the martinez family | el mirage lake, ca

I came at the worst time. Or so I thought.

Right before a move into her parent’s house, their dream home and land in escrow. The limbo was palatable, the future unclear.

Mama had a 12 week baby in her belly, a miracle after a tubal reversal just months before. She was green in the mornings and tired in the evenings.

But there was magic there in their temporary home. There was laughter and good food and tenderness. There was dancing till you’re exhausted on the floor and listening to your baby’s heartbeat on the couch.

I stayed with this family for 3 days and was a fly on the wall to so many holy moments. Papa towered over me and yet I found him too many times to count kneeling in front of his children. Mama could be found in the mornings tangled in the limbs of her babies. So. Much. Love.

One of the days I was there, we drove out to the lake bed at El Mirage, and in the most sherbert-y lighting and they did what they love till the sun set over the mountains.

These photos, they remind me that home is your people and not a place, and that things don’t have to be perfect to be worth documenting.

Enjoy a little peek into the life of the Martinez family of six.