Christmas Unwrapped at Crossroads Fellowship

The church our family attends had its huge Christmas event this past Wednesday. From the moment I found out about this wonderful family event, I knew I wanted to go. I text Amanda immediately to invite her and her family, and we made plans to attend together.

I can still hardly believe this was a 100% free event because of all it had to offer and the number of people who attend (close to 10,000 people). Our church truly is a church that loves to give back to the community. The kids had a blast and it was a wonderful opportunity for Amanda and I to spend some BFF time together.

Sometimes you have to throw all of your notions about great photos out the window and just enjoy the moment. These photos are horrible quality but I still love them. I didn't want this to turn into one of those times where the perfect photo was constantly on my mind. The lighting in the church was dim and my Canon doesn't have an on board flash, so I relied on auto for most of my pictures so I wouldn't have to be fiddling with manual settings all night.

In Candyland, the kids got to play games, received a bag of candy, and got their face painted. With as many people that were there, lines were surprisingly quick to get through. They even had fun playing with the nativity puppets. Check out Elijah sword fighting up there with the wise men staffs. Typical boy!

 

No surprise that one of my favorite little stops was at the Christmas Jazz Cafe where I stuffed my face full of cookies, brownies, cakes, and other treats. There were little red velvet cakes... enough said! And you can only imagine the sugar rush all of our little ones had after that! At one point I think they were all wrestling on the floor! Ha!

 

Gracie, Elijah, Phoenix, and Tyler made their own Christmas ornaments and got to meet The Grinch too, but another one of my favorite areas was the Dickens Village.  Everything was so well decorated and the Christmas trees were beautiful! There was so much more for us to see and do but we just didn't have enough time to squeeze it all in.

Lastly before we left, we had to take a few photos and made a stop at the beautiful Nativity scene outside. Sadly, Jason wasn't able to go with us because he is currently on active duty, but I am already looking forward to this event next year, and having him go with us. 

Head over to We Don't Give a Hoot to see more photos from the Christmas Unwrapped event that we attended! 

                    

meet gabriel lee

my best friend amanda and her husband, rick welcomed their son, gabriel last friday, january 4th. he weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz. and only 19 in. long. mom, dad, and big sister gracie are madly in love with their new little addition. 

best friends usually go and visit their besties when they are in the hospital having babies and going through tons of pain, but unfortunately i was unable to do that because of a terrible cold. with that flu virus going around like it is this year, you just can't risk it. no one in their little family can afford to be sick right now. 

i feel like i got so far behind here on the blog last month with all the sickness hanging out at our house. december 1st was amanda's baby shower for gabriel and i didn't even get to share about it. amanda had a sweet little shower with a few friends and close family and some very yummy snacks. amanda's mom made an amazing punch that i may or may not have had 10 or more cups of. 

 

gracie, amanda's mom sharon, amanda, amanda's sister tori

i am so excited for amanda and her new baby boy and i can not wait to hold him and kiss his sweet little face. and i am sure there will be lots of picture taking involved as well.

joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com | twitter | facebook | pinterest | instagram

2012 raleigh christmas parade

 
the raleigh christmas parade is always in november around here. i'm not sure why, but with all the festivities going on in december, it's nice to have the parade during november. this was the first year jason and i have gone together to the raleigh christmas parade. we usually attend a different parade, but it is nothing like the raleigh parade. the raleigh christmas parade is held in downtown raleigh and is the largest christmas parade between washington d.c. and atlanta. you pretty much have to get there a couple hours early if you want to get a good spot, especially with kids.

it was super cold, so i got up early to make coffee and hot chocolate for your thermoses and to bundle up the kiddos in their warmest winter gear. we also went to the parade with my best friend amanda, her husband rick, and their daughter gracie... oh, and little gabriel in mommy's belly {grin}, so the fun was definitely doubled having them there. the parade was great and i love seeing all of the local people i see on tv and listen to on the radio, the businesses i enjoy, and the high schools my friends and i went to growing up. i also love gossiping and people watching! hey, don't judge! we all do it and you know it!


i took a ton of photos, but here are just a few of them.

raleigh motorcycle officers

downtown raleigh horseback police officers

my high school - sanderson spartans

nc agriculture shopping cart

best radio morning show in the south - G105's bob and the showgram (check it out on i heart radio)

the historic raleigh trolley

we had such a great time, but as much fun as we all had, there was one little stinker in the bunch. elijah pretty much screamed that he wanted to go home the entire time. we had to buy an entire box of doughnuts just to get him to cease the screaming for a few minutes, but even with that, he started up again as soon as he was finished. i am starting to wonder if we are getting him out enough because he has been saying this a lot when we take him out lately. the boy is a homebody!


do you go to the christmas parade in your area every year? what is your favorite part of the parade?

linking up with the paper mama, angry julie monday, and sarah halstead for wordless wednesday. 

   

joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com | twitter | facebook | pinterest | instagram: sixcherries

fall photos of the dement family

sometimes i like to pretend i am a photographer and take photos for my friends and family. I have taken quite a few photos for people over the last few years, including two weddings and lots of family photos. i shoot completely in manual but i would love to learn more about my camera and how to take better quality photos and maybe even do this as a business some day. but, for now, i am happy with the "work" i have been given.

this past weekend, i was able to take fall photos of one of my best friends, amanda and her family. amanda is expecting her second child in january, so this actually was a bit of a maternity shoot for her too. it's still a little early, however, with all the holidays coming, both amanda and i stay busy, so we may not get another opportunity for photos.

melissa over at while it rains, recently had her maternity shoot and i loved the ideas she had for her photos so much, i decided to recreate a couple of them for amanda as well. although i am not half the photographer her photographer was, i am pleased with what i was able to come up with.

linking up with the paper mama, angry julie monday, and sarah halstead for wordless wednesday. 

 

joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com | twitter | facebook | pinterest | instagram: sixcherries

bebe belleh

 

just a few quick photos i took the other day of amanda, one of my very best friends ever. she is expecting her second child in january and i am anxiously waiting to find out the sex of this little peanut. she actually goes tomorrow for the ultrasound, so let's hope this little one is cooperative. i will be doing some scheduled photos next month for amanda that include some maternity shots as well as some family photos. i am looking forward to that also. 

of course, i want nothing more than for this baby to get here safe and sound, and as healthy as can be, and i will love that little him or her no matter what, BUT i secretly kinda sorta hope it's a boy!

 

linking up with angry julie monday, the paper mama, and sarah halstead. 

 

 

joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com | twitter | facebook | pinterest | instagram: sixcherries