Addi and Grace's 5th Birthday Party

Yup. There are about a million photos in this blog post. I just couldn't choose. Everything about this party was absolutely amazing! My friend Ashley is SO creative and she knows how to plan a party! There was an Alice in Wonderland tea pot filled with tea for the kids. We had tiny sandwiches and cupcakes, tea bag cookies, chessman cookies, princess popcorn, and cake pops with DINGLEHOPPERS!!!! Amazing. The kids had a blast and I think the grown-ups did too!

I can't say enough how much I loved this Alice in Wonderland Princess Tea Party! Ash, you are a rockstar. Thank you so much for making this happen <3

Caroline- OCHS Class of 2017

Meet Caroline, a Senior at Orange County High School. She is a member of National Honor Society, runs track and cross country, and swims. She loves to be outside and enjoys spending time with her friends. Caroline hasn't decided where she would like to go to college yet but I have no doubt she is going to do something awesome wherever she ends up. I promised her I wouldn't brag about her, so I won't. But believe me when I say that you will want to remember her face. 

The evening of Caroline's session was perfect! The weather was a little warm but not too bad, and the sunlight was this crazy vibrant orange. I love the effect that warm light has on photos! The grounds at Barboursville Vineyards provided the perfect backdrop, making this one of my favorite shoots so far. 

Caroline, I am so proud of you and so excited to see where you are headed!

Aaron and Helen

Meet Aaron and Helen. These two met in Harrisonburg, where Helen is a JMU student and Aaron manages a local restaurant. Well, actually, they met on a bus. Ha! Helen said something to Aaron that wasn't what she meant to say, but ended up being pretty funny. Aaron said he was just relieved that she wasn't the usual drunk guy asking him for beer money. They have been inseparable ever since. 

Helen contacted me a couple of months ago to schedule this session, but she didn't tell Aaron the plan. So exciting! The day of the session, Helen told Aaron that they were going to dinner at the Inn at Willow Grove, where Helen spent the summer working. So they got dressed up and headed to the Inn. They got there a little before I did, so Helen asked Aaron if they could sit in the car for a few minutes before they went in. Boy was he surprised when I showed up and told him about our plans for the evening! Aaron was such a great sport. He took some pretty crazy directions with no complaints. I've been taking photos of Helen for years, so she was better prepared for my madness. This session had some much laughter and love. I could tell that these two are absolutely crazy about each other. In a world where there is so much negativity, it was nice to take a break an spend some time surrounded in happiness. 

Aaron and Helen, you guys are so awesome. I hope you love these as much as I do!

Daisy's Headshots

Meet Daisy. Her mom contacted me to do a couple of headshots for her because she just got her first modeling gig and they needed some shots for a website. So exciting!! Look at these photos- this will no doubt be the first of many modeling jobs for this beautiful girl! Bonus- she is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. I can't wait to see where this takes her!

The McLamb Family

This family is so special to me. Amy and I have been best friends since we were 11 years old! Our friendship has endured boy drama, puberty, a near death experience on the way to a Bush show, college, children, living in separate towns, marriage, more children, divorce (mine), more marriage, living in different STATES, tragic loss, drunk June, and even more children. This friendship is so precious to me and I am blessed to have these beautiful people in my life. 

The day of this shoot, the weather was crazy. It was supposed to be cloudy all day, so we headed out after lunch. Of course, the sun decided to pop out right then and it felt like it was 800 degrees outside. So we sought shade as much as we could and went out for ice cream when we were done. The kids worked really hard on giving me their best REAL smiles. Anyone who's ever tried to take a picture of a child can relate, I'm sure. They are just not capable of natural smiles when you tell them you need one. So you have to be tricky. I think these guys did such a great job. 

As you can see from the photos, we had a lot of fun on this shoot! I had such a hard time choosing just a few favorites so there are definitely more photos than I normally share. 

Baby Rose- In the hospital and 11 days new

All babies are wonderful, but this particular baby is very special to us here at Capturing Joy. She was born to some of our very best friends, 12 years after her older brother. What an awesome surprise!

The day we met baby S was beautiful. A little hot but you could smell the rain that was on its way. A few of us piled in a car to make the hour and a half trip to the hospital. We *may* have stopped for Duck Donuts on the way there. Donuts and a road trip to meet a baby- it doesn't get much better than that!! We were so excited! Ron and Melanie did not find out the sex of the baby until she got here, so we had no idea if we were going to meet a baby boy or baby girl. When we walked in to the waiting room, Ron quickly stuffed his arm in his shirt so we wouldn't see his arm band. We went back to the room and found a baby with a giant bow on her head. A girl!! I was a tough girl but our sweet friend Lynn cried like a baby. (Love you, Lynn) Do you see a theme here? This baby is SO loved! Here are some photos from the hospital.

11 Days New:

This little girl is as stubborn as she is beautiful. We started out with some photos of her and her amazing big brother. He is so good with her and she was an absolute dream. But once he left the room, that was all she wrote. We had to wrap and unwrap her about a million times because she was not interested AT ALL! But after several attempts, and lots of nursing time with Mama- success!!! What a fun morning we had snuggling this sweet girl! 

Oh baby S, you are so very loved! You are proof that miracles do happen.