Every family has its story and this family is so special in many ways. There’re just so many stories in this 21 people big family.
Invited by my family physician Dr. Christine Nedeau, I had the honor to take family pictures for Dr. Iway’s family in their beautiful home. Dr. Nedeau is the second daughter of the Iway family. She and her sister Dr. Yvonne Spurlock, brother Dr. Edsel Iway and little sister Steph are very close together. She said their family is a tight-knit. The family is led by their father Dr. Belino Iway who just celebrated his 71st birthday That was a big deal because he is a kidney dialysis patient and is waiting for a transplant right now. He was forced to retire from his practice. The mom, Dr. Olivia Iway, returned to practice (Gero-psychiatrist) once Dr. Belino’s health improved because she missed working. Dr. Nedeau said their family is pretty loud and crazy when they get together and the family is huge. Their extended family of cousins, second cousins, aunts, uncles, and all family friends that they grew up with wouldn’t be able to fit in the house, so they are keeping this a tiny get-together. This get together is simply to celebrate Steph’s new baby – Grayson’s baptism and Dr. Nedeau’s son – Jack’s 1st communion.
As always, I did all my homework before the actual session, including
I worried about the weather so much before the session because it was supposed to rain, and it actually did. We could not reschedule due to everyone’s availability, so we took pictures in the rain! I am so proud of the family and so glad that the picture turned out great with some of my magic.
So here it is! I had the session designed like a documentary family movie with mom Dr. Olivia Iway setting up the dinner table beautifully at the beginning with multiple sets of China and silverware. Dr. Nedeau said her family always has a big brunch together after church. Dad cooks, kids line up at the counter and wait for him to finish… Then they linger around the table for over an hour to talk! I could picture these in my head even before I went to their house. Then I moved on to take a few close up portraits for Doctors Iway. How lovely are they! I even found a pencil sketch of them in their house. They are originally from the Philippines and have been living in the States for over 40 years.
Baby Grayson is always the center of attention since he made his first appearance that day. We did not follow our original agenda because baby was still sleeping by the time I started shooting. When I saw grandma Lorilee feeding Grayson, I thought it created a perfect moment for some candid shots. Baby Grayson’s dad Tom then burped his new son on the shoulder. All the bigger kids were so excited to see baby Grayson the first time since Steph’s family lives in California.
Finally, the rain has becoming drizzles. The kids LOVE playing outdoors and will be out for hours together fishing, sitting at the water edge, and running the yard if it’s nice out. Due to the weather and slippery grass, I just had them lined up from oldest to youngest. Not to mention these talented cute kids are all competition dancers! They all have their own styles of jumping!
This is Dr. Nedeau’s little family! How cute are they! Dr. Nedeau and her husband Joel have two beautiful kids together – Cara and Jack. The lady with Cara in the first picture is Joel’s mother – grandma Jane. I love all the father-daughter and mother-daughter interaction shots. Even the one with Jack throwing leaves captures that little boy’s true personality.
Dr. Spurlock couldn’t make it to the first part of the family photo shoot because she was running rounds in Liberty Hospital. She and her husband Dan have three beautiful girls – Sophia, Alexa, and Mia. Looks like they are all daddy’s girls. Mia and Alexa started dancing in Gangnam Style while Sophia refused to join. Daddy was so cooperate with the younger girls in this dance and Sophia finally joined at the end.
Then we started the casual clothing big group picture. This was in my agenda and I had the pose designed to leave some space in between each small family with small family members grouped together. Then the small families moved closer together. We also did some fun casual group photo with grandparents telling stories for the kids on the lower deck and siblings chilling out on the higher deck. After that everyone went to change to their formal church clothes. Alexa showed her piano skills during this time and I was so impressed. Baby Grayson was getting ready in his cute little suit as well. 
It’s Jack’s Big Day! He dressed up in his light grey suit for communion. Everyone was looking at him and got him nervous, but he did so well for his own formal portraits. Following Jack, his parents joined him, and then the entire Nedeau family pictures in formal church outfits. How gorgeous are they! They all look like models and movie stars. Joel said George Glooney looks like him. Hmm, I can see that through his hair. I did work a lot on his hair to make it darker though. The editing took a lot longer than normal because darker and lighter skin colors are hard to balance in all the group pictures. I didn’t want to use the black and white photo to “solve” the problem. I hand edited all photos and kept almost all in color.
Dr. Nedeau and her brother Dr. Edsel Iway are baby Grayson’s godparents, so we snapped some photos for baby Grayson with parents and god parents. Of course we also took pictures for baby Grayson’s own family with mommy, daddy, and grandma.
Dr. Spurlock finally made it to the last part of the formal outfit pictures. This is her little family. I saw her leaving right after we finished the big group pictures. She was only in for 30 minutes maximum. What a professional physician! Being a physician is one of the hardest jobs because they are on call 24×7 and also works at nights and weekends. Almost all the Iway family members are physicians. Although the Iway siblings grew up singing and dancing, their parents still believe that they should pursue a career in the medical field. 
Save the best for last! This is the big Iway family formal outfit group photo. I am so glad that I visited the location before the actual shoot. These three steps are the perfect spot for a big family group photo, especially when it’s drizzling and the grass is wet. The ladies in heels wouldn’t be able to walk in the grass and mud like for the casual clothing photos.
Big thank you to Dr. Christine Nedeau for organizing the event and helping me preparing the big family photo session. The family is so warm-hearted. Drs. Iway offered me water, coffee, and snacks throughout the entire session. I truly love this big family!
At the end, I would like to call for an action. As mentioned at the beginning of this story, Dr. Belino Iway was forced to retire from his practice due to his kidney issue. Let’s help Dr. Belino find a donor for kidney transplant by spreading the word and using your connections. I would encourage all my fans to share, tweet, comment, pin, or link this story for Dr. Belino Iway. Thank you so much!
Tagged with: baby • barn • casual outfits • Child Photographer • China • doctor • donor • Dr. Belino Iway • Dr. Christine Iway • Dr. Edsel Iway • Dr. Olivia Iway • Dr. Yvonne Spurlock • family • Family Photos • family reunion • formal outfits • get together • Iway • Kansas City • Kansas City Life Style Photographer • kidney • kidney dialysis • kids • lake • Liberty • Liberty Clinic • Liberty Hospital • Liberty MO • mansion • MO • Nedeau • Nichols • Northland • Photographer • physician • pond • Portraits • Portraits Photographer • reunion • silverware • Spurlock • Stanley Farms • transplant • water edge
Beautiful family pictures! I had the wonderful opportunity to have Christina and Edsel as 5th graders when they were still living in Elkhart, KS.
Great captures! I’m sure this family will treasure these photos for years to come 🙂
What a good looking bunch and great job 😀
Wow, these are gorgeous Lai, very great job! 🙂 What a beautiful family!
What a beautiful family! Gorgeous photos!
I have recently become a new patient of Dr. Yvonne Spurlock. I have know her for many years as she was my sister Dolores Gallagher’s doctor. My sister has passed on now. She loved Dr. Spurlock and Dr. Spurlock is the most compassionate and dedicated physician I believe I have known. I ran across these photos searching for her phone number. They are so beautiful and so personal. I believe we all as patients like to know just who our physicians are to feel comfortable with them. I am an amatuer photographer who works for free for anyone who cannot pay for professional portraits. I love photography and people. Your work is outstanding and thank this family for shareing their life with others.