Hometown Workshop

I have taken her online photography course twice, so when I received the email from Karen saying she was offering a Hometown Workshop I responded immediately that I would love the opportunity to be there. After the initial shock of knowing I actually was fast enough with my reply email to get into the class then the realization that I was going away for 4 days to meet up with 11 other women from across the world that I didn't know set in. I shouldn't have worried so much because with Karen in charge there was no way this wasn't going to be successful.

Welcome to the Hanna House where 12 women would be sharing 3 bathrooms and 4 makeshift bedrooms for 4 days; where strong friendships would be formed.

The first thing I saw when I walked in through the door were our personal mailboxes and personal photos scattered throughout the house. Karen has this special way of making you feel at home.

Next were the rules of the workshop.

Karen so graciously shared her family with us. If you have followed her blog then you already feel like you know them. 

Karen and her mom have such a loving relationship. Her mom became our second mom making sure we had everything that we needed.

Karen pushed us to shoot in all different situations. The best part is that we each had to take turns being in front of the camera. 

Meet some of the women.

I didn't have the opportunity to photograph each of them during our daily assignments but we were together a lot enjoying each other and learning of everyone's story,

and having fun along the way.

Thank you Karen for the amazing experience of this workshop and for making these beautiful ladies part of my life.

The goodbyes were hard but I feel confident that this group of women will continue to stay in touch with each other. Plans for a reunion are already being discussed. 

Annual Barbeque Time

The summer almost slipped by before we had our annual barbeque! No worries though, we pulled it off on the last official weekend of summer. We haven't had any significant storms all summer and with my luck we happened to experience the biggest downpour that we've had all year. Lucky for us we have a big barn, aka "Ultimate Man Cave." This was our first "Barn Party" and it worked out great.

 Bob was in charge of flipping burgers

and the rest were in charge of loading up their plates with lots of good food.

I think it's safe to say we fit nicely in the barn with plenty of room to spare.

The sun decided to make an appearance in time for this picture, sorry Mark.

The boys even made a showing, that always makes Bob happy :-)

The unpredictable skies throughout the night. Look closely at the rainbow and you can see the triple rainbow faintly in the middle.

Poor Colby didn't have anyone in his age group to play with all night.

Micah has such a sweet spirit. She loves our group and would never let her dad miss this annual tradition.

Bob keeping the men entertained with his storytelling.

The annual girl group shot minus a couple who couldn't make it. I usually try for the pretty landscape by the pond, but since this was a barn party a shot in front of the paint booth seemed fitting. What a great group of friends!