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The Way Home

Traveling through life documenting what matters most to our home.

Categories: Family, Life, Photography, Spoiled Rotten Photography

She Will Be Missed

As I began thinking about playing along with the 2024 Spoiled Rotten Photography Personal Projects, I knew the subjects I wanted to focus on. The bond that Savannah has with our dog, Daisy. Daisy and Savannah will both miss each other next year when Savannah heads off to college!

I came across this image on Pinterest that displayed the bond between a girl and her dog. I loved the evening golden light and the shallow depth of field.

While we didn’t catch a light filled evening, this is our backyard version with a little magic added for fun. I played around with a new to me 100 mm lens. I love the merge of the tiny pines trees that have taken over in the back of our yard, that look more like a forest.

This is the original of my favorite image, but knew it needed a little extra sparkle.

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Categories: Family, Life, Photography

A Creative Escape

This girl always knows when I need a creative escape! I had already thought what a pretty Summer day it would be for a portrait session and then Sarah Beth asked if I wanted her to get dressed up to take pictures. YES! Maybe the days of begging and having to drag my kids out for a photo session are over?!

Being the end of July, my mind went to a field of sunflowers. We have done that before. That was her one request… no hot, itchy fields of sunflowers. So my mind went to… “What about a patch of colorful zinnias?”

I couldn’t come up with a field of zinnias quick enough, but what we found was even better! A quick stop to our local Piggly Wiggly for a bottle of Coca Cola and a sunflower and “let’s just see what we can find at Mt. Laurel.”

I call this “freestyle photography.” No external flash, no plan, just figure it out as you go, chasing pockets of beautiful afternoon sun.

A Creative Escape

I love the bright nostalgic looks that we were about to get with pockets of beautiful afternoon sun on the sidewalk!

Oh, and look we ended up finding some colorful zinnias after all!

portrait with zinnias
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Categories: Family, Life, Photography

Marching Into Her Senior Year

Savannah is marching into her senior year! It is hard to believe we have reached this milestone year so quickly! As I tell Savannah’s story through senior portrait sessions this year, I knew I wanted some dramatic portraits on the Chelsea field with her marching uniform. Savannah picked up and starting playing the clarinet in 6th grade and has stuck with it the last 6 years.


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Categories: Family, Life, Photography, Travel

A Puerto Rico Adventure to Remember

With one year of high school Spanish under her belt, Savannah has gotten to immerse herself in 2 different hispanic cultures with a mission trip to Honduras and a Puerto Rico adventure to remember this Summer.

One of our dear friend’s daughter graduated this year and asked Savannah and I to tag along for a special trip to Puerto Rico to celebrate her graduation. I was tasked with finding and booking adventurous excursions to help us explore the beauty of Puerto Rico.

A Puerto Rico Adventure to Remember

We rented a 3 bedroom condo through Airbnb at the Aquatika resort. Savannah and I flew in a day early and were able to get settled and find our way around our corner of the island. The resort was a safe gated community with a variety of pools and beach access that made it fun for the girls to explore some on their own.

Most people who come to Puerto Rico, come to Old San Juan on a cruise ship. In one day this is the only part of the island they are able to take in. After attending a local church service on Sunday, Savannah and I had a fun meal at Waffle Era Tea Room and decided to explore the streets of Old San Juan before picking up the Tash’s from the airport.

I enjoyed the cobblestone streets with varied colored buildings. We found some of the iconic picture spots… Umbrella Street on Fortaleza Street (which currently was lined with paper bells), Pigeon Park, and the 2 forts that line the northern shore.

El Yunque Rainforest Adventure

A Puerto Rico Adventure to Remember

We began our week with a full day of adventuring with Island Journeys. We met up with a tour that took us trekking through a muddy trail, climbing over rocks, through crevices, around waterfalls, and plenty of time to slide down rocks and jump off cliffs into a refreshing pool of water. Check out my highlight reel below…

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Bio Bay Kayak Tour

After a nice local dinner at Rincon Del Faro, where we were able to try an island favorite, Mofungo – a plantain mash stuffed with meat of choice, we headed to our final adventure of the day with a Kayak tour to a bioluminescent bay.

A Puerto Rico Adventure to Remember

Puerto Rico is home to 3 different bioluminescent bays where you can usually see the glowing plankton throughout the year. Our tour partnered with Kayaking Puerto Rico in Fajardo to take us out in kayaks through a mangrove canal into an open lagoon. The plankton is best viewed under a new moon and dark sky conditions, which we didn’t have on this evening. With the help of a tarp to create darkness we were able to splash water into our kayaks and see the magical blue sparkles glow jump around.

PRO TIP – If you wear dark pants, you can see the blue sparkles better than against bare legs.

Elizabeth

A Magical Island Tour

Caroline is an avid horse rider and has grown up tending to horses, so we knew we had to experience Vieques, a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico, by horse. We took the local ferry across to the island for our afternoon adventure with Esperanza Riding Company. We had a taxi pick us up at the Ferry Terminal on the north side of the island and take us the south side of the island. We enjoyed fresh mangos from the orchard at the stable, while we waiting to set saddled up.

We rode through some trails, city streets, and scenic overlooks, but my favorite part was the open beaches we walked through with the island’s wild horses all around us.

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This trail ride was a little less intense than Savannah’s first experience on a horse last Summer at Bryce Canyon!

An Underwater Adventure

If you go to Puerto Rico, you can’t miss one of the many options to snorkel and explore the underwater reefs and sea life. On Wednesday we dodged thunderstorms and spent the afternoon with Snorkeling Puerto Rico. We were chartered in a boat out to a reef location to explore, then we beached for a bit at the edge of Icacos Island.

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We caught a beautiful sunset after the storms on our way to dinner.

If Walls Could Talk in Old San Juan

With our last day in Puerto Rico, we went to explore more of Old San Juan and take in the Castillo San Felipe del Morro. This fort sits majestically at the tip of the northern most point of the island. It was pretty impressive to walk through the 500 year old solid walls of this fort and think of all the people it has seen over the years! The views from the top and different levels were pretty impressive!

We got back to our resort just in time to quickly change clothes and catch sunset portraits on our beach. I couldn’t think of a better ending to our week in Puerto Rico, full of adventure and memories to remember!


It is hard to believe we are about to embark on Savannah’s Senior year!

I would love to know if you have a favorite place you have been in Puerto Rico or if you are planning a trip in the future!

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Categories: Family, Life, Photography, Travel

11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour

We just got back from an 11 day Utah/AZ National Park road trip tour of the “Mighty Five” National Parks in Utah plus the Grand Canyon in Arizona. It would be possible to take this trip in 7 days, but we gave ourselves some extra time in Salt Lake City after we flew in and in Las Vegas before we flew out.

After our trip to Yellowstone and Glacier National Park, we knew we wanted to take the girls to visit as many national parks we could this Summer before our annual National Park Pass expired.

Jonathan had a lot of Marriott Rewards points banked from work travel, so we chose our accommodations around hotels we could stay for free and then chose a VRBO in the middle of our trip to be able to spread out and wash clothes.

Thursday, June 2 – 5:30 pm Southwest flight to Salt Lake City.

I was able to book one way tickets for around $200/per person.

Friday, June 3 – Salt Lake City – SpringHill Suites Sugar House

We didn’t get to hotel till 1:30 am, so we slept in and then hit a couple thrift stores looking for dresses for Bonneville Salt Flat pictures. We drove around downtown and spent some time walking through the Mormon Church History Museum before going back to hotel to rest and get ready for salt flat pictures.

Saturday, June 4 – Salt Lake City

We had a day to explore Salt Lake City with the Connect Pass.

Sunday, June 5 – Salt Lake City

We left our hotel and visited a local church in Kaysville before beginning our drive to Moab. It is about a 4 hour drive from Salt Lake City to Moab. We got checked into our hotel and had enough time to grab some food at the local City Market grocery store before driving out to Dead Horse State Park to catch the sunset.

11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour
11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour

Monday, June 6 – Moab – SpringHill Suites Moab

Our hotel was less than 5 minutes from the Arches National Park entrance. We left at 4:30 am to drive into the park and be able to hike the Delicate Arch Trail to watch the sunrise. We began the trail around 5:00 am in the dark with flashlights and a Father/Son group navigating alongside us. It was well worth the early wake up call to beat the heat and the crowds typically found at the Delicate Arch!

After hiking back down the mountain, we drove around the roads and checked out the Windows Arches and Turret Arch before heading back to the hotel to catch breakfast. After resting, we walked around in the local shops of Moab and enjoyed an afternoon meal at the local food truck park.

11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour
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Tuesday, June 7 – Moab

We got up early again to watch the sunrise at Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park. It was about a 45 minute drive into the park from our hotel, but we didn’t have to hike too far to get to the Mesa Arch. This is a very popular spot for photographers and tourist to capture the sun’s rays peaking over the mountain and through the thin arch.

11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour
Mesa Arch
Mesa Arch at Sunrise

We hiked a few other short trails like the Whale Trail and the Upheavel Dome Trail before heading back to the hotel. Our hotel had a really nice outdoor patio and pool area, so the girls enjoyed resting and swimming for the afternoon. That evening we went back into the Arches park to take some portraits before sunset.

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Wednesday, June 8 – Moab

We left our hotel and drove 2.5 hours to Capital Reef National Park. We were surprised by the different looking mountains and rock formations as we drove into this park. The green orchards were a pleasant oasis amount the mountains. We hiked the Cohab Canyon Trail. We had a later start in the day, so we definitely felt the heat more while hiking. There is a cute little bakery by the barn and the Cohab Canyon Trail. We got 2 small pies to enjoy as we drove the scenic drives before we left the park.

There really aren’t many hotels built up around Capital Reef, so it is no surprise it isn’t as popular the other 4 Utah parks.

From here we had about 4.5 hour drive to get to our next destination in Page, Arizona. Page is right on the Utah/Arizona border, and not too far from the parks in Utah, but the few roads have to route around mountains.

Along the way we found Henrie’s Drive In restaurant and tried their famous “Chubby Cheese Burgers”.

We had just enough time before dark to stop and hike up to the Sand Caves just outside Kanab, Utah. These caves are easy to access just off Highway 89 and a fairly easy hike up to.

11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour
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Thursday, June 9 – Page – VRBO

There are plenty of hotels in this tourist/crossroads town, but we chose a VRBO to have a little more space to spread out and be able to do laundry half way through our trip. Page is famous for its local Antelope slot canyons and Horseshoe Bend. Page is on Arizona time, which in the Summer is 1 hour behind Utah time, so that messed with us a little with sunrise and sunset times.

11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour

We did a Kayak and Canyon tour in the morning. This was a lot of fun and we got some amazing pictures in the lower Antelope slot canyon that can only be accessed by boat.

We enjoyed Birdhouse for lunch in town after that physical activity in the sun.

We were able to able to check out the famous Horseshoe Bend at sunset along with hundreds of other people!

11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour

Friday, June 10 – Page

We drove 2.5 hours to the Grand Canyon North Rim National Park. This was one of the most scenic drives of the week, driving to and from the park.

Make sure to stop at the Navajo Bridge Interpretive Center and walk out on the bridge to see the Colorado River below.

Jacob’s Inn is a fun pit stop before you enter the drive to the park. They have a great gift shop with tshirts that are cheaper than the park visitor center. They have some amazing cookie choices also that you don’t want to miss!

We drove around to the lookout vista points at the Grand Canyon and didn’t take on any hikes. Before we left, we did see a rain storm brewing to the south. We were told it had been 70 days since the southern Utah region had gotten any rain!

11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour

For dinner, we stopped back at Jacob’s Inn to try the Fry Bread food truck. It didn’t disappoint!

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Saturday, June 11 – Cedar City – Courtyard Cedar City

We packed up and left our VRBO and drove 2.5 hours to Bryce Canyon. We booked an afternoon horse trail ride through Bryce Canyon. We are all new to horseback riding, but everyone said this may have been their favorite activity of the week! We did the 3 hour tour that takes you 8 miles into the canyon and around the Peek-A-Boo trail and back. Once we got over the fears of going downhill on switchbacks on the edge of cliffs on a horse, it was smooth riding.

11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour

The views from the top and from below were amazing!

It was another amazing scenic drive from Bryce Canyon to our next hotel in Cedar City. We stopped at Aunt Sue’s Chalet for dinner along the drive. The the food was ok, but the homemade pie was pretty fantastic!

11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour
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Sunday, June 12 – Cedar City

Our last National Park to visit was Zion National Park. I know this is a favorite park for many, and I wish we had more time and energy to devote to exploring it. We came prepared and geared up to hike the famous Narrows hike along the Virgin River. We got to the park early to beat the crowds and heat and catch the 6:00 shuttle bus to the Narrows hike. At Zion, everyone has to park at the visitor center and ride a bus to 1 of 9 stops to reach different trails.

Recommendations for Narrows Hike

  • Water Shoes – Shoes have a good grip on the bottom.
  • Water Socks – This shoe and sock combo were comfortable for hiking in and out of water.
  • Hiking stick or dowel to keep balance on rocks – we picked up 4 dowels at a local Ace Hardware and left at the end of the trail for someone else to use when we were done.

You walk along a paved 1 mile path to get to the entrance on the river and then you are hiking through the river and along the shore back and forth to go up the canyon. We didn’t hike all the way to the end of the trail, and turned around at the Wall Street area. It took us a good 5 hours to complete the trail. It was well worth an early start after we saw the crowds that had increased on the hike back!

11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour

We were tired and hungry when we got back so we stopped for lunch at the restaurant at the lodge.

When you leave the park don’t miss the gem of a local coffee shop, FeelLove Coffee just outside the park. They had an extensive menu and was a nice treat for the drive back to Cedar City.

There was a Golden Corral across the street from our hotel, so the girls were excited to try that buffet for the first time.

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Monday, June 13 – Las Vegas – Marriott Grand Chateau

We packed up and left Cedar City and stopped in St. George for lunch and one last cup of FeelLove Coffee before heading to Las Vegas. Once we got to Las Vegas we had a few hours before we could check into our hotel, so we drove down and checked out Hoover Dam. We were impressed with the size and magnitude of this dam as we walked across it! Like Lake Powell in Page, you could see where the water lines on Lake Mead was hundreds of feet below where it once was.

11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour

After checking into our amazing villa room, we wouldn’t get to enjoy long, we toured the strip checking out the shopping and restaurants tucked into the grand hotels.

Sarah Beth loves Flamingos, so we made sure to check out the flamingo habitat at the Flamingo Resort.

11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour

With children, make sure to check out the huge M&M store, but a tip for you. When you are suddenly craving M&M’s you can get a bag for a lot cheaper next door at Target.

Las Vegas may not be somewhere I want to spend a lot of time, but it was fun seeing some of the famous sites before our early morning flight.

Tuesday, June 14 – 5:20 am flight on Southwest from Las Vegas to Birmingham

Thanks for sticking around while we shared our 11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour. Let me know if you love any of these places we visited or if you need help planning a future trip for your family!

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Categories: Family, Life, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized

A Salt Wonderland

When you think of Utah, you may think of snow covered mountains, but do you think of salt filled lakes? I have always wanted to drive out to the Bonneville Salt Flats and take pictures, and it wasn’t until our recent Utah family trip I was able to experience this mysterious salt wonderland.

We flew into Salt Lake City, Utah and had 2 days to explore before we started our Utah National Park tour in Moab. We packed white dresses to take portraits with the girls and as a family. When we arrived in Salt Lake City, I mentioned to the girls… “What if we could find some colorful flowy dresses at a thrift store that you could wear on the salt flats?” They were on board with that idea, so Friday morning we stopped by a local Deseret Industries Thrift Store (One of the nicest thrift stores I have been in!) and they they just happened to have 2 pretty dresses that fit the girls perfectly. Best $20 I’ve spent for portrait clothing!

The Bonneville Salt Flats recreation area is about an hour and a half drive West on I-80, almost to the Nevada border. When we got there we saw cars pulled out onto the flat and people were taking pictures, and playing on the hard packed salt flats. We had a 4×4 rental SUV so it was easy enough to drive out and pick a spot. You would not want to drive onto the salt flats if there is standing water on the ground. When we arrived, we had a couple hours before sunset. The sun was still a little high in the sky making for harsh conditions for squinty eyes and reading the back of a camera.

We drove around to the backside and found a magical puddle of water being illuminated by the setting sun and Sarah Beth hopped out and we were able to capture some final magical images.

We made a local friend who decided to follow us around on all our adventures for the rest of the week.

A note of caution

If you drive out on the Salt Flats be prepared to get salt from shoes in your car and swing by a carwash when you get back to town to rinse off the salt that will pack into the wheel frame of your vehicle.

A salt wonderland was a fun experience to begin our Utah Family Adventure. The girls were excited to try In-N-Out Burger when we made it back to town.

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Categories: Family, Life, Photography

10 Years of A Grand Story

I recently shared the story behind my parent’s 2021 Christmas card design on Facebook, and got an overwhelming response. What I wanted for myself was a catalog of all those portraits and the story each of the cards from the last 10+ years have represented to me and my family as the “Grands” have grown. So I am choosing to catalog all the cards here on this platform so we can always go back and enjoy the memories and growth from year to year.

One of my greatest joys from years of custom portraiture was getting to design Christmas cards and Announcements for the families I worked with.

2021

After I helped my Mom score this huge rustic outdoor farmhouse table free off FB marketplace, I had a vision for this exact set up. My mom crafted the wooden angel, that Sarah Beth and Lyla are holding, out of some special wood to symbolize Grandma Sauter who is now watching over us all. The holidays won’t be the same without her, but we have preserved so many memories of our time with her.

10 Years of A Grand Story
10 Years of A Grand Story

2020

With the craziness of 2020 an official card was not printed, but we were able to capture one last family portrait with Great Grandma Sauter. After a year of independent living, Grandma made the decision to come live with Mom and Dad just before Thanksgiving. It was a blessing for the family to have her close by for the next 9 months.

2019

In 2019 the Sauters made their permanent move to Arkadelphia Acres and the Baileys moved back to Birmingham and spent the first half of the year living in their Vestavia house. The cousins were excited to get to see each other more often.

2018

2018 was a year for breaking and clearing ground at Arkadelphia Acres. By the end of the year, the finishing touches were being put in place before the Sauters could move into their new home.

2017

In December 2017, the Sauters closed on 10 acres of land in Arkadelphia, Alabama, adjoining the land my sister, Kathryn Baggett lived on. Their card announced their plans to build and lumber jack attire and axes were appropriate to tell this piece of their story.

2016

The 2016 pictures were taken in front of the cedar trees my dad planted in Vestavia and on one of the benches he restored. My Dad has always have a love for cedar trees!

2015

Everyone was all smiles in 2015 in bright jewel tone attire. This picture was taken in Kathryn’s backyard with the glowing Fall colors at Thanksgiving.

2014

in 2014, I wanted to highlight and use one of my Dad’s wood piles as a backdrop for their Christmas card. My Mom couldn’t be left out and is holding a sprig off her rosemary bush. I found matching Gymboree pajamas for the kids to go with this woodsman theme.

2013

I am reminded of growth and change when I look at this portrait! Another picture taken in Kathryn’s backyard next to the small evergreen trees Dad planted, which have now grown taller than their house! In 2013, the Baileys had just made a move to Atlanta and I had just begun planting seeds to grow my Spoiled Rotten Photography business.

2012

In 2012 I hauled that green couch all over creation to shoot Fall Family Portraits, so why not take it to Kathryn’s backyard to photograph the grands all together. I miss those snaggle teeth and coordinating Gymboree outfits! I also love that Grandma Sauter made an appearance on this card!

2011

After my Mom’s appearance with the Grands on their Christmas card in 2010, my Dad didn’t want to be left out. He surprised us all wanting to be in a picture, and that is when the annual picture with the Grands was born. We welcomed James, the first boy Grand in November, so this year’s card got to include him! We used the Holiday Studio set that I designed that year and used a special hollowed out driftwood log to place the new baby in.

2010

Fall 2010 we took the girl cousins to a local covered bridge to take some portraits. My Mom got a great shot with all the girls wearing the white dresses she bought them, that we put into a Christmas card template for her to send out.

2008

In 2008, while we lived in Madison, AL we took a trip with the Baggetts to the Opryland Hotel to enjoy the lights and decorations of the season. Pictures from that trip were used for each of our Christmas cards that year.

It has been a blessing to tell this Grand Story for the past 10+ years and I pray we have many more years to continue the story.

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Categories: Life, Photography, Travel

Million Dollar View

This million dollar view was literally the climax of our trip to Montana!

Million Dollar View
If you zoom in, you can see tiny people standing on the rock by Grinell Glacier down below by that first pool of blue water.

After looking at the best things to do in Glacier National Park, I knew the Highline Trail was at the top of my list of things to do with our limited time at the park. From everything I read, it offered some of the best variety of terrains and views and a relatively flat 7.5 mile one way hike. Towards the end of the trail, I knew there would be a harder trail called the Garden Wall Trail that we could take for a view that would be worth the steep hike up.

I am not a seasoned hiker, but I envisioned completing this hike and was up for whatever challenge it would present. Jonathan and I set out on the trail about 10 am knowing that we would be on this trail most of the day. We had beautiful weather and the trail lived up to its expectations with ever changing terrain and beautiful meadows of wildflowers. We joked that the national park service had strategically planted special effects along the way to keep the hike interesting. At times we felt like we were participants in the Hunger Games with swarms of gnats, flies, cool waterfalls, rocks to climb over, mountain goats along the path, marmots playing hide and seek, rock slides, and warnings to carry bear spray… just in case.

We got to the optional Garden Wall trail in about 3 hours. Little did we know that 0.6 mile vertical hike would require multiple stops to rest along the way, but everyone coming down said the hike up was definitely worth it!

Million Dollar View
From this view, you can see and understand how a glacier could cut through a mountain and create lakes in its path.

Once we finally reached the top we were able to view Grinnell Glacier sitting right below the backside of the mountain. I thought we were at the top until I saw a small outline of a person up on an even higher rock viewpoint. So, up I climbed to get the best possible view. I hauled my camera in my backpack all this way, so I wasn’t leaving without getting the best picture I could. After climbing up and joining the crowd of adventurous adults, much younger than myself, I snapped a few pictures and then saw the ominous dark clouds moving in over the East side of the mountain. I climbed back down and joined up with Jonathan and we agreed we better start heading back down the mountain before we got caught in the storm. That impending storm got us off that mountain A LOT faster than it took us to go up! When we made it to the bottom, we had to choose… hike back the 7 miles we came to get to our car and potentially walk through rain or continue on to the chalet we could see 0.8 up ahead where we could take shelter under cover.

The effects kept coming… we walked through big rain drops all the way to the chalet. It was a refreshing rain that got us wet without actually soaking us. That storm did settle in for about 30 minutes and we were undercover for most of it. The temperature dropped at least 20 degrees with the rain, and quickly warmed back up with the sun.

We decided to try the 4 mile Loop Trail that would take us back to a parking lot. We met a young couple along the trail that we were able to hitch hike a ride back to our car. By the time we made it back to our car, it was 7 pm. It was a great last day to our trip and an experience and million dollar view I’m sure we will tell our grandkids about one day.

Million Dollar View

Have you taken any memorable hikes that resulted in your own million dollar views?

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Categories: Family, Life, Photography, Spoiled Rotten Photography

Behind the Wood Shed

If you can’t find my Father, you can usually find him behind the wood shed chopping wood for fun or clearing the next trail through the woods behind his house at Arkadelphia Acres.

For this year’s Spoiled Rotten Photography Personal Project, I knew my Father would be the perfect subject to use to mimic the inspiration piece of art I chose. While I was recently in Bentonville, Arkansas, I was able to visit the Crystal Bridges Art Museum.

While visiting Crystal Bridges Art Museum, I discovered this painting called “Tobacco Sorters.” What caught my attention was the contrast in subjects and to me it told a story of a grandfather telling his granddaughter about life or the industry in which he worked. I chose to tell a similar generational story in my image with my Father who has always chopped wood for fun and his only grandson. I wanted the lighting and finish to depict the roughness and texture of the piles of wood and my Father’s weathered skin.

Passing the Axe
Behind the Wood Shed

I captured two images that I felt mimicked the composition and theme of the original painting. I chose to call these, “Passing the Axe” and “Behind the Wood Shed.”

My Father…

You may never knew what he is thinking or feeling, but his mind is always processing the next project and path he wants to clear. He was born to have his hands in the dirt and not much slows him down!

His example has taught his 2 daughters and 5 grandchildren how to be satisfied with the simple things in life, the value of hard work, and using the resources you have been given wisely.

I am thankful the timing of this photo project allowed me a rare opportunity to photograph my Father alone, in his element, as a tribute for Father’s Day this year.

These yearly personal photo projects have become a great way for me to tell the stories of my family’s heritage and legacy.

Do you have any portraits of your family members that tell a story for the next generation to know something about them?

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Country Girls

My city girls are country girls at heart! They love tending to animals and don’t mind getting their hands dirty to grow something. It has been a blessing for our family to be back in Birmingham, and close enough to run up for day trips to play on my parent’s land, Arkadelphia Acres.

Meet the Ladies… Gertrude – a Barred Rock, Goldie – a Buff Orpington, Winnie – an Americauna

At Christmas we gave my mother a chicken coop. If you missed that story, you can go back and catch up. She recently got everything put together and fenced in to house her first round of chickens. We were able to buy a couple of laying hens from our friends at McLean Acres, that quickly made themselves at home and resumed their egg laying schedule.

Do you remember the Target Universal Thread prairie dresses that everyone kept making fun of? Well, my girls actually really liked the pattern of them and I scored 3 for us on clearance. I envisioned a fun photoshoot with these dresses once my mother got chickens. I don’t know who came up with the #TargetDressChallenge, but I was all over that idea and the girls were actually excited about this photoshoot!

I couldn’t help but laugh how much they looked like Mary and Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie! Funny thing is, their personalities match the characters too!

The wildflowers were at their peak, so we had fun in the field across the street until I stepped in an ant bed, and cut our ending short.

These girls of mine may not officially be country girls, but they sure play the part well! As much fun as it has been watching these chickens interact with each other in their coop, I am already imagining the fun we will have when goats enter the picture for the Sauter/Bailey/Baggett family!

Hop over to Instagram and you can view the Country Girl Reel!

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The Bailey Family

The Bailey Family

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  • The Next Ten Years
  • She Will Be Missed
  • A Creative Escape
  • Marching Into Her Senior Year
  • A Puerto Rico Adventure to Remember

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The Next Ten Years

Around this time of year, I always reflect back on this compilation of Holiday Cards I produced for my parents over the years and thought it was time I started a new post to house the next 10 years of life at Arkadelphia Acres for my parents. Each year we continue the tradition of incorporating […]

She Will Be Missed

As I began thinking about playing along with the 2024 Spoiled Rotten Photography Personal Projects, I knew the subjects I wanted to focus on. The bond that Savannah has with our dog, Daisy. Daisy and Savannah will both miss each other next year when Savannah heads off to college! I came across this image on […]

Red, white, and blue looks good on you. #govote Red, white, and blue looks good on you. 

#govote
We Praise God Through the Storm… While we would We Praise God Through the Storm…

While we would have loved to have Savannah home with us for nearly a week for a “hurrication”, a couple circumstances kept her on Florida College’s campus with a little less than half the students. We felt confident in the structural stability of the dorms and the higher ground in Temple Terrace. She was prepped and prepared for worse case scenarios and had her roommate as a companion. They had a trial run with effects from Helene just 2 weeks ago. 

I can confidently say the Florida College campus along the Hillsborough River was probably one of the most prayed over areas in the state of Florida. 

Yesterday, just hours before Milton made landfall, a group of FC moms, grandmothers, and friends met up on zoom to storm the gates of heaven with prayers for comfort and protection for our children and campus. Through it all, we were in agreement that God would be glorified through the storm and in the aftermath.

Milton made landfall sooner than projected and kept moving Eastward without stalling. While the winds and rain raged for 4+ hours, the students were able to go to bed, knowing the storm had passed and they were dry and never lost power! 

The community in central Florida is strong and I have no doubt there will be plenty of kingdom work to be done and ways to serve others in the coming days to help with clean up efforts from flooding and trees down. 

Thank you to close friends and family who were checking on us and her leading up to the storm. We felt those prayers of comfort.

This will be a memory Savannah will carry with her the rest of her life and a testament to build her faith and ability to weather the storms of life clinging to God through prayer. 

#Milton #FloridaCollege #PrayForFlorida
October 1 I am ready to fill my camera roll with b October 1
I am ready to fill my camera roll with beautiful things again!
Happy National Daughter’s Day! Both unique in t Happy National Daughter’s Day!

Both unique in their own ways, to complete our family! 

#nationaldaughtersday
Would you run a mile for a cup of coffee? For thes Would you run a mile for a cup of coffee? For these views you would! 

One thing I LOVE about NW Arkansas are the miles of paved pathways and trails! After running a mile to the @airshipcoffee yesterday, I had to go back and run 3 miles before treating myself to another cup of coffee today.
Savannah is set up and ready to go as a freshman a Savannah is set up and ready to go as a freshman at Florida College. “Is there anything else you need”… probably the phrase I repeated the most over the last 2 days! We are all excited about her new beginning and are confident she has everything she needs to thrive!

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