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Sledding fun

  • Thursday, December 30, 2010
  • Toya
  • I was able to convince my hubby to join us for a little sledding fun. This Christmas was a white one for us and the kids were thrilled. When all was said and done, we went home wet, hot, tired, but with a smile. Here are a few shots from the day after Christmas.








    Christmas fun by the Head Elf

  • Sunday, December 12, 2010
  • Toya





  • "Mommy if you are the head elf, do you have pointy ears?" - Jasmine Earley

    I have been a volunteer EMS provider for almost 12 years. We have an annual Christmas party/brunch for the children, grandchildren, young siblings of the members. For the last 9 years I have either been a part of or organized this event. I am known to the children of the crew members as "The Head Elf". I enjoy all that this job entails except the clean up after it is all over. The look of joy on the face of every child kind of makes up for the mess I'm left to deal with. I know that most of those kid wait all year long the the chance to sit on Santa's lap and get a present. I have watched most of those kids grow up before my very eyes. We have the most awesome Santa ever. He actually starts growing his beard in July. He has the perfect figure for the job. The best part is his eyes really do twinkle because he loves making the kids happy. Mrs. Claus is just as perfect. She comes in and reads to the kids before Santa's arrival. While she is reading, the reindeer are prancing on the roof over the kids' heads. There are always a few gasps as the kids try really hard to keep from jumping up and down. When Mrs. Claus gets to the end of her story, the kids hear the man of the hour's Ho Ho Ho. There is nothing better than seeing the faces when he walks in that room. He commands their attention by his very presence and they give it willingly. I do believe there are a few parents in that room who still want to believe in Santa too. Here are a few of the pictures from yesterday...
    I couldn't have asked for 2 better helpers by my side. These are 2 of my 3 best friends. They are super awesome and I am blessed because they are in my life. Catie is known to break out in song at any moment. While she prefers Abba, she loves belting out Christmas carols in the toy store. This also means I must join in and dance too. Sarah tries to get control of us but even she knows that is a lost cause. I really, really love Christmas!

    Newborns

  • Saturday, December 11, 2010
  • Toya


  • Mom and Dad

  • Sunday, November 28, 2010
  • Toya
  • So these are my parents. They wanted me to take a few shots of them so they can have new pictures on facebook. They are quite a couple. They have been together since they were kids. Now many years later after raising two girls, one perfect one and the other is Brandi, they are enjoying the empty nest. Obviously they must still like each other. Dad wouldn't stop kissing her. EWWW! They are my parents and I guess I won't trade them... this month.


    Awesome photo shoot

  • Thursday, November 25, 2010
  • Toya
  • I spent almost a week in Texas hanging with and photographing my best friend and her family. It was so much fun. These are some of my favorite pictures from one of the shoots. They are such a cute family. Next time I'm gonna get Yaya (grandma) in the shot.




    Christmas Time is Near

  • Thursday, November 18, 2010
  • Toya
  • I absolutely had to show my picture of my nephew. It is one of the few where he wasn't throwing the ornaments around. I love this crazy kid!

    Family Fun

  • Monday, November 15, 2010
  • Toya
  • On Saturday I spent the day with 2 fun families.

    The W family were super awesome.

    In the afternoon I spent time photographing the fun Wilcox Family.Who could resist this smile?

    Cute C kids

  • Thursday, November 11, 2010
  • Toya
  • This morning I had a great time hanging out with 2 of my favorite little friends. We played in their backyard in the leaves. I couldn't help but want to catch these smiles.







    hanging out with my son

  • Sunday, November 7, 2010
  • Toya
  • The extra hour gave me a bit of free time before church. I was able to do a little photog tutorial reading. Jaden is the best when it comes to letting my take his picture. I think deep down inside there brews the beginnings of a photographer. We spent about 10 minutes braving the cold. Unfortunately the hard freeze took away the nicer looking spots in my yard so we had to settle for a sliver of bush. I just wanted a few head shots. By the time I was done that boy had talked me into action shots, shots with or without the glasses, etc. I look at his picture and realize just how much he has grown up since we brought him home. He is losing the baby look and teeth. How did time pass so quickly?

    Fall Fun

  • Wednesday, November 3, 2010
  • Toya
  • So today my nephew, Jamie, and I went out to the park for some photo time. Here are the results.




    You can check out the link to my flickr for more.

    Piece of my heart

  • Tuesday, November 2, 2010
  • Toya

  • This is my beautiful nephew. He has several nick names and he answers to them all. I never knew I could love a child so much who wasn't my own. This child has stolen a piece of my heart and I'm gonna let him keep it.

    My little Pocahontas

  • Friday, October 29, 2010
  • Toya
  • So Taylor decided to be Pocahontas for Halloween. She didn't bother to tell me. She at least told her teacher who let me know. I rushed out and bought material with fringes. I spent an hour and a half trying to come up with a costume out of the material. It was all worth it to see her face this morning and to hear her talk about how much she loved it. Unfortunately it was pretty cold this morning so she had to wear extra clothes to school under it. I got her to hold still long enough to snap a quick picture. Please excuse the hair I ran out of time when straightening. The hair gives her a whole cave girl meets Pocahontas look.

    At the top of Peaks of Otter

  • Monday, October 25, 2010
  • Toya

  • At the top of Peaks of Otter
    Originally uploaded by toyjsu
    Is this what it feels like to be on top of the world?

    Goats

  • Sunday, October 24, 2010
  • Toya



  • We got in too late last night to blog. We started the morning off interesting. I was awakened by my son informing me there were goats walking down the sidewalk outside his room. This was not exactly the way I'm use to waking up. Through sleepy eyes I notice my son is NOT wearing his glasses and I'm sure he was mistaking a goat for a really big dog. At his insistence, I went downstairs to check it out. Sure enough, there were 2 goats walking down the street. As my mind is trying to process what I'm seeing, I see my neighbor trying to lasso one. At this point I'm pretty sure I'm still asleep. I step out my front door to see several of my neighbors looking as confused as I was. The parents of these two kids were located by the police and taken home.

    We grabbed a lunch and headed out for a hike at the Peaks of Otter and a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was the perfect day to hike. The temperature was in the 70's and the fall leaves were gorgeous. I have to admit it felt like we were never gonna get to the top. When we finally got there it was so worth it. It was like being on top of the world. Every where we looked was amazing. We could see the mountains for miles and miles. The kids did great. There were some pretty steep and dangerous areas. I tried to keep my fears of their sudden death stuffed in. Oh the innocence of children...I was able to take pictures that I'm sure to cherish forever.

    Found good spots

  • Saturday, October 9, 2010
  • Toya




  • I have admired so many photographers blogs. They seem to find these great out door spots for taking pictures. Oh how I wished I had spots like those. I finally realized that I do have those spots in my own neighborhood. My friend, Magda, wanted to get to know her camera a little bit more so we went for a picture walk.On the way we ran into her daughter Klaudia who was only too happy to stop and pose for a few shots. Even her little brother got in on the fun by running to grab his camera.

    When we got to the bottom of the hill Dominik decided he didn't want to be in the shots. Jaden, on the other hand, is always ready to be in front of the camera. I learned that Jaden is interested in cameras. He was snapping away.
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