Meet the Wilson Family
I first met Sarah Wilson at Banquet in a Field, just days after moving to North Dakota. She gave me my first dose of "North Dakota Nice", as they call it, welcoming me into the state with open arms. A couple of months later, I visited her, her husband, and her 3 littles on their family farm.I love giving families photos they can keep forever and show kids & grandkids 30 years down the road; I feel it is my calling to bless the people and causes I believe in with photography. But, more often than not, I feel that I am the one who is most blessed through the process. I get to meet families whose light shines so brightly, they inspire me to work to shine brighter and be better myself.This is definitely one of those families...
Meet Charlotte, the oldest of the 3 Wilson children. She rushed outside in her hoodie and rubber boots, ready to help dad change the sickle sections on the bean head... 
...carefully replacing the old sickle sections with new ones... 
...then dad showed her how to use the cordless to fasten them down... 
...and watched her as she did the next few all by herself. And that, has got to be some of the very best of farm life, working side-by-side with mom and dad, learning new skills, building confidence and a solid work ethic.
They also had Corbin (he's from Australia!) helping out this year at harvest. He's right there behind Charlotte in this picture. 
And pretty soon, little sister Molly came out to help too! These girls were such happy helpers, such good kids! 
And then mom (Sarah) got back from taking their youngest to pre-school and joined in! They began singing songs from Sunday School as they worked. Even as I was adjusting to the cold wind in this flat country, it just warmed my heart all the way through. 
Oh, to be a kid again! We loved rolling around on creeper stools like this back in the day! 
The sickle is in the bean head, and we're almost ready to go to the field... 
...but we have to make a quick stop to fill up the fuel tank first... 
...and we are in business! 
But then it started to sprinkle...not so good for pictures! So I came back a little later... 
At suppertime, the kids came out with mom to deliver food to dad. Sam, the youngest, decided he wanted to ride a round with dad. So, he and Molly came running out of the pickup towards the combine. They stopped right here, to wait for dad to stop unloading. I just love how Molly protectively placed her arm around her little brother. I quickly snapped this before Sam climbed in the cab!With the weather still not cooperating, I decided to come back another day....and you'll see those photos in a future blog post! But for as rainy and cloudy and gloomy as it was, my heart left so full after spending just a few hours with the Wilsons.
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