Garcia Family // Lyons, Colorado

 To celebrate the anniversary of their wedding in Lyons, Meredith and Robert decided to take family photos together in the same town where they said their vows 10 years ago. They have two daughters, Avery and Emily, who are three, and I have to tell you... this family epitomizes everything I love about my job. The girls played and played and played at this park, and Robert and Meredith played with them. These are parents who truly enjoy their kids. They enjoy their girls' commentary on the world, their delight at discovering apples in the cracks of the rocks near the creek, their joy of zip-lining over and over and over (and over). And, I spent the morning enjoying their enjoyment.I asked Robert and Meredith what the hardest and best parts about parenting three-year-olds have been for them. The most challenging aspect was thinking they could logically reason with threenagers, as Meredith called them. The best? The ways their girls can communicate, the excitement they have for the world around them. I felt so privileged to witness exactly what they meant. The phrase "childlike faith" became meaningful and alive as I documented these sisters. I saw it when they grasped their parents hands and leaped, feet first, into the air between them. When they told me that cows say moo! and lions say roar! and giraffes say --- well, we couldn't quite figure that one out. When Emily hopped onto the swing, zipped down the line, and laughed as Avery sprinted after her. When they smiled into the sun, swinging into its warmth -- childlike faith. Faith that the world is filled with wonder, filled with playgrounds created for us to discover swings and rope hammocks and creeks and giant rock formations to climb and zip-lines to ride. Faith that we have divine love guiding us and shaping us and watching out for us as we wrap our legs around the seat, ask for a push, hold tightly to the rope, and let the curve of the slope speed us along. Faith that we have a father who will roll up our pants, so we can feel the cold water of the creek under our feet.