10 2010, the moment when I walked in that gym and saw her beautiful smiling face sitting there on those bleachers was the best day of my life. We celebrated our 1st year Anniversary on July 16 2010. Just 4 days ago.
We never were able to have portraits done of us, And I want to give her something that she can cherish the rest of her life. Because she most certainly does deserve it. I look forward to spending the rest of my life with her and maybe one day 50 years from now, she can have portraits to look back on, and remember all of the time we have spent together. And I end with this quote “I am no one special, just a common man with common thoughts. I’ve led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me, and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect, I’ve succeeded as gloriously as anyone who ever lived. I’ve loved another with all my heart and soul, and for me, that has always been enough.” Thank you for reading our Love Story.
Melissa:
{‘My middle daughter is 19′} She is a beautiful girl with inter-struggles. She is a full time student and works part time at our local mall. I tell my daughter over and over that I love her dearly just the way she is, however I believe that she does not believe this herself…and struggles with depression at times.
I would love for her to have this opportunity to see her true beauty and have her chance at her own “fame” for a moment in time. I believe it would give her a little more self assurance and confidence that she is truly a gift.
Pamela:
We have 5 kiddos. Isn’t that enough? hahaha~I am just kidding. I know that there are probably many other families/couples that have had a rougher 2-3 years than we have and we are so grateful that we have always had a roof over our heads, clothes on our back, and food to eat. Hubby has a steady job (he has been teaching 3rd/4th grade Special Ed in Battle Ground) and has been working a part time job at Marriott for over 2 years now. We moved to Vancouver in August 2004, hoping that we’d pave the way for family to follow. Well, my lil’ brother is the only family that we have locally. So, hubby and I don’t get out much. We had a bankruptcy in 2008 and then had a rough time selling our house…and it was foreclosed on in May 2010 (it sat empty for almost TWO years. Isn’t that crazy?!?!). Through all of this, Ian has been the rock. He (rarely!) complains about working 2 jobs, about being tired, and about doing the husbandly/fatherly duties after working 12+ hour days. Because of the lack of funds, I have never been able to do anything special for him. I have tried taking some pictures of the kiddos by myself. I would love to have a photo shoot done of my kiddos; I would love to have an awesome framed pic that he can proudly display on his desk at work. My crappy P&S camera just does not do the job correctly! And my kiddos are at ages where it is impossible for me to pose them AND take their pictures. I am a great mom, but I just don’t have the experience needed to take great looking photos. I would like my husband to see the happiness (through my childrens smiling faces…okay, if it is possible to get all of them to cooperate at the same time) that he has done so well providing for.
Lori:
Hi amber, It is hard for me to talk about why i feel i am deserving of a free session but i will try. I am married and we have 2 kids. It took my husband and I ten years to get pregnant and it was hard going through that but now we have these beautiful children (2 and 4) I had 2 incredibly hard pregnancies. With both, I was sick everyday for the entire 9 months and for most of the time I was in the hospital. It was pretty tough, especially the second time around when I already had a child to take care of. I flew to Houston for 3 months, where my parents were living so they could watch my daughter while I was in the hospital. my husband was in Japan working at that time. We are doing good now. We just had our 13 year wedding anniversary on July 1th and that is so exciting to me! we never did get the chance to go on a honeymoon due to him and I serving in the Army at the time we got married. We are both out now and loving life in beautiful Portland, Oregon with each other and our children! I would love to have a family session of photos and show off our wonderful marriage and beautiful children. thank you for this opportunity.
Adrian:
I would LOVE the opportunity to have professional portraits taken of my family. Our daughter is turning 3 and we’ve never had professional pictures. We are a very easy going family who loves being outdoors.
Notes from Adrian’s friends: “I nominate my friend Adrian Graham cause she’s a great person with a big heart and she deserves this!!!!!!” … “Adrian has been my best friend since we were freshmen in high school. She recently moved to OR from Texas and I miss her terribly. As far as I know they have never had a family portrait done professionally. I would love for them to share this experience since they are expecting a new baby and will soon no longer be a family of 3!”
Now, GO VOTE!!
CLICK HERE TO VOTE!!
) So here we go.
