Our Fourth

We headed over to my sister's house for some Independence Day celebration and firework fun. We had some dinner and hung around waiting for it to get dark. Little Miss Evey is going through a rather clingy stage with me...some sort of delayed separation anxiety? I don't know. But she doesn't like me out of her sight these days.







Evey was carefree, having a fabulous time...



until we headed outside and she heard the fireworks going off in the neighborhood. She was a little concerned...



Though Grandpa Lee got her hooked up with some poppers and she thought those were pretty interesting.





Maddox also enjoyed the poppers.



Though he had a slightly more aggressive approach...







Maddox was setting off fireworks for the first time...



I say it all the time, but I just can't get over how big my niece is now...











When it came to retrieving parachutes, Jay and my sister got a little competitive. ;-)



Ooooohhhh, aaaaaahhhh...



LOVE the eyebrows!



Taking out a line of poppers...



It got chillier than I anticipated, so we had to hit up Connor's closet for something to keep little Evey warm...



The wind was making it difficult to light the snakes. Jay to the rescue. Though I'm not sure the snakes were supposed to actually be on fire.



Sparkler as light saber...













Jay and Maddox...







AWESOME!



LOVE the abstract quality here...



Their neighbor up the street put on quite a show! :-)









Hope you had a fabulous 4th of July!

Lyndsy + Chris...Engagement Portraits

I spent a lovely evening with Lyndsy and Chris yesterday, creating some engagement portraits to celebrate their upcoming wedding. They are such a sweet couple, very tender and loving with one another. We had a lot of fun strolling gardens, exploring haunted houses, and posing with scavenger hunters. :-)

VOTE for your favorite in the COMMENTS section below! Chris and Lyndsy will receive a free 8x10 of the most popular image!

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Thanks for a fun shoot guys! :-)

Havilah + James...Wedding Photography

Yesterday was the BIG day for James & Havilah, who became husband and wife at Blue Ridge Presbyterian Church. The day was absolutely overflowing with love and laughter. Seriously, there were a few times my cheeks hurt from laughing so much. Witnessing the love that Havilah and James share is a beautiful thing. :-)



I like both of these detail shots...





Havilah helped get her girls ready...



Then got herself all gorgeous...



With the help of her mother...



and fabulous bridesmaids...



Classic beauty...















I had a few minutes with James (AKA the handsome groom)...









The first meeting...





Havilah grooming James... :-)





LOVE...



James fighting off Havilah's advances... (yeah, right)







Apparently James is a blues man...





James and his (twin) brother Jason...













Even the sermon was hilarious and filled with laughter...



James enjoyed the kiss... ;-)



The reception was in the Broadway Room at the Uptown...





Love...



Laughter...



Love...



Laughter...



You get the idea. Lots of love. Lots of laughter. :-)
And, of course, the ring shot...



CONGRATULATIONS to Havilah & James! :-)

Jon...Family Portraits

Yesterday morning I met up with Karen & Jon to get some family shots before Jon was deployed today. Very last minute but we managed to pull it off! Karen & Jon are base neighbors with Devon & Tim! The humidity actually let up some yesterday, so it wasn't too bad at all. It was downright pleasant in the shade. :-)

The adorable family...



The stunning Abianne...





The handsome Wyatt...
(What a cutey!)





And adorable little Gabriella...





Sister sandwich...



A nice shot of Jon...



I love this shot with Wyatt...



We made sure to get a shot of Jon with each of the kiddos...







Some wardrobe changeroo...





For some reason I really like this parting over-the-shoulder-glance shot...



Too cute with the furrowed brow...













LOVE this one...







Strong big brother!



Too cute...



Secrets...
;-)



Abbey's fabulous dance moves...



The fam again...







Jon...



Karen...
(lovely :-)



Karen and the kiddos...



Thanks for a fun morning shoot gang! :-)

Conehead Cashy

So...about a week ago...poor Cash had a tumor removed from one of his rear legs. (Luckily it was benign.) He has a pretty good sized wound that was stapled shut and really needs to heal. Cash is refusing to let that happen. After he was able to remove a couple of the staples, we got him a lovely cone. The poor dog now walks around the house slamming into anyone or anything that gets in his way.



However, he quickly learned how to bypass the cone somehow. He is really limber I guess. Maybe the cone isn't big enough? But I can't imagine him wearing anything larger! I don't know. But we have tried wrapping his leg in various bandages which he manages to get off and resumes licking his wound. Ugh. So we now have a four-pronged strategy: Elizabethan collar (aka cone or funnel), water proof bandage wrap, icky spray, and...a pair of Maddox's old sweatpants.



I sure hope this works! If not...anybody have any other brilliant ideas?!

Devon...Family Portraits

Devon contacted me for some portraits with her hubby and kids before she is deployed. Her schedule is very hectic right now so we decided to go for it last night. The rain wasn't forecasted until late and the radar looked clear. Uh huh. So the minute we pull up...rain. And after they had driven an hour to get to KC! So...we found some shelter here and there and worked it out anyways! The kids had been trapped in the car for quite a while and were buzzing with energy, so we had a lot of FUN! Some of my favs...





I couldn't tell if they were dancing or wrestling...but they both seemed to be enjoying whatever they were doing...



A few shots of Gabriel...







Abbey cracked me up!!! Anytime she saw the camera pointed at her she would start seriously working it! Future supermodel...







Snagged this shot of Devon with Gabriel...love it!



Mr. Grayson...







And little Malcolm...







Devon, Tim, and their brood...









Awesome! ;-)



This one of the kids feels so real...goofy face, dislodged shoe, restless energy, and all...



Devon with each of the kiddos...









Abbey and Malcolm...



Grayson and Gabriel... :-P



I had to grab this shot...just love it.



One more...



Thanks gang, for being so flexible and rolling with it. I really enjoyed our time together. :-)

Metamorphosis

Jay's mom (Anita...aka Grandma Nita...aka Ta by Evey) found some parsley plants covered in caterpillars. She thought the kids would enjoy seeing them.





As usual, it took me awhile to get around to planting the parsley. When I did take the time to plant them, I found that one of the caterpillars had already cocooned on the side of the pot. So cool! Though not convenient when trying to transplant. Not wanting to touch the chrysalis, I just planted the pot in with the parsley.





Nifty, eh? :-)