I remember as a young girl reading The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I always had a vivid imagination and could immerse myself into the beautiful world of make believe. There, my secret garden allowed me hours of play serving tea to my dolls and taking care of them as if they were my children. Even at a young age, motherhood came natural to me and I took great care nurturing them and taking care of boo-boos and rocking them to sleep. Now as a grown woman and mother of two, not much has changed. I still find myself wanting to still play make believe and retreat to my secret garden when life gets too hard.
I got a chance to capture what we sweetly coined our secret garden at a beautiful lavender field in Gainesville, Texas, way off the beaten path. Driving down a rocky road, finally led me to a hidden gem where fairy tales could be recreated. Lavender Ridge offered a stunning backdrop for an evening swing in the setting sun or a cozy place to lay down to read our favorite story. But it also wrapped our senses in the sweet smell of lavender, lavender cheesecake and lavender laced sweet tea.
These beautiful girls, a sweet mother and daughter and our one boy set our make-believe stage. It was so thrilling to capture their innocent spirits and smiles.
The lavender fields didn’t disappoint and our secret garden isn’t so secret anymore. But I rather like it this way. I hope you take the time to visit this little gem. It’s just an hour outside of Dallas and worth the drive. I wanted to give a huge thank you to Sally Kate Photography and Julie Peveto Photography for setting up this beautiful and fun styled session and a big hug to all of our kids that graciously allowed us to photograph them. I think our setting gave them a small piece the secret gardens of our childhood, too.
With love,
