the Newton family gathered to celebrate my Grandma LaMarr's 95th birthday.


Ninety-five years.


She's in a season of transition right now, so my mom and Aunt Nancy have been going through closets and drawers filled with an entire lifetime. It's amazing how something as ordinary as a recipe card, an old apron, or a coffee can full of buttons can stop you in your tracks.


Every little thing has a story attached to it (which my Grandma can't remember now, of course)


The gift wasn't just celebrating Grandma that weekend though—it was that every single cousin made it. Even the ones from California and Texas. As adults with busy lives, jobs, kids, and calendars, we somehow all found our way back to the farm.



We ate fried chicken at a potluck (as any respectable Nebraska family should), wandered around the property, and laughed ourselves through decades of memories. I think it was originally a schoolhouse before my grandparents renovated it after they got married in the '50s. Then they raised five kids here. Five kids in a 2 bedroom, 1 bath farmhouse.


Somewhere along the way we've convinced ourselves that bigger is always better. Bigger houses. Bigger schedules. Bigger goals. But standing there, I couldn't help thinking that love doesn't seem to care much about square footage.


That little house built an enormous family.


As I drove home, I kept thinking about what we're all building with the lives we've been given.

We're busy chasing careers, renovating homes, filling calendars, buying things we swear will make life easier. None of those things are bad. But someday, people won't gather to remember what we owned. They'll remember how we made them feel.

Whether our home felt welcoming.

Whether we showed up.

Whether we made time.


Grandma and Grandpa probably never imagined that one day a yard full of grown grandchildren would be wandering around telling stories about that little house. Fuck - they didn't have TIME to.


They were just busy building a simple life together. Turns out, that was the biggest thing they ever built.

Elderly woman carefully descending front porch steps beside a walker mobility aid outside a light blue house.
A charming white farmhouse surrounded by mature trees on a lush green rural property.
Rural farm property with metal barns, gravel driveway, wooden fence gate, and lush green trees under overcast skies.
White Newton grain truck from Bradshaw, NE parked beside large metal grain storage silos on a gravel lot.
Creative mailbox mounted on an auger drill bit post with address sign for Pat La Marr Newton at 120 Road 18.
Person posing with arms outstretched between large metal grain silos on a farm with green grass.
Colorful Happy Birthday banner displayed in a garage door window, celebrating a special occasion.
Two farmers walk confidently past grain silos and farm buildings on an overcast day in this black and white rural photo.
Large family group photo outdoors on a farm with a windmill and white buildings in the background.
Mother crouching down to embrace young child in open dirt field with green cornfield and cloudy sky.
Woman smiling in basement holding up large red underwear at a Christmas holiday party gathering.
Woman in vintage white lace wedding dress and veil with safety glasses holding a can indoors.
A gray barn stands in an open field under overcast skies on a rural farm property.
Young man pushing smiling woman in wheelchair on gravel farm path with grain silos and vehicles in background.
Vintage aluminum percolator and glass mason jar on dark granite countertop with textured backsplash and wall clock.
Woman photographs multigenerational family posing on front steps of a charming white farmhouse surrounded by green trees.

we five


Along one of the windbreaks sits an old storage shed that my mom and her siblings claimed as their clubhouse. At some point, they spray-painted "WE FIVE" across the door using a homemade stencil.

The second I saw it, I had that familiar gut feeling: I need a picture of all five of them right here.

As if on cue, Aunt Nancy was just pulling out of the driveway. I flagged her down and waved her back in.

I've learned to trust those little nudges. I've never once regretted stopping everything to make a photograph.

Weathered white wooden shed door with peeling paint and yellow stenciled letters, slightly ajar revealing garden tools inside.
Five adults smiling together in front of a rustic shed surrounded by trees on a green lawn.

circa 1960s

Family of five posing outdoors in front of a white house, featuring a woman in blue dress with four children.

June 2026

and then a cousin staycation



lincoln, ne


It's kind of fun to be a visitor in your own city. So we also squeezed in a little staycation with our California cousins while they were back. We gave them a tour of our new place + studio, then spent the day wandering around Lincoln. My cousin, Andrea, is from Omaha but never spent any time at all growing up in our capital city, just 45 minutes away, and obviously her husband Andy (from Michigan) and their two kids have never been either. The rain tried its best to derail our plans, but it turns out good conversations don't care about the weather. And I have to say... the Graduate Hotels are quickly becoming one of our favorite places to stay.

Flooded sidewalk next to parked SUV on wet urban street near Sullivan's sign.
A cheerful woman with glasses waves while a smiling gray-haired man hugs her inside a cozy home.
Two blonde females making funny faces, one flashing a peace sign, posing together for a selfie indoors.
Four smiling women and girls posing together indoors, one wearing a Lainey Wilson hoodie.
Two girls sharing a blue umbrella on a rainy sidewalk wearing matching Lainey Wilson hoodies.
College dorm room with bulletin board, American flag, green chair, wooden desk, framed wall art, and plaid bedding.
Graduate Hotel lobby with colorful rainbow striped reception desk, herringbone wood floors, and eclectic lounge seating area.
Cozy hotel bedroom with a king bed, navy runner, decorative horse pillow, and vintage city map artwork above.
Four women standing under colorful umbrellas on a rainy day outside a building.
Family of four posing together indoors in a photography studio, smiling for a casual portrait photo.
Two girls playing Rummikub board game with numbered tiles on a wooden rack at a table.
Two girls smile at camera in colorful ice cream shop with neon signs, one holding a waffle cone dessert.
A smiling girl in a beige hoodie cuddles an adorable Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy wearing a pink collar.

Hope you're all having a happy summer.