Taken with my iPhone

A beautiful fall Saturday turned into an impromptu maternity session for my sister Lindsey.  Assuming Baby T cooperates, we should find out tomorrow whether she is expecting a boy or a girl.  I can’t wait!

Taken at an old church in Powell

Taken at the historic Powell bridge

Taken on Lindsey & Grayson's farm in Rocky Comfort

All of the photos from this session are available here.

For those that don’t know, this is my sister Lindsey and brother-in-law Grayson.  Last weekend, we took this special photograph at the end of our family photo shoot.  We didn’t explain anything.  Shelby just handed them the picture frames and I snapped away.  I’m not sure who realized what this meant first but there were a lot of excited screams in my ears.

That’s right!  I’m going to be an Aunt!!!

Aren’t the next two pictures precious?

Congratulations, Lindsey & Grayson!  I can’t wait to meet Baby Taylor in March 2012!

Here is our family portrait.  (Yes we all stayed in a lodge together plus my sister’s boyfriend, my cousin’s boyfriend, & my grandmother’s sister.)

My Grandparents – Papa & Nana Pat (or Jay & Pat, if you aren’t a grandchild)

Here are my grandparents plus my mom, her sister, my 2 uncles, & their spouses.

Here are the Papa, Nana Pat, & the grandchildren (plus Lindsey’s husband Grayson).

I love these 2 pictures.  Papa is grinning so big in the first one with Nana looking at him (not a pose).  Then, Avery & Jeff decided to be goofy when we were taking a picture.

Then, came the smaller family photos…

Finally, we took our picture.  I’m sad my dad couldn’t be included.  He had to stay home and take care of his mom.

My grandmother’s sister Sandra even got into the picture taking.  There is a story associated with this picture.  Someone joked with her about coming with us and told her she could bring her boyfriend.  Here is Sandra & her boyfriend George…

In case you can’t tell, George = George Clooney.

I don’t know how many total pictures we took & I’ve edited.  We took pictures of every possible combination of people plus a couple of surprise photos that I’ll share in a couple of days.  The lodge we stayed at was a perfect setting for these.

I don’t even know how many concerts I’ve attended in my lifetime.  There are a handful, though, that I’ll remember forever – Garth Brooks in Kansas City in 2008, Newsboys in Tulsa in 2000, New Kids on the Block in Atlanta in 2009, NSync in Little Rock in 2001, and DC Talk in Springdale when I was in 7th grade.

Last Wednesday night I added another one to the list (although, it still includes one of the afforementioned artists) – NKOTBSB (New Kids on the Block + Backstreet Boys).  I saw them in Atlanta with my friends Penni & Karah.

We had a great view of the stage.  We were 4 rows up from the floor down beside the tip of the stage.  Both groups spent quite a bit of time all over the stage so we had a great view.  (As Penni said, the guys were lifesize.)

Highlight of the concert was this…

This is NKOTB’s Joey McIntyre standing right in front of me.  The guys came down in the audience at one point and Joey ended up in our section.

Here are some more pictures from the concert (& then a link to a slideshow of all of my pictures).  Enjoy!

Flowers are a bloomin’.

Calves are a bein’ born.

Summer is here in full force.  It’s hot.  (Although, I’m pretty sure it will be hotter before too long.)

Speaking of heat, I’m going on vacation in Florida & Georgia starting next weekend.  What was I thinking?  Well, I was thinking – NKOTBSB (New Kids on the Block + Backstreet Boys)!  The heat part is an unfortunate byproduct.

What about y’all?  How are your summers so far?  Anything major planned?

Congratulations, Shelby!

I posted a sneak peak of Shelby’s senior photos in March.  Here is a slideshow of those photos and many more.  Enjoy!

Lindsey, Mom, Shelby, & I - 5/7/11

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

You are the best mother any child could ask for.  You are a great role model and help me more than I’ll ever be able to make up for.  I love you!

Love, Tara Ann

Powell, MO has an old bridge they have restored which is where we started the day.

There was also an old store in Powell that was a nice backdrop for some photos.

From Powell, we moved onto the farm.  An old logging truck that is temporarily on the farm provided some cool photos.

Lindsey & Grayson have a really neat old barn and then an old chicken coop that provided the final settings as the sun was starting to set.

Mom & Lindsey even got in on the fun throughout the afternoon.

I took this picture last Sunday afternoon of my grandfather.  It isn’t the best quality picture but it is one of my favorite pictures I’ve taken of him.  It’s just a sweet candid moment.  He’s sitting in his favorite chair just watching and listening to everyone…and grinning.

How are you all doing this afternoon?  I’m watching the final laps of the Daytona 500 right now.  Go Dale Earnhardt Jr!  And what about Trevor Bayne?  2nd Cup race and he is currently in 4th place.  Nice!  (Karah reminded me that me, Penni, & Karah met Trevor when he was around 16 at a brunch at DEI several years ago.  Kind of cool to see him in his first Daytona 500 and doing so well.)

I think I could have gone my whole life without seeing a couple feet of snow fall within a matter of hours (is actually still falling) here in northwest Arkansas.  It’s very pretty, I will give it that.  Beyond that, it’s just crazy and wrecks havoc.  (We are not in a part of the country that is really prepared for winter weather much at all.  A couple of inches can cause problems.  A couple of feet is a complete mess.  I saw on Twitter earlier (get all my news from Twitter, don’t you?) that the Arkansas National Guard was called up here to help the Arkansas State Police.

My day started out with my dad picking me up and taking me to work at 7:15 this morning.  I would say I had almost a foot of snow at that point.  (Because of drifting, I had to wade through snow that was just below my knees in depth to get to my dad’s truck.)  By 8:30, they closed our office.  I stayed around for another couple of hours and then my boss brought me home around 10:30.  (That drift in the front yard – pictured above – was waste deep when I got home.  Crazy!)  Now, I’m working from home.  No telling what the rest of the day and tomorrow will bring.  I imagine the snow that can be pushed out of the way right now will freeze solid tonight when the temps get down around 0 (yes, zero) degrees.

I must explain the photo below.  I am sitting down in my doorway.  The ground is not sloped upward so all of the snow that looks like it is going upward in depth is really doing so.  I am at eye level with the “base” of the post and that shadowy area going to my right from there.  Some of the snow depth is drifting but a lot is the actual snowfall total.  It’s nuts!