Thanksgiving was spent a little different this year with us. We decided we were going to spend it in Tennessee. We left early on Thanksgiving morning and arrived in Johnson City around 4 pm, right as the free Thanksgiving buffet at our hotel closed….so…it was burgers and fries. I wasn’t going to complain about that!!
The next day, the boys were driving to Knoxville to the University of Tennessee while I visited with my friend Tina Wilson. I spent the day with her at her studio and on the road for a shoot. She has been so open and helpful to me in my journey to better myself both in photography and in life.
Saturday morning, we headed back to the studio for a little, while the boys went to the Hands on Museum across the street where I later met up with them. This was so great for the boys to be able to run around and experiment “hands on” all different science and life experiments.
Later in the day, Tina had invited us to her families annual Fish Fry. Our kids were able to run and play and Santa made a special visit with gifts for everyone. The food was right up my alley…everything was deep fried!! Yum!! I don’t think I ate anything healthy all weekend. Once everyone left, we headed to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Christmas light spectacular. This is miles of Christmas lights and displays wrapping throughout the parking lot, on to the drag strip and ending with a lap around the race track! We actually drove up one of the turns and I swear we were going to roll the van!
Sunday, after church, we headed to Gatlinburg to go to Dolly Wood. Amusement parks in the winter!! Woo Hoo! It was chilly, but the kids loved it. Tony and I took turns with Kobe on the big rides and then we took Braden on all the kiddy rides. We pigged out on more fried food…spiral cut fries dipped in chili and cheese….I can feel my arteries clogging… When it finally became dark, we waited patiently for the light parade. Dolly Wood was all decorated for Christmas with lights everywhere. It was so beautiful!! Then we headed back to the hotel because the boys were freezing.
Monday, we headed home. It was a long 8 hours, but was totally worth it. We needed this family time. This was a great way to close out the year.
Thank you Tina for letting us come down to your home and spend the weekend with you. It meant the world to me!!Our Thanksgiving dinnerThe boys trip to UT and Steve Spurrier Field.This was the most beautiful landscape ever!! Tina and I pulled off the side of the road just to shoot this. Amazing!Our new favorite fast food restaurant. Pal’s is awesome!Hands on MuseumFish fry, Santa and some log rolling!!Dolly Wood!I couldn’t believe someone wrapped this entire tree with lights….

Last night, I got to photograph the Terry kids for the second year. It amazes me how fast kids grow! We wanted to shoot outside, but the weather was a little uncooperative. This gave me an opportunity to play with my new lighting so it all worked out! Here are a few from our session.

We will be out of the office from Thur. 11-23 until Monday 11-26 and will resume operation on Tuesday 11-27. Have a happy and safe holiday!!
Leslie

Today, I had a last minute Christmas shoot with Alyssa. This is a surprise for her Dad and I know he doesn’t check this so it is ok. But, if you know him, don’t tell him!
I took her to my favorite spot to shoot. We took about 20 minutes because she was freezing! Then my little helper niece Savannah wanted in on the action. She is such a Ham. Plus, she was telling me ” Here I think this would look nice” and trying different poses…. So here a just a few from today. Remember……shhhh………!!

My second shoot on Saturday was Laura’s senior session. Laura and her mother met me in Elizabethtown because the original place we chose was closed for the season. Once we got the traditional stuff done, I suggested we head to the train station to have some fun. Laura was so much fun to photograph because she kept busting up laughing. She wasn’t uncomfortable at all which make it so much easier on me!! Check out her incredible freckles!! Here are just a few….

Saturday afternoon, I met Elizabeth and Dave in Hershey for their engagement session. It was COLD!!! I felt so bad for them because I kept making them take their coats off…But it was for their own good! It was a good time getting to know them a little better before their wedding in August. Here are just a few from the day.

Make Bugs! This is what Kobe wanted to do on his day off school. We wanted to save this for a snowy day, but after months of begging us to do this, I finally gave in. This is after he was laying around saying ” I am sooooooooooooo booooredd!” Little did I know the light bulb to cook these bugs didn’t come with it. So we had to hop in the car and find this special bulb. Back home and under super parental supervision, we made our gross critters and baked them…some didn’t turn out quite so well and if you leave the oven on too long, it starts to smoke and smell and then not work. Fun fun! But, it gave the boys something to do…

Kobe wanted to take a picture of us. He didn’t do too bad. He asked if he could help me someday…woo hoo!

Sunday, I had the pleasure of photographing 6 sweet kids! They are all cousins and we tried real hard to get a group shot of some sort…Anna, the youngest was just not having it….that is until 5 adults,including myself put on a hysterical rendition of Elmo’s world. Here are just a few quick shots of each kid. I’ll have the rest for you soon! Thanks guys!

Last night, I met Alicia and Seth at Long’s Park for their engagement session. We had never met in person, so I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to find them. But, those fears subsided when they pulled up smiling. We were quite lucky that we haven’t turned the clocks back yet and had a little more light for the shoot. The sun setting was perfect light! I tell all my couples when I am shooting to be prepared for anything. I am very random and when I see something great, we move fast. Alicia and Seth put up with a lot and we had a great time giggling over the silly things happening in the park. Here are a few from last night.

Well, it was a success! I was a little worried about trick or treat this year because last year, Braden freaked out when we put a monkey costume on him. But for the past week or so, all he talked about was being a horse and getting candy in his bucket. He would tell everyone he saw ” I go Trick or Treat and get candy in my bucket?” Everything is in the form of a question these days. So the time came and he got dressed no problem! It was great this year since we didn’t turn the clocks back yet and had a little more light to start. We met up with Kobe and Braden’s cousins like we do every year and hit the biggest neighborhood we can find. Kobe decided to be an Indian since his cousin was a cowboy.
In this neighborhood, we always start at the same house because they go all out with the blow up monsters, skulls, smoke and creepy noises. I thought this was the end of trick or treat for Braden. He went up to the house, and as soon as something moved and made a noise, he took off backward and knocked half the stuff over in the yard. I quick snatched him up and headed to a quieter house. After almost 2 hours, we called it a night. Overall, the kids got a ton of candy and had a good time. Now someone needs to hide the candy from me….

Cousin Jake the lion…