michelle + raleigh // christmas hill park portrait session

The other night I was sitting on my couch in my little Morgan Hill apartment (you know, doing the adult thing and watching Netflix all night) and I hopped on the interwebs and just started looking at pictures of puppies. It didn’t take long for me to just happen to accidentally search for puppies for sale on Craigslist. Before I knew it, I fell in love with like 20 dogs and was texting my boyfriend every link I found.

It’s safe to say I am for sure a dog person.

So when Michelle told me they had just bought a labradoodle puppy, I MELTED. Literally you guys… my skin nearly fell off my bones. She texted me a picture and tears—actual tears—came out of my eyes and fell to the ground. I was a total puddle. It was not even five minutes before I was in my car on my way over to the Nielsen home in Morgan Hill to visit my new best friend (and Michelle, too, of course).

Last year when Michelle brought her family out to Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy, CA for her family portrait session, we didn’t know that we’d be coworkers not too long after, let alone good friends. Now she has a super cute dog that I love (even though I’ve only met him once) and she’s one of my favorites around the office. I look back at the Gilroy family portrait session from last summer and think of how much has changed for both me and Michelle. She’s such a valuable teammate in our office and a dear friend. I remember one day last winter sitting at my desk, overcome with anxiety and sadness from the past year and she sat with me for at least an hour, hand on my shoulder, telling me I was loved, wanted and valuable. I will never forget that.

That’s what I see when I look at Michelle + Raleigh’s Gilroy family portrait session—a wonderful woman who loves dogs, loves me, loves her family and works her butt off serving her church. I hope you enjoy some of my favorites from this Gilroy family portrait session, because I cherish them with all my heart!

Love,
Angela