The Gustafson Family ... life in a contact sheet.

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.  "Pooh!" he whispered.  "Yes, Piglet?"  "Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw.  "I just wanted to be sure of you."  ~A.A. Milne

I share my images and feelings about this family often. Sure, she

is my dearest friend, and her children are little stars in my sky,

and she continues to amaze me every year we grow a little older...she grows better : )

This contact sheet was a little challenging. For one, I have SO much material, and two, my desire to make it 'perfect' for her is much like my desire to hand make my 5th grade boyfriends valentine...a hot mess.

Here you are my dear. Merry Christmas and I love you 

all SO MUCH - hot mess and all!

xo

L

To people we meet along the way...

I have to be honest with you. Being an artist ( even saying that is strange!) is a tough gig. My confidence is liken to that of my former 13 year old self; full of loathing and doubt one minute, and gun-blazing pride the next. One of the rare things I have found to even out these maniac moods, is an incredible colleague...

...enter Charla.

 She found my blog ( we don't know how or when) and made some very kind posts about my work. Intrigued by attention from someone other than my mother or my best friend ( LOVE YOU GUYS!), I looked her up:


Charla was a) a photographer, b) from Washington and c) lived in Long Beach...um, hello!?  Staying true to the Lyndsey way, I wrote her a long winded and overly metaphorical email expressing my desire to meet her, get to know her, be her new photog buddy, and live happily ever after.


We had lunch one day and the rest is making history. I adore her, her 2 year old, Brooklyn, and her hubby, Dan. Long Beach and photography have never felt so welcoming ; ) 


My point here is this: tonight Charla sat down with me and basically gave this web space a total face lift.  She did it beautifully and selflessly; and as I rolled about with little Brookie while she worked and shared her mastery of the web, I found myself feeling terribly blessed. Here is a girl that also appears to understand this phantom baby that occupies half of the brain,  keeps us up late into the night and whose room is a perpetual sty... she too is rearing this phantom photo baby!

This pre-teen, wanna-be artist has found someone to sit with at the lunch table. ( Mixing my metaphors,it's kinda my thing).


Thank you Charla. You are such a treasure and I just love the heck out of you! Here is to many years of shared growth and joy in this art we both love so dearly! 


Your fan,
Lynds

Elizabeth Rose Gustafson

Jessica and I used to dream about who we would be when we grew up. We would paint these future lives for ourselves where she would be a teacher, and I would be a singer. We would marry best friends like ourselves, and live next door to one another; barbecuing every weekend. Life took us down somewhat different paths in which the only backyard we share is the Pacific ocean...but we have remained as close today as we were as young girls. We said we would be there for the birth of one another's children; and when Nicholas Alan was born a few weeks after my wedding in 2008 we celebrated those milestones over the phone in the way we have grown used to.

When she and her hubby, Jeff, found out they were expecting baby #2 I was determined not to miss it. I hovered around my phone for weeks throughout the end of August and beginning of September ready to jump on a plane to join her for this incredible blessing. Baby teased us for weeks until finally, on September 15th, 2010 at 11:59am, she finally arrived. A quick labor and two happy

parents = Elizabeth Rose, Ella they called her.

A pink rose bud for a mouth, long spidery fingers, eyes like a kitten, roaming and alert, a cluster of dark curls matted to her little head and a pair of long elegant legs...Ella was born. She wont remember everyone's shock at her quick appearance, the smile on her daddy's face as he called loved ones to share that his daughter was here, the way she looked at her mother for the first time comforted by a voice she knew better than her own name, or the snotty shaking auntie that took photograph after photograph of her beauty...but we will.Always.

Congratulations to Jessica, Jeff and big brother, Nicholas! She is a beautiful baby girl, and thank you for letting me be there to bask in your happiness. Auntie Dee Dee loves her little Gustafson kiddies to the moon and back!

Soon I will post Ella's birth story photos for everyone to enjoy! Love to you all!!!

Waiting for Ella

There is no words for how I feel about this girl. She is the one I want to have diving contests with; one goofy splash after the other. She is the one I want to share my comic book collection with late at night while reading in my purple room by a dim bedside lamp. She is the one I call first...good or bad. She is the one who has taught me strength and love in ways no other person ever could. She is the one that will never think it's stupid, always think it's funny, and would never let me leave the house looking like that....she is my best friend, my soul sister, and the mother of one of the most incredible little people I've ever had the pleasure of loving, Nicholas.

Come this fall, her family will grow, adding to it a precious baby girl, Elizabeth Rose...Ella for short. When baby Ella is older I will tell her a special story of how we dropped her big brother off at Grammy's and went to the hospital. I will share with her how we all waited the long hours; feeling the pain of her mommy's labor of love. How her daddy knew just what to do, and how auntie Lynney didn't. I will tell her how I hid my tears behind my camera, and that I was the first person to take her portrait. Mostly, I will tell her how much we all loved one another - and how it was this joy and love that her mommy and daddy had for one another that made her.

I can't wait to take this journey with you Bell. We may not be next door neighbors and share in weekend BBQ's, but this wish, we will share...the birth of your daughter. Love you to the moon friend, and I can't wait to see you all in the fall. xoxox