This was such a hard photo shoot for me. Planned as a surpise Christmas gift for my sister-n-laws, the only person who knew about it (besides the photographer) was Kyle. Always the encourager, he was so excited to see the finished photos. But he was killed exactly one month before the shoot. I look at many of these pictures and see anguish and grief in my puffy eyes. Lack of luster, lack of life. Lack of him.

So, here are some of the better ones. It was good to smile, to get out in the frigid-cold winter weather and be with my sisters. Was good to laugh. Needed, even.