The Schmidt ABC's...

Warren and Carla Schmidt have been keeping me busy for a little over a decade now.

Not surprisingly, they've been keeping THEMSELVES busy as well.

So when Carla called me awhile back, I knew she and Warren's latest  family member was ready for graduation pictures.

It takes a special person to open their homes to a child.   And the Schmidt's have made it a part of their lives for a long time now.  The "A" in this case of ABC's, is for Adoption.

We saw Ricky as a member of the Class of '04 ten years ago.   A confident young man in James followed two years later.   I was given several years off... but it was time to photography their latest child.... Chandler.

While the Schmidt's have made adoption a huge part of their family, Chandler is the one biological child of the five siblings to call West State Street home in Marshalltown.

So where does the "B" and the "C" come in?

Chandler only had a couple of requests on his October day.   One was to incorporate his Bible.

He rattled off verses from Romans and Judges that we considered for use in his images... but ultimately settled in on perhaps the most well known verse in the entire book... John 3:16.

The "C" has dual meaning in this case.   Chandler sings in the Marshalltown High School Choir and wanted to work in his letter jacket to represent that.   In addition, Mr. Schmidt also has a passion for the game of Chess.   We had ourselves a little fun when we put our heads together to come up with the idea of Chandler facing off in the ultimate chess dual.... against HIMSELF.   It wouldn't be complete without a THIRD version of Chandler as the interested observer.   Three Chandlers???  How about it Carla?  Think you'd be okay with that?

(I can hear her now... "one is ENOUGH!!!")

The truth is... Carla and Warren would take three of 'em if that were the case.   It doesn't seem that they have any limits to their love for kids.  As it is... I see a couple more visits from the Schmidts in the future.   Their newest addition in an adorable little two year old little gal made the trip to Chandler's session.   I can't make any promises that I'll still be around for the Class of 2029 when she's up for senior pictures... But God willing, I'll still be around if you want to give us a buzz, Carla.

Thanks for your loyalty, Team Schmidt.  ;)