When I first met Meadow, I kept telling her parents she reminds me of Shirley Temple. 🙂 Her bouncy curls, bright eyes, and spirited nature captivated me. And of course, with a name like Meadow, I had to capture their family portraits in the fields. But we didn’t stop there. They got *in* the water and splashed away. I can still hear Meadow’s giggles as I edit these photos. 🙂 She also slowed down for the sweetest, most endearing moments. ❤️

Mary and Andy were the first couple we interacted with after moving into our new home. They live across from us. While I don’t recall the details of our first conversation, I remember leaving with the impression that they’re such kind, grounded, and well informed individuals. And I adore their daughter. During the quarantine, we did a lot of waving from our windows. ? At the height of the pandemic, we learned new ways to be good neighbors. We swapped food and children’s books at each other’s doorsteps. Andy even plowed our driveway whenever Thanh was at work.

When Thanh and I built our home, we really thought we were building our dream home. We are wiser now and would do so, so much differently if we could do it all over again. One thing we got right, though, wasn’t something we could plan for. We’re in our dream neighborhood, for we’re surrounded by amazing neighbors like Andy, Mary, and Meadow.