Between the nine weddings that I have this month and the 15 smaller shoots, I decided that a family reunion in Arkansas would be a nice thing to do….  And actually aside from the 108 temperatures and the very bumpy plane ride home, the trip was a nice culmination of both rest and relaxation and more time getting to know my family.  I did a blog post about a month ago about my immediate family and our Harris harvest.  This post is about the other side of my family—my mother’s side, and her 93 year old mother’s side—  The Thomas/Norton 2008 family reunion in Petit Jean State park, Arkansas.

I have to say that I spent the majority of the time at this family reunion, hanging out with a couple of cousins and my two brothers.  I’m not one for crowds, and I  value intimacy and real conversations over small talk and playing 10 year catch up.  While I love all of these people dearly, it really boiled down to how I wanted to use my time while I was out there (which was only 2 full days),  and for the time that I wasn’t working on post production, I really wanted to get to know my cousin Hillary, her boyfriend Rob, my little cousin Jordan and of course spend more time with Robbie and Mark, my two brothers.  While I would have cherished some time with my grammy, I wasn’t able to get her alone very often, and she wasn’t feeling well, so I didn’t see much of her.  That is my one regret about the trip….

The images that I chose to post are ones that portray a mix of the emotions I felt out there, and the ways that I viewed my family.   There are also some juxtaposing images of Arkansas—some very naturesque, the  others represent the “other side of Arkansas” and the way I expected to see the land.

On the first morning of the reunion, we did a group hike down to the falls at Petit Jean State Park.  It was gorgeous and quite refreshing.  It was about a 2 mile hike down to the bottom of the canyon, where there was the most beautiful waterfall and still pool of water.  I couldn’t believe I was in Arkansas, and felt like I had stepped into the movie, “Last of the Mohicans”.  With the 108 degree heat, this was probably the best place in the state to be….it was a good 15 degrees cooler at the bottom of the canyon.


This is my cousin Sam.


I’m sad to say, that I don’t know who this is….  My Grandma’s sister passed away last year, and they combined her family reunion with ours this year.  So, technically this is a second or third cousin… or something like that???  The son of my mother’s cousin.  You catch my drift.  None the less, I loved “his look”.


This is my cousin Hillary and her boyfriend Rob.  I spent a lot of time with them, which was great.  We had our own little “happy hours”, before dinner and of course after dinner at my cabin every evening.  I really felt like I got to know the two of them better, and hope to spend much more time with them in the future….



… and of course my two brothers, Robbie and Mark, who always make for good photo content.



This image looks pretty droll, but check out the bottom left of the photo.  I had to give some perspective to this canyon….



Again, another 2nd or 3rd cousin….




This is my cousin, Jordan.  Sam’s older brother.  Jordan joined us for happy hour every night (of course he didn’t partake as he isn’t 21).   It was such a nice surprise to see how mature and insightful he is.  I was really glad I got to spend some quality time getting to know him.  He is an amazing pianist and graced us with some of his own original compositions at our family “talent show”.



I’m always drawn to those on the “edge”.  These bikers were, quite literally on the edge of the trail and up a ways… I hiked up to talk to them and grab a portrait or two.  A waterfall at the bottom of the canyon was really the last place I thought I would see some authentic southern Hell’s angels, but I guess they wanted to cool off, too!



…not sure who this is.





It was so hot after our hike, that I actually jumped in the pool with all of my clothes on…. I didn’t even have the energy to go back to the cabin to put a suit on.  These next two images were actually taken much later in the day, but I loved the light, so I thought I’d post them.



My mother is one of 5 kids born to Harold and Roxie Thomas.  Harold, my grandfather passed away a couple of years ago, but this is an image of the original Thomas family.  My mom is the baby in the flowered shirt.  The Thomas family is Welsh, and apparently, it’s a tradition to sing together and tell stories through song.  Our family (the Thomas’s) do this together all the time.  This image is of them singing the “orchestra song”, which involves something like 8 part harmony… I’m always with the clarinets.


The Thomas’s are also a very spiritual family.  My grandfather was a pastor of the Church of Christ for his entire adult life.  It’s norm for the family to get together every night for Christian devotionals.  I snapped this image of my aunt, Rosemary worshiping the lord.  I really think if there is one image that would sum up the vibe of the “thomas family reunions”, this might be it.


I loved this moment between my cousins, Erin and Hillary,and my Grammy.


Ok, so totally off in the other direction from family devotionals…..

I am a huge, huge David Lynch fan.  I saw this site in the woods, and it screamed “David Lynch”.  Strange, and beautiful all at once.  I think that some brilliant person set up this sheet and a bright light in the woods to attract all the bugs away from the rest of the camp, but I don’t know.  I just like the way it looked out there in the woods.


The light also created some cool effects for more portraits of Robbie.


Petit Jean was a surprise.  I never imaged such a beautiful Arkansas.  These images below, however are more of what I expected to see along the side of the road….  These were taken on the road from Little Rock to Morrilton.