Hannah Renno Films and Photography

This one was special.

At the end of March 2020, when the pandemic was brand new and the severity and duration were quite unknown, Markus and I made the difficult decision to bring our children to their grandparents' homes for the remainder of the school year. It was too challenging to juggle virtual schooling for all four while both of us continued to work at the hospital. We knew that my "retirement" was right around the corner in May, so we needed a plan to bridge us to that. We called our parents on a Wednesday night, and they instantaneously said "Yes. Bring them." By Friday, I was driving across the country to drop them off.

This film is the story of our children's time in Tucson, Arizona with Markus's parents. For the seven weeks that we were apart, Henry and Wilhelmina stayed with my parents in Colorado, while Silas and Timothy were with Oma and Opa.

I filmed this in late May 2020 when I came to pick them all up, just days after transitioning into my role as a stay at home mom. I wanted to capture the special bonds that developed between grandparents and grandchildren, highlight the many adventures they had, and also document the home that was the setting for such a pivotal time in our kids' lives.

I surprised Gerd and Kathy with this video for Christmas. We all relived the moments like it was just yesterday, and will continue to savor the happy memories for years to come. Our children are tremendously blessed to have such loving, energetic, generous grandparents.

Welcome to CoronaCamp Arizona.

This was the very first video I ever created. It was April 2017, and my last baby was about to turn one. The older three were growing and learning by leaps and bounds, and I wanted to freeze these moments in a visual auditory tangible time capsule.

I wanted to hear their coos, giggles, exclamations, and lisps. In a wondrous split second, I was even lucky enough to catch my daughter's first "mama" in this film.

I wanted to see their pudgy fingers, and watch their toddling gates, while hearing the footfall of their soft baby feet. I wanted to capture the little things they delighted in each day, and I wanted to witness the way they interacted—with each other and with me.

This project took me a long time to complete, as I learned about video editing from scratch. Four and a half years later, I'm so grateful I will have these moments forever.