Last weekend my husband and I took a long weekend to visit good friends in Tennessee, Tullahoma to be exact! We’ve known them since we lived there, so probably for about 20 years. It’s been 15 years since we moved back to Washington, but we stay in touch, visit one another often and are always emailing (or facebooking!) one another…so we don’t let the distance affect our friendship. We always have a great time with them and this was no exception…the time always goes by too quickly and we hate to say goodbye, but we know that we’ll see each other again – hopefully, later this year!
If you’ve never been to Tennessee, you are missing out…it’s beautiful there and so different from Washington that it’s a real treat to see the countryside as we travel around there. On Saturday of our visit, we headed out for some tours of wineries after breakfast at Cracker Barrel (if you’ve never eaten at one, I do recommend it…especially the breakfasts!!). The weather was great, although we did have a few sprinkles during the day, but still warm and the sun quickly returned. At one point we were on a bit of an adventure…when the GPS took us on some roads that were probably not fit for a tourist! Granted, there had probably been some major damage from the flooding rains the previous month (and we did see parts where the road had washed out!)…but it was still narrow and at several points, a creek running alongside, actually crossed OVER the road. We were all laughing and just enjoying the day…and I believe that at one point I said something about “watch, we’ll come to a dead end or something.” You probably guessed it…no “dead end” but a “ROAD CLOSED” sign appeared about 30-40 minutes of driving…all we could do was laugh! It didn’t dampen our spirits and we just turned around and found a new way to our destination…of course, I had to hand the camera to my husband while we were on this adventure (he was in the front seat), to show what we were seeing…it really was quite beautiful and we did pass by a few homes along the way…but it certainly wasn’t the “paved” roads we put in the GPS request for travel…oh well, we had a good time and have a great story now!
Here are some photos from our visit there…such a great time and look forward to seeing them all again!
Lunch (dinner in the south) at Miss Mary Bobo’s in Lynchburg…HIGHLY recommended…always a treat for us to enjoy some wonderful homestyle Southern food!
One of the very best pecan pies I’ve had…and the whipped cream on top had Jack Daniel’s Whiskey in it (the distillery is just down the street from here)
Our hostess for our meal…they are all so kind and friendly and add to the wonderful experience of a meal here.
Saturday morning…sun is bright and warming up fast!
This was alongside the road by one of the wineries…couldn’t resist!!
Just one of the many times the creek went across the road!
I love old barns and homesteads…this one was behind our friends’ son’s home…had to snap a few photos!
Our friends, Allen and Brenda, with their three beautiful grandchildren!
Alex is three and as a typical three year old…he’s on the go!
Carly is one and not quite walking, but crawls up a storm!!!
And, Abigail (as you’ve seen before!) is 3 1/2 months old…quite content on her papa’s lap!
LOVE the color of these hydrangea’s – they obviously bloom much earlier in the south than our area…too bad I couldn’t bring some home with me!
Have you ever met a family and felt like they were meant to be…that it just seemed like their life was destiny? This past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting a beautiful baby, Indy (love that name!!) and her parents, Katie and Jason and that is just how I felt about this family! What a treat it was to spend some time with them and to be able to capture some special memories for them! Baby Indy is three months old and it didn’t take very long to become charmed by this cutie and know that I would enjoy my time with her. Along with her parents, she has two “sisters” who are the four-legged kind…and what great dogs they are…both very gentle and calm and so good with Indy…it was fun to watch how they were with her…every once in a while, they would try to steal a kiss, but mostly they were just happy to be close to her! At the end of the session, they both curled up on the (soft and fuzzy) blanket that Indy had been lying on…I don’t blame them…I wouldn’t mind curling up on it myself for a nap…and of course, we couldn’t resist putting Indy back down on it, in the middle of her big sisters…it was so cute!!
I must admit that I had two great assistants this morning…my hubby and my daughter, who works with Katie…and boy, did I enjoy their help…what a treat…I’m wondering what it would take to get both of them for all of my sessions…thank you Rick and Jess!! So here’s a peek at the session on this cold Sunday morning…
Isn’t this a great looking family…and the two dogs, Lily and Roxy, are perfect bookends for this picture…they were so good…to have two dogs and a baby…all looking the same direction…very rare!
Just over a year ago I had the pleasure of meeting this beautiful little girl and what fun it has been to see her grow and change this past year. Her mom (and aunt) and I have a working relationship for our businesses and that has been a joy…such great women and so talented…not to mention kind and thoughtful…and I must say that sweet Maddy is definitely following in her mommy’s footsteps! With a birthday the day before Halloween, how could we not have the session at a pumpkin patch and so we all met at Spooner Farms in Orting and we were closely watching the weather that day. It was one of those days “between” the dry days, but it was dry that morning and we all had our fingers crossed that the rain would hold off until after our session. So, we were successful…for part of the session, but the little bit of rain that did come down didn’t dampen our spirits or run us off, we were able to get in everything we wanted to and had a great time – despite the rain! Let me tell you this is such a fun family…they love to laugh and play and it’s evident just how much Maddy’s parents love her…she is truly the apple of their eyes! Although, I must say, that next spring, Maddy will be competing with a new family member for a bit of her parents attention…which is exciting and I know that they have more than enough love for another child!
