Ruby | Summer Portraits at Deep Creek Lake, MD

What do you do when your baby sister (who is anything but a baby anymore) asks you to take some photos of her while you’re both at the family’s Lake House in Deep Creek Lake, MD? You say, “Absolutely 100% YES!” and you jump right to it!

It’s been a few years since I took my youngest sister’s portraits. And one day, two weeks ago, as we were sitting in my parent’s living room, she commented on how her portrait on the wall is a bit outdated. We made plans to update that photo (you know, the old “oh, we’ll just take a few photos” line was dropped – fast forward to that evening at the Lake when an hour later, we’re still taking photos – you know, I just can’t help myself.)

So, just in case you haven’t met this little drop of sunshine – meet my baby sister, Ruby. I was 16 years old when she was born – so I very clearly remember my Mom being pregnant with her & then bringing this tiny little bundle home from the hospital. As she began to grow & get bigger – people began calling her my little twin. We’d be out in public, and people would just assume that I was her Mom & she was my daughter because of how similar our looks were. I loved it – she was my very last little sister & I loved being her “other” Mother.

Fast forward to today & she’s quickly blossoming into the most gorgeous (both inside & out) person I know. (I like to think that because she’s the youngest of the 6 of us, she’s watched each of us older siblings grow up & she’s learned all the best things from each of us – culminating into the incredible young woman she is today. Either that, or, by the time they raised 5 kids, my parents pretty much figured out the secret to parenting & Ruby has turned out to be the perfect kid. You choose what you’d like to believe.)

I can always count on her to be up to help me with some big project (be it yard work, a house project, decorating a birthday cake – which I now 100% leave up to her – or cutting out 937 intricate sunshines for Braelynn’s 4th birthday party decorations). She remains Braelynn’s favorite Auntie (although, Auntie Amy has definitely come close to stealing that title with their “dates” to the “White Bunny”.) We have a running Sequence challenge going & while I won the overall challenge last year – this year, she’s kicking my butt. She is always up to do face masks & eat chocolate, still asks me to french braid her hair, and humored me earlier this summer by going jogging with me every time we were at the Lake.

If that isn’t enough to prove how incredible she is – well, you’ll just have to meet her & get to know her yourself. Photos are great, but they can’t accurately portray just how sweet & smart & funny this kid is. But trust me, I did my best to allow her gorgeous personality to shine thru these photos (and I think I did a pretty good job – if I do say so myself.)

Of course – what’s a photo session at the Lake without at least one or two photos of my little munchkins added in for fun?