My Gragg Girls ~ 2015 ~ Abingdon, Virginia

Monday, I got to spend the day with my favorite girls - Emma, Abby, and Olivia.  This year we headed to southwest Virginia for their Christmas photos.  Several months ago, Mike and I drove through Abingdon and it was my first trip through the beautiful little town.  When I told Deanna how much I loved the town she said she did, too, and would love to do the pictures there.  And so it was.

Deanna LOVES penguins and we were super excited to find this guy hanging out in a little park. (We also passed a truck with a bed full of hunting dogs and a freshly killed bear!  We didn't stop him for pictures.)

Life with Livvy

Emma loves to do the "model pose," ironically, of course, because it amuses her!

We stormed the front steps of the Martha Washington Inn to grab a couple of photos.  Okay, actually, I sent the girls up the steps alone so I could take a few photos from below.  They weren't very happy about it because we weren't a hundred percent sure it was allowed, but the staff were extremely nice about it!

Miss O's face after Emma said a nut shouldn't stand so close to a nutcracker!

As we passed the first rest area in Virginia I noticed they had a large "LOVE" sign.  I mentioned that it would be a fun photo.  (I will leave out the part about me not understanding why Virginia was trying to be like Philadelphia and Amy pointing out that "Virginia is for lovers.")  Turns out, there is one at the Martha Washington Inn!

I strongly encourage you to visit Abingdon during the Christmas season.  It was beautifully decorated.  There were several of these metal art installation-esque pieces around town.  They were placed purposefully and looked like they belonged.

We began and ended our trip with Babycakes cupcakes.  They didn't have any alcohol in them, but they were still pretty tasty! ;)

'Tis The Season

I rounded out November with several family sessions.  Here's a quick peek at some of my favorites.

This was my first year with the Bowman family.  We went out in the middle of nowhere to a family farm and had a great session.

I love this picture!  Baxter, the pup, was very camera shy.  This was one of many times everyone was focused on getting Baxter to not only sit, but turn around and look at me!

This year I met my Schoondykes at Milligan College.  It's a small, but beautiful campus with little hidden gems all around.

And my Graggs!  The girls enjoy climbing on their Dad's old truck.  These are just a few of our fun ones.

BONUS: This was my 100th post!  YAY!!!

Rocky Mount Historic Site, Piney Flats, TN - A photo shoot

This past Saturday, I had a last minute cancellation for a session on Sunday.  The worst part - I had already reserved a local historic site for the shoot.  Not wanting to ruin my newly established relationship with the site, I called up friends and offered them the session spot.  Thankfully, they said yes!

Rocky Mount Museum may be one of my new favorite places for a location photo shoot.  For a nominal fee ($15 during business hours and $25 for non business hours) photographers may use the site.  Now, it might seem crazy to pay $15 to take photos there during business hours, but we were there on a Sunday.  The site is closed on Sundays and I happily paid $25 to have the place to ourselves!

Karing Fair 2013

Saturday, August 17th, was the 5th Annual Kari's Heart Foundation Karing Fair.  We had a great turnout and wonderful weather.  Check out this sneak peek of our day.  And if you don't know about Kari's Heart Foundation, please follow the link and learn about this wonderful organization. They provide assistance to families with sick children in the hospital.  Everything from a bag of toiletries to gas cards to groceries to rent to fixing wells.  These are amazing people doing amazing things.

 The morning started out with the bike ride.  These dedicated riders chose between a 25 mile or 65 mile course! To see the rest of the KHF Bike Ride photos please visit J. Commons Photography KHF bike ride.

This was the first year of the 5k.  It was a tough course, but everyone had a good time.  To see the rest of the 5k photos please visit J. Commons Photography KHF 5k.

Overall winner.

The three other main winners - (l to r) Overall women's winner, Women's Masters winner, and Men's Masters winner.  Congratulations to everyone that completed the race.

The Volleyball FUNdraiser.  I had so much fun taking photos of the volleyball games - there are so many opportunities for great action shots! To see all of the Volleyball photos please visit J. Commons Photography KHF Volleyball FUNdraiser.

Your Volleyball FUNdraiser Champions!

The chalk power car road course. To see all of the photos from the kids fun areas please visit J. Commons Photography KHF Karing Fair 2013 

A tractor train ride

Face and Nail Painting

Balloon Animals!

Nerf Wars

Water Fun

Inflatables

And, of course, FOOD!