A Christmas Challenge

I know them and love them so I don't think Sherri and Kristie Rawls (they have married names now, I know, but I always remember everyone by the name they had when I photographed their wedding) will take offense at me calling their portrait session one of the greatest challenges of the holiday season. We often photograph groups of grandchildren to give as Christmas gifts to the grandparents. The Rawls grandchildren had a unique, built-in challenge -- lots of little ones. Since five of the six children were under five years old and three of these were under six months old, it was a challenge just keeping them from crying. We managed to make it through the session with a couple of exhausted mothers and a portrait that should have melted a grandparent's heart. Please tell me it was worth it, Sherri & Kristie, because I thought it was.

Some nice looking ladies!

I don't share a lot about my family but I thought you'd enjoy seeing these four beautiful women. They are my mother and her three sisters at our annual "after Christmas get-together with all the Spivey chicks to eat up the leftovers" party. My mother came from a large family of thirteen children (the Spiveys) in the Rehoboth community outside Jackson. There are only five of them still living -- my mother, who is the oldest still living, her three sisters and one brother (he doesn't get invited to this strictly female party). Getting these wonderful women and their daughters, granddaughters, nieces, daughters-in-law, etc. together is a special holiday treat and we look forward to it every year. Just so you'll know -- from left to right, this is Fannye Ashley, Rachel Gassner, Evelyn Hedspeth, and Eloise Smith.

Christmas Cards

I thought we had an especially good group of Christmas cards for our clients this year and I wanted to share some of them with you. Don't you just love the variety of ideas that work for a card? Some of them are just great classic portraits like the photos of Logan and Mason Harrell and Owen Black. I really loved the vintage look of Scott & Jenny Culpepper's family from Courtland in their Civil War garb . And you'd never know that we almost turned the Chamblee children into living popsicles taking their photo. It was so cold outside that day (it was the day that it snowed for about 10 minutes) that I was afraid Cyndi was going to end up with three frostbitten children. I also did some custom-design cards with multiple images for some of our kids and families. Hope you enjoy a touch of the holiday spirit!

Santa said there were good girls and bad girls!!

The bad girl I'm talking about here is definitely ME!! I was so stressed trying to finish holiday orders around here that I haven't written anything for weeks. Peggy really got on me today when she came back to work and I ALWAYS listen to Peggy because she's kept me straight for more years than I care to think about. Anyway, I wanted to get back to writing and she gave me the push I needed. So, my apologies to Santa and everyone who reads this for not writing sooner. I'll try to be a "good girl" in the new year and write more often.

Of course, as usual, I had lots of good little girls around the holidays and wanted to share a few photos with you. I have so many sweet little girls that come my way every year and their mothers go to so much trouble to find the most beautiful little outfits. They are all fun to photograph and we look forward to some of our favorite repeat customers. I wanted to share a few with you.

It wouldn't be Christmas around here without a visit from Miss Ryleigh Skeeters of Newsoms. Ryleigh always has STUNNING Christmas dresses and a new doll with a matching outfit. I designed her mommy, Lisa, two different Christmas cards that included several of her poses and even ordered her the Photostamps with Ryleigh's photos on them. That really adds a nice touch to a special holiday greeting.

Many times we don't get to see our little ones after they start school but we had little Miss Carly Stephenson come back to us this year. Isn't she a sweetheart? She ran the gamut from elegant, grown-up poses to ones with pizzazz. I hope she doesn't get it in her head any time soon to cut that beautiful hair!

And the "Dancing Queen" title of the year has to go to Anna Faith Howell! Sometimes to loosen up someone when we first start taking photos. I'll have them dance a little or spin around. Anna Faith has not forgotten me having her dance about a year ago and now she insists on a little dance every time she comes by. She had so many adorable photos that her mom couldn't pick just one so I created a little dancing panel for her. Have you ever seen so many moves on one so young?

And, of course, we're always happy to see Skylar Wood. Her mommy and daddy have been very faithful about bringing her over since she was born and it's such a joy to be a small part of her growing up. Her mommy finds the MOST BEAUTIFUL clothes for her and has had us make very special little albums and collages of her photos. Such a little sweetie!!

A couple of good guys

Taking photos of high school seniors is something we really enjoy but sometimes guys can be a challenge. They can be a little self-conscious or they can give us what we call the "football face" -- "no smiling, we want to look tough!" It was a real treat this afternoon to have Eli and Josh from Halifax Academy come in for portraits. They told us they had been in school together since kindergarten and they were fun to photograph. We talked so much that we almost didn't get all our photos done before the light started to fade. So it was only fitting that we finished up the shoot with a photo of them together on the tailgate of Josh's truck. Probably, if that truck could talk, it would have some stories to tell about these two nice guys!!

Super Trooper!!

It was really exciting today to photograph Katie Velazquez of Ahoskie in her uniform as one of North Carolina's newest highway patrolmen. I've never met a female trooper before and I am in awe of her accomplishment. I know the training is not easy and the job is so important. She said this had always been her ambition and I am always happy to meet young people who are fulfilling their dream. Best of luck, Katie, in your new job. I hope I never have to meet you in your line of duty, but I feel confident that you'll do a great job.

Town of Conway Veteran's Memorial Park

You all know that I LOVE photographing weddings and I couldn't ask for two nicer people to work with than Ashley and Guy David whose wedding I photographed on Saturday. My only regret is that I couldn't clone myself and be in two places at once. I would have loved to have been in my dear town of Conway for the dedication of the memorial park for veterans. I consider it one of the proudest elements of my heritage than I am the daughter of a World War II veteran -- a member of that "Greatest Generation" that without complaint went to war for their country and came home to work hard and deliver to their children the prosperity that we have all enjoyed. It is a great achievement that the Town of Conway has worked to honor the memory of these men and women.

My dear young friend, Allison Davis of Sandfoot Photography, was able to photograph the activities of the day for Conway and I am very eager to see all her photos and share in the day. My husband and I drove to Benson for the wedding through solid rain for about an hour Saturday morning and I really hoped that the bad weather would spare Conway, but I found out that it didn't. Joe and I stopped by the memorial on our way back into town Sunday afternoon and I heard that it did rain during the program. I'm so sorry that everyone who was there couldn't enjoy the day with good weather, but I know that the memorial park will now be enjoyed for generations.

I couldn't wait to see my father's brick and I read his name with immeasurable pride. I stood and read through the names of so many other men who were the fathers of my friends growing up. It is with awe that I saw places and events that I know from my study of history were horrible -- places like Pearl Harbor and battles like D-Day -- and yet I never knew one of these men to complain about their service. They did the job they were asked to do and some came home to their families and lives and others made the ultimate sacrifice. It was also incredibly sad to see the red roses on some of the bricks that represented veterans who had passed away before the park could be dedicated.

The Town of Conway has given our community a wonderful gift and I thank them for it.