Chandra Delite

Happy Friday!  I have a few non-makeover-related things that I want to share with you today, so I hope you’ll humor me!

As you may know, I had a baby a few months ago.  His name is Tyce and he is the sweetest little angel nugget.  And with a new baby comes the need for some new family pictures!

We had planned for months for my 8-year-old son Koy’s baptism and Tyce’s baby blessing to happen on the same weekend in April, which meant the whole extended family was in town.  Perfect opportunity for a group family picture, which we hadn’t had done since, I don’t know, 1998?  The one where I look like a cast member from “My So Called Life?” Yeah.

So I called up one of the best photographers I know, Chandra Goodman, who also happens to be my sister-in-law’s sister.  (Is there another term for this relationship?  I feel like there should be).

Not only is she an amazing photographer, she’s an incredible person with a story I wanted to tell you about.

Two years ago, at the age of 26, Chandra was diagnosed with breast cancer.

She went through chemo, lost all her hair, endured a double mastectomy, and had to put her plans of having more children on hold for a few years until it was safe to conceive again. But she beat it!  She came out the other side heathy and whole.

And through it all, she kept the most upbeat and positive attitude.  You can tell that just by looking at her. She’s one of those people that just radiates light. Sometimes, her family members would say, they almost forgot she even had cancer, that’s how happy and positive she is.

Then, in February of this year, she found another lump.
Cancer had struck again.

She was told that she would have even more intense chemo this time around and that her chances of having more children were next to nothing.  A difficult pill to swallow for someone who already had fertility problems to begin with and ached for more children.

It was at this point that I began to rethink our plan of having Chandra take our pictures.  That is probably the LAST thing she wanted to be doing.  We told her it was TOTALLY NOT A BIG DEAL if she wasn’t up for it anymore.  We understood 100%.

But Chandra got a small miracle.  Chemo wasn’t going to be necessary! She could fight it with radiation alone.  So she insisted that she felt perfectly well enough to come out and take our pictures.  (I gave her ample opportunities to back out, don’t you worry).

She did such a great job capturing us.

She’s a total pro, I couldn’t believe how quickly she whipped all 18 of us into shape.

(I’m the oldest of four kids.  That’s my sister Tori on the left with her family, my brother Nathan second from the left with his wife and their two boys, then my youngest brother Spencer is on the right with his wife Candice, who is Chandra’s sister).

We were in a cow pasture, with snakes, and cow poo, and a nosy bull that was very interested in the proceedings, and she didn’t flinch once.

I’m so thankful we were able to capture this little moment in time. The light was so beautiful too, she knew exactly when the sun would be at it’s most golden hour.

(One of these families just found out they are pregnant, can you guess who?)

Sorry for the picture overload, but I love them all so much!  I had a really hard time narrowing down the few to share here today!

I hoped you enjoyed a little glimpse into my family, and meeting Chandra and her family.

If you want to read more about her journey, check out her blog Life As We Know It.

If you live in the Mesa/Phoenix area, and are looking for an awesome photographer for any event, look her up on her site Chandra Delite Photography! (You have to check out the birth story sessions she does, so beautiful!)

If you have the means to donate, that would be incredibly appreciated.  After her radiation, she has to follow up with medicine that she cannot get pregnant on for 10 years.  She is freezing embryos now in the hopes that she can take a break halfway through those 10 years, and try to have a baby then.  Anything that could help lift this financial burden in any small way would be such a help to them.  You can donate to Chandra here.

If you are the praying type, prayers are ALWAYS welcome.

And if not, just send some positive mental thoughts her way.  It makes a difference.  I know it.