5th Annual East Ky Bride Bridal Show, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010 from 1-4pm at the Easy Ky Expo Center. Come see what East Ky has to offer our brides. There will be over 17 wedding vendors displaying amazing wedding products for 2010. Admission $5.00 at the door. Please register at www.eastkybride.com or call Michelle Sword, owner, Signature Events at 606-432-7111.

I look forward to meeting lots of new brides on Sunday.

Our Summer vacation, yeah I know (remember I am catching up).  We took a trip to Gatlinburg for our summer vacation.  We all loved it.  We took a drive to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  We decided to do the Cades Cove Loop Road Tour.  During the whole drive Connor kept saying he just wanted to see a bear and that it would make it this his most perfect day.  At the end of the drive just before we left the loop we saw a black bear.  An actual live, walking and looking for food, black bear.  It actually came right up to the cars and walked between the cars that were stopped in the middle of the road to take pictures. 

Wonder Works

Our Family -  See if you can pick me out of the group.

Proof that I was actually there.

Mini Me

Gatlinburg at night

Ripley’s Believe it or not Aquarium of the Smokies at night

Before the driving trail we stopped for a picnic lunch.  A couple people riding horses came through and actually stopped so that the kids could see the horses up close.

Mini Me take 2

Some sites along Cade Cove Loop

A young elk

My little brother got married on June 11, 2008 in Daytona Beach, Florida.  We couldn’t be there, so when he and his new wife, my new sister-in-law Melissa, came for a quick visit, I seized the opportunity to do a post wedding session with them and a family portrait of their new family.  They are so cute together.  To view their slide show click here. Here are some of my favorites.  You will notice a couple of familiar faces in at least one or two shots.  My kids had to jump into a few pictures with their new cousins.  Melissa has two kids, a boy and girl.  Maya was thrilled when she learned that there was another girl so she is no longer the only girl but really bummed when she found out we also added another boy.  So, she is still out numbered.  Oh well, she will adjust.

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of Connor.  Actually he asked.  Since my kids rarely ask me to take their pictures or sit still for me to take their pictures, when I have a chance, I go for it.  He looks so much older but he is still my baby.

Congratulations you two!  And Melissa, welcome to the family.

Most of you don’t know that I am not originally from Kentucky.  I was born in North Carolina and graduated from Western Carolina University in 19…. with a B.S. degree in Psychology and a minor in Guidance and Counseling.  WCU is located in Cullowhee, NC and it has been years since I was on campus or even in that area and I didn’t realize how much I actually missed it until this past weekend.  April 24-26 was WCU’s African-American Alumni and Friends Reunion.  I attended and took my family.  I wanted our kids to see where I went to college.  I had a great time and of course I took my camera.  I saw so many of my girl friends from back in the day in Scott Hall and we relived so many memories.  I promise to keep in touch with them now that we have all found each other again.  We stayed at the Best Western River Escape Inn & Suites in Dillsboro, NC.  I did not remember Dillsboro or Sylva (this was the closest town to Cullowhee and the place we would go to shop) being quite so quaint and full of character.  It’s funny how one’s perspective changes with time and age.  Anyways, back to my post.  The hotel was right on the banks of the Tuckasegee river so that first morning I got up and went out to the back patio and took a few pictures of the sunrise and some fishermen.

Then it was time to get everyone up and drive to campus.  I literally held my breath as we rounded Catamount Gap.  This was the view that I saw every fall for 4+ years.  It looks a little different as the trees have grown up more and there is now a track there with lights and Scott and Walker Halls don’t dominate the skyline as much but it still a beautiful sight.

Campus is noticeably different and bigger.  There were so many buildings and roadways that were not there when I was student.  The biggest change, or most obvious, was you can’t drive in front of Scott Hall.  Here are a few other differences.

A track stadium

The whole front exterior of the University Center is changed.  I can not even begin to explain how the interior of the UC has changed. I would get lost now.

Alumni Tower.  There was no such structure when I attended. The trees leading up to the Alumni Tower did not exist then either.

There is a softball stadium/facility and a new residence hall behind it as well as a Greek Village. 

The reunion was great as I said before.  Here are few images.

The Inspirational Choir rehearsing

Dr. Lavern Hamlin Allen, the first African-American to ever attend WCU in 1957.

There were so many alumni who couldn’t make it to the reunion for whatever reason and they were missed.  We did a big group picture after the luncheon on Saturday of everyone one who came and while we represent every decade since the 1950’s of WCU graduates this picture is not complete.  If you are wondering how I was able to get in the picture, I set up the shot and then handed my camera off to a student worker.

Finally, as we were leaving campus to head back to Kentucky I got a few pictures of my kids in front of the Administration building with the Catamount. Check out their WCU gear. 

If you hung in there this long and read my entire post, thanks for indulging me and letting me reminisce for a little bit.

On Saturday I met Brooke and Brad for their engagement pictures.  We met at Carter Caves State Resort Park in Grayson, Kentucky.  It was a beautiful but chilly day.  But that did not stop them from creating beautiful pictures in the creek.  To view their slide show click here.  To view their online gallery click here.  I am looking forward to their wedding in August.

So I had an engagement session last Friday morning (yes, it was cold; 7 degrees).  I had a few minutes after I dropped of the kids at school so I took a quick detour to the Ashland, KY boat docks.  The combination of the morning sun, the mist on the river and a passing barge was too much to resist.  Here are a few of my favorite shots.

I saw this scene as I was crossing the tracks to leave for my session.

I have taken numerous pictures of this bridge in all stages of completion.  I have pictures of the two scaffoldings without the bridge or anything all the way to pictures on the day it was opened to the public.  Here are a few from this week.  I loved how Portsmouth, Ohio looked in the background.

It has been two years since we had a real snow, I mean a real, enough snow for the kids to play in snow.  I took advantage of having snow days and went out shooting my family and Central Park in Ashland.  Enjoy!

Sometimes you gotta eat a little snow.