In Their Own Words.... {Denver Family Photographer}

We recently had the opportunity to have Melissa take our family portraits!  For those of you who follow Melissa's blog and don't know us, we're the Johnsons. Logan (1 year old), Milli (3 years old), Kelli (Mom), and Chauncy (Dad).

Earlier this year, Kelli's sister Karyn introduced us to Melissa when she asked her to do some portraits of our kids.  We had seen her work before and were excited to get portraits of Milli and Logan.  Our family has had a rough year, to say the least.  On Christmas Eve, 2010, Kelli and our 5- year-old daughter Elise were involved in a tragic ski accident in Wyoming where we live.  Kelli survived, fighting through extensive injuries and was taken to a hospital in Denver for several months of rehabilitation. Unfortunately, our beautiful daughter Elise didn't survive the accident.  A snowboarder had come down the mountain at a very high rate of speed and collided with Kelli and Elise. Tragically, the snowboarder didn't survive either.  Milli and Logan are Elise's younger siblings and Logan hadn't gotten any baby pictures before the accident occured.  We were able to have pictures taken of Milli and Logan about three months after the accident, but Kelli still had a neck brace on from neck fractures that were healing. On a checkup visit this month to Denver, we set up an appointment with Melissa for family pictures. 

The latest photos are of our family 8 months after the accident in our first family pictures without Elise.  Kelli has made a miraculous recovery with lots of love and support from family, friends, and many blessings from Heaven. We plan to have a family portrait painted by a talented artist and great friend of ours with Elise added into the painting. Because of this, we did several different poses that we can choose from to make this work. There was a special feeling at the photo shoot as we took pictures with Elise in mind.  She is missed beyond explanation every day.  Kelli continues to improve; in fact, she's now able to drive after 8 months of healing!  We are excited to see the painting when it is finished and we'll see if we can post it on Melissa's blog when it is completed.  Thanks Melissa for helping us make this happen.