F - U - N. That's Cody in a nutshell. I must admit I was a bit surprised to discover that fact. After all, Cody is a young man of many accomplishments, the kind that require lots and lots of hard work. Here he is with a few thousand of his one or two million trophies and awards and honors:

But what was he happiest doing? Roaming around Varner-Hogg Plantation barefoot.

Clicking his heels. Climbing a bit. Demonstrating yoga poses.

Displaying bravery and brawniness.

Just being Cody.

He even treated me to a quick tuba concert. I'm not sure what the Varner-Hogg staff thought might be going on.

But the bluebonnets were happy!

How refreshing you are, Cody! It will be fun to see the exciting adventures your work ethic and happy heart bring you.

Light-seeds are planted in the souls of God's people,

joy-seeds are planted in good heart-soil.

Psalm 97:11 MESSAGE

You were hoping I'd show you a few of Jessica and Rachael's individual photos, right? Good thing I aim to please. Here's Jessica starting off our morning looking all cute and cowgirlish. And then lovely and ladyish.

Basically it's impossible for Jessica to look anything other than wonderful, whether she's smiling or looking thoughtful.

Even her game face is gorgeous!

Jessica's eyes just draw you right in ...

... much the same way her buddy Rachael's eyes mesmerize.

As you can see, we used all the same locations for both sessions but played around with them a bit differently.

Isn't it delightful to see how different Rachael's beauty is from Jessica's?

Why, it's almost as if each one was wonderfully made!

Just wow. See how elegant Rachael is?

She's also a killer athlete, a double threat on the baseball field and volleyball court.

She's headed to Ohio to show those folks up north how Southern girls play ball.

It will be hard for these buddies to be separated, but I get the feeling they've only just begun a friendship that will last a lifetime. Thanks for puttering around East Columbia with me, girls. You brought that little old town some sparkle!

You will notice that the variety of bodies is stunning.

You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory

by looking at the diversity of bodies

not only on earth but in the skies -- sun, moon, stars --

all these varieties of beauty and brightness.

1 Corinthians 15:39 MESSAGE

I probably should have shared just this one shot with you, but you know me -- always getting carried away.


Jessica and Rachael were just too fun together to stop with only one photo. Here are a bunch more:

Oh, that's alright. You don't have to thank me. I'm just happy that my getting carried away brightened your day!

Friends come and friends go,

but a true friend sticks by you like family.

Proverbs 18:24 MESSAGE

Taylor and I didn't stray too far from home for his senior session. Instead we worked at a relaxed pace as we toured town looking for neat locations. His favorite place was this overgrown lot near the center of town, where we pretended we were far out in the country.


His mom and I thought Taylor looked pretty sharp in his tie at the courthouse/museum area. I'm so glad someone had the bright idea to bring that old lighthouse topper into town.

We timed our session just right to catch some of the first bluebonnets blooming. They match Taylor's class ring nicely, don't they?

Stop by the train tracks and quickly pretend to hitch a ride? Why certainly!

We wrapped up our tour at Freedom Park, a nice stand-in for Brazosport Christian School's usual playing field.

I'm pretty sure this one was a perfect strike.

You might not have picked up on the clues, but Taylor is headed into the A&M system. He plans to be a very active Aggie as he prepares for a career in exercise physiology.

What's that saying Aggies like to use? Oh right -- Gig 'Em, Taylor!

Every God-begotten person conquers the world's ways.

The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith.

The person who wins out over the world's ways

is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.

1 John 5:4 MESSAGE

On the foggiest, chilliest morning of Spring Break, Zach (a.k.a. Zakk) and I headed down to Surfside. Of course!



It truly was so foggy we couldn't see anything further than about three feet away. Including, unfortunately, any sign of sand or water or sky.

Zakk toughed it out though, mostly because I was too stubborn to give up.

Back in Angleton there was no fog, only nicely overcast skies and quite a bit less wind.

Perfect for capturing a more relaxed, less shivery Zakk.

And as it turned out, Zakk had only been humoring his mom and me by heading out to the beach and downtown Angleton. Where he really wanted to be was MSR Houston, which is sort of the equivalent of heaven for racing enthusiasts. He would live here if they'd let him, joyously wandering their acres and acres of classic cars being souped up ...

... souped-up cars ready to hit the track ...

... and souped-up cars available for admiring, inspecting, gawking at, caressing, appreciating ... sigh.

I can't believe we ever persuaded him to leave.

Don't worry, Zakk. It won't be long before you really are spending all your time at MSR or your own even better car-related business. There's not a doubt in my mind that you'll make it happen!

God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits ...

Lamentations 3:25 MESSAGE

You've been holding your breath, haven't you? Wondering, "Who could be the third beautiful girl who was part of the Houston shoot?"

It was Sarah!


Looking back at these three sessions, it's interesting that we started in the same place each time but ended up going in very different directions. Unique personalities and interests lead to unique sets of shots.

Like these, for instance!

Can you tell that Sarah is a little bit nutty? And I mean that in only the best possible sense.

"Hey Sarah, go up and down these steps in whatever interesting way comes to mind."

"Could you hop up by that giant statue and pose with a little attitude?" (This guy symbolizes the Spirit of the Confederacy, by the way.)

Sarah is not one bit afraid of the camera, and the camera loves her.

Sarah decided not to get quite as wet in the fountain as our friend Reba did, especially after she discovered how cold it was. Again, the fact that no one slipped down the treacherous waterfalls still amazes me -- especially considering that I was one of the ones teetering on the edge.

Not just a great sport and willing accomplice, Sarah is also a natural beauty. My favorite things in this final shot are her delicate freckles.

Every hour, every mile of walking, every inch of sunburned forehead, every creaking muscle was worth the results of our day in the big city, Sarah, Reba and Hillary. Thanks for including me in the party!

You're beautiful with God's beauty,

beautiful inside and out!

God be with you.

Luke 1:26 MESSAGE