Busy Weekend!

This weekend my husband graduated from ACU and I've had three portrait sessions--my brother and sister-in-law yesterday, Abigail (again, yay!) and her family this morning, and another sister-in-law with her boyfriend later this afternoon. Add the rest of Eric's family into the mix and it's been a very busy weekend...although Indy has been !thrilled! to have so many people to play with--especially his Auntie Kayla.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Abigail and her family

Chris, Melissa and Emma Rose

Chris and Melissa


Emma Rose

Indy, my darling Indy

Baby Emerald

I am among those lucky enough to have someone named after me--Meet Baby Emerald, my friend Jarrod's niece. Jarrod's sister Andra says, "if you don't want someone to name their kid after you, don't leave your business card laying around with your name in pretty script."

The Lovely Miss Abigail

Today I had the pleasure of photographing the lovely Miss Abigail for Christmas Card photos. Here is one of my favorites!


Miss Abigail

Indy's First Halloween

As someone, ::cough, Kalyn:: very near and dear to my heart recently pointed out, I have left my readers with over 90 days of "blog-less" disappointment. To remedy this situation, Indy has written a post he likes to call...

"How to Schnooker a Pretty Lady out of Halloween Candy."

#1-- Position yourself next to the pretty lady passing out Halloween candy.

#2--Look really cute.

#3--Lean in close to the candy to get your ears rubbed.

#4--Lean in closer and give the pretty lady a kiss.

#5--While she's reeling from your kiss, put a paw in the
candy to rake it from the pretty lady's lap.

#6--Get caught.

#7--Foiled again. But at least I look cute in my pirate costume!


Here are some other pictures from Indy's first Halloween...where he escaped from the house--leashless--and ran up and down the street barking at innocent trick-or-treaters.

Emerald-the-pirate and Belle-the-Arabian-Princess

Jarrod, looking dashing in Medieval dress

Eric, looking, well, like Eric

Jarrod unwrapping Jen
(Julia is supervising from outside the frame)

Aaron and Brandy

From left to right: Sarah as a child on Christmas morning; Jen as a Christmas present; Ben, Sarah's boyfriend, as a Christmas tree; Paul, Marnie's boyfriend, as Zorro; and Marnie as Sarah's twin on Christmas morning

Rick as a "horny (get it???) little devil"

::sings::
Our House, in the middle of our street
our house, in the middle of our

our house it has a crowd
there's always something happening
and it's usually quite loud...
(--Our House, by Madness, just in case you were wondering)

Happy Halloween!!!!!!

Kayla and Darby

You can view their pictures by clicking here
Let me know what you think!

What Emerald is doing these days...

I have recently joined the world of Facebook, and if you have also been sucked into this whirlpool of mindless web-surfing, and if you have become my "friend" on Facebook, you'll have noticed that for the past few days, my "status" has been "overwhelmed by the million-gazillion pictures from Kayla's wedding she now gets to edit." (That was a really long, badly constructed sentence.) Aside from my usual job working at Belle's, I've been diligently sorting and editing Kayla's wedding photos. Kayla might have asked me to put some photos on my blog, and this one will just have to do until Monday when I promised her I'd show her the pictures.

Our friend Kalyn, me and now Kayla have all worn the same necklace at our weddings...it's becoming a "Fat Tuesday" tradition. So Kayla asked me to take a portrait of her featuring this necklace. Here it is. Please click on it to view it larger, it has an artistic finish on it that you won't be able to see at the small "blog-size."

As always, let me know what you think!

Jarrod and Julia

Click here to view their images
As always, Let me know what you think!

Lunch by Candlelight

Feeling slightly nostalgic for my photojournalistic days, I've decided to narrate this post as if it were a photo story. From my journalism classes at ACU, I got the general impression that the best photo stories tell the story in as few pictures as possible. In fact, if you can tell an entire story with one picture, you have met your ultimate goal. This story has 21 pictures...I fail. But, I do hope you enjoy them!




Lunch by Candlelight: Kayla Anderson's Bridal Luncheon
Photos and Story by: Emerald Lemmons


Closing the door behind me, I stepped out of the sunny June day and into the cool elegance of a well decorated home. The pale yellow walls and warm-toned furniture accented the bright daisies and glowing candles placed strategically about the room with a decorator's eye. Today was a day of appreciation, of celebration and, most importantly, of food. I had just walked in to Kayla Anderson's Bridal Luncheon.

The luncheon was held in the home of and hosted by Judy, a long-time friend of the family. Although Judy was a lovely woman, she asked that I not take her picture and since she was feeding me, I acquiesced.

Each place was set with a tiny bell holding a place card and a small bag of jelly-bellies and m&m's.


In the center of the dining table and the hostess table were lovely arrangements of candles and daises--the same daises the bride carried as a bouquet in her bridal portraits.

Soon after arriving, the hostesses had us take our places and began to serve lunch.

Those in attendance were:

Kayla- the bride

Whitney- a bridesmaid

Brittany- a bridesmaid

Steph- a close friend of the bride

Erin- a close friend of the bride

Amy- a bridesmaid and the bride's cousin

Hannah- the maid of honor and the bride's sister

...and me of course. After lunch, Norma, another hostess and friend of the family, appeared with some surprise gifts for the bride. We were all charmed by her first gift--a tiny blue leather covered box of all the letters, cards, and thank-you notes Kayla had ever written to her. Imagine, keeping those mementos for so many years! (Not that I think you're old, Kayla!)

We were equally charmed when Kayla read a thank-you note that she "wrote" when she was two years old. It read something to the effect of, "Thank-you Norma for the gift. Sorry I haven't been able to write you sooner, things have been rather hectic around here. I loved your gift and have placed it on the mantle. Thanks again! Love, Kayla."

The second present was one we had all contributed to (well, except for me, but I do intend on completing my homework!). It was a recipe box filled with recipes from Norma--who is an incredible cook--and the rest of us.


After Kayla received her gifts, she gave us a few...even the photographer walked away with a really cool pair of pajama pants!





All the bridesmaids were given lovely pearl necklaces to wear with their dresses at Kayla's wedding.

After the gifts and a cup of coffee (and tying pretty blue ribbons on what felt like hundreds of programs) we all gathered up our things and left for the bachelorette party, thanking Judy and Norma for the wonderful lunch they served as we walked out the door.

As for myself, I left wishing and planning to one day be able to host a party as lovely and as tasty as Kayla's bridal luncheon!