Safari: Sebastian

I’ve found a new joy in my life…Photo Safaris. I love them. (You may have noticed from the snowy Indiana shots or the recent “Vacation Days” post…) Today’s safari took place in Sebastian while we are here visiting my Dad for Christmas. This quiet little town is full of photo ops so I grabbed an hour to go take them. Here are a few of my faves:

This was my kinda place! It was full of old treasures and random delights and I happen to LOVE old treasures and random delights.

This run-down fish shop is on the historic registry and it was wonderful! You can still see how they would load, clean, and move the fish up to the store front.

sorry about the self-portrait…

So that is my adventure for today. We are off to anniversary land next!

Vacation Days

I love Vacation Days, especially  the ones with great weather, best friends, new discoveries, and girlie treats. Here are a few scenes from a day like that I had recently.

I wish you wonderful vacation days this season!

Leslie’s Baby Shower

I was blessed this weekend by being invited to photograph a very precious occasion. Leslie Plum  is expecting a baby boy in February and her shower was on Saturday. Leslie is the extremely sweet and beautiful best friend of Lindsey Jordan who you may remember from a recent post. (Birds of a feather…) Although I was just there to take pictures, I felt an incredible amount of warmth the minute I walked through the door. Leslie’s family and friends were so welcoming that I felt like I had known them for years! It was such a privilege to be in the presence of that kind of love.

The stunning mommy-to-be:

Sweet little shower scenes:

A special gift for Grandma:

The super adorable BFFs:

More sweet shower scenes (the middle is a special quilt from Grandma):

And a special prayer of blessing and thanks for a precious little boy:

Congratulations on your new little bundle Leslie. Drew is very fortunate to be joining such a wonderful family.

The Siggins

We love The Siggins! Chris and Kim and their 4 kiddos are incredibly dear to us. After Dave and I got engaged, the first decision we made was that Chris Siggins would do our wedding. Literally 30 minutes after I said yes. We just love him that much. And Kim…let me tell you is the sweetest yet most hilarious pastor’s wife I have ever met! They both have masters degrees in family counseling and a passion for restoring and strengtening families. They have three strapping boys and one little girlie who fits in just perfectly. This family is going to do big things…just wait! 

Caleb is the oldest,  and a very cool kid with an awesome smile!

Zach is the silly handsome one with the adorable dimples!

And Gabriel….just watch out girls.

Baby Kylie who took so many good pics, I had a hard time narrowing it down.

Little men.

And the little lady doing her own thing.

They were all great sports at 8 am. So thanks guys!

PS: Thanks again to Grassy Waters Preserve!

Kelly B’s Belly

I have been waiting for this shoot for a long time. I am thrilled to finally be able to share with you a glimpse of the joy that my friend Kelly and her husband Brad share for the upcoming arrival of their son Rylen. You may remember I posted pics from her baby shower last month. She is an incredible blessing to me and I know God has amazing things in store for the Baker family as they welcome their new little bundle into the world. 

 

Braddy’s gonna be a Daddy.

Rylen is going to be a b-ball player like his daddy for sure.

B & K really are such a perfect match.

So Baby Rylen, I look forward to seeing you soon little guy! But for now… Here’s lookin at you kid!

The Reynolds

This has been a crazy-busy week but after a very productive Saturday I am pleased to present to you…(drumroll please?)…the blog previews from tonight’s shoot with The Reynolds Family. YAY. Jason and Ashley of http://ashleyandjason.com/wordpress/ are somewhat new in town and hail from the big ol’ state of Texas. So when it came time to photograph their darling family, the beach was a great choice to show all those folk back home what they’re missin! We had alot of fun and great weather at Coral Cove. They have three little girlies who are just absolute dolls. See for yourself:

That is Lilly, the big sissy and the first kid ever to say “cheeseburger” when I took their picture.

This is Sydney, quite possibly the easiest child to photograph, ever.

And most recently, Abby, born on October 3rd.  So sweet…

And the two parents behind it all.

As you can see, Jason is outnumbered. (but I think he’s ok with it)

 It’s true what they say, “Girls just wanna have fun”…

So Reynolds…Hope you love them and thanks for inviting me to capture this precious stage!

Babes

I have fallen so deeply in love with photography this past year that naturally, I have started looking for ways to just bless others with the gift of memories. I have a few exciting things on the line that I will be sharing with you soon but my first opportunity was this past week. I was invited to come and photograph the adorable babes of Martin County’s teen parent program. It was a great way to kick off the Christmas Season. So I have posted just a few to give you a glimpse of joy! Ho, Ho, Ho

These siblings were so darn cute that I had to make a little collage.

Merry Christmas!

A Drummond Family Thanksgiving

Dave and I had the opportunity this past weekend to get away and visit my dad’s family in Southern Indiana. We are so glad we did. At church, we always use the phrase “A place to belong” and truly that is what comes to mind when I look back on our time with my extended family. We are lucky to have our parents all within an hour’s drive but it was comforting to be in the presence of so much heritage and love. We collected some awesome memories, a few of which are posted here:

First the cousin’s kiddos cause they are just the cutest. You wouldn’t know it but Boaz up top and Jonathan on the right are twins!

This is my cousin’s daughter Peyton and she insisted on wearing the toy chain links as earrings. Why not?

Dave is always such a great sport about my photo whims and I am in love with this shot. S-T-U-D.

One of the coolest adventures from the trip was a photo-safari with my uncle to see some of the local sights. I took a ton of pics but here are my faves:

We visited two covered bridges both built before 1900 before driving up to the top of the town. It was just beautiful up there, the snowy fog prevented us from seeing much from the overlooks but I didn’t care because it was all gorgeous.

I always count it as a little gift from God when I witness rare animal sightings and this one took my breath away (that’s why I made it big)

Thanks for scrolling all the way through my little collection of Thanksgiving memories. I am truly thankful for so many things and you reading my blog is one of them!

The Scalici Sisters

I have had the joy of photographing this incredibly adorable trio for three years now and it gets more fun every year!  They absolutely overflow with love and laughter and the kind of personality that just makes you giggle. I can’t believe how grown up they are and I have no idea how their parents are going to handle the swarms of boys that will be flocking to them in the near future! Wow. Well here are a few of my favorites from yesterday’s shoot at Grassy Waters Preserve (love that place).

You can see where they get their charm….

Hannah is so sweet and is a great big sister.

Abby is totally awesome with the camera and we have a blast every year (America’s Next Top Model…)

Emma is the baby of the fam and has this adorably hilarious personality that just makes me swoon.

We all had so much fun together and got some great shots, so enjoy!

and of course, some action shots, music courtesy of Apryl’s iPhone.

So it’s easy to see why I am so smitten by these mini-scalicis. I just love them (and their mom and dad)!