Announcements - Columbus Ms Photographer

Ok, so the first news of the day.... Daniel and I are adopting again!  We are looking into the file of a little girl from China.  We are on the first steps of paperwork and it promises to be a long process... but we are hopeful.  Thats about all the news we have so far... I plan to open up another blog for our adoption so you can stay updated that way.  Hopefully next year, we will be a family of 6!

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I also wanted to give you a heads up.... the Cookie Mama is giving away some cookies!  You have until this Friday to get your comment in... as you can see above, they are oh so cute and super delicious too... this one is one you dont want to miss!

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Whew... this past weekend about wore me out... super-super busy.... things start slowing down this week so I am hoping to get tons of new stuff here up on the blog... I am starting to get behind and need to catch up in a big way.... :)

Email me at talleyimages@yahoo.com and check out the website at www.addietalley.com

One Year - Columbus MS Photographer

This past weekend Wallace has been ours "officially" for a year! In our hearts, he has been ours for so much longer... but a year ago, we went to the courthouse and a judge granted us to become his family! I look at this pic and can see how much all of us have grown in just a year... cant wait to see what the next few hold!

The Final Countdown - Day 11 - Columbus MS Photographer

Dont forget to enter the contest for FREE BRIDALS, you can enter all this week and a winner will be chosen on Monday, July 9th.... cant wait to read more entries! There have been some really good ones so far!

Speaking of contests.... Go on over to the Hopkins family blog - they are giving away a Kindle fire - how awesome is that... and you know youve been wanting one. And all the money raised goes to bring that sweet little boy in the picture above (which I didnt take) home to his forever family. Isnt he sweet? The Hopkins adopted a little girl from Hong Kong a little bit back (like us!) and now they are going to Europe for a son! And you can be a part of their journey.... its so exciting. And speaking from experience in the adoption world - its hard. Its really hard. But you have no idea how encouraging it is when people support you - even with small amounts - $1, $5, $10 - it may not seem like much in the grand scheme of things, but to that family, I guarantee you, its huge.

And now we are down to Day 11 of the countdown to the Sins show... Im on pins and needles and cant wait.... so much good stuff happening... :)

Email me at talleyimages@yahoo.com - Id love to hear from you!

A Christmas Miracle

This is Kalia... if you remember, awhile back, I posted this post and asked if you would mind helping out this family get their daughter.

Well, they got TA, which in adoption world means they can travel! In fact, they are traveling THIS FRIDAY and will be meeting Kalia on Christmas day! Can you even imagine how amazing that is - what a gift!

The problem though is still the money.... as you can imagine, traveling around Christmas has sky-rocketed their airfaire, along with a few other incidental costs that have all gone up. But! They are only about $2,300 short from being completely funded... so what do you say we help be part of a real Christmas miracle and bring a daughter to her family - a daughter who has been waiting 10 years for a family.... can you imagine waiting 10 years not knowing if anyone was coming for you, and then you find out they are.... could you stand that wait?

Most of us cant afford to give a super amount of money, but from experience... $1, $2, $5, $10 can make a huge difference.... HUGE! It really does all add up.

And if that wasnt enough, they are having a fundraiser/giveaway and giving away an IPAD2 - which would make a pretty sweet gift for yourself or to give away... theyve also got some other sweet prizes as well.

So please go visit this family's blog and take a minute to read their story and add a little bit to their "Christmas with Kalia" chip in on the right... you will be so glad that you did, and you will know that you really made a difference this Christmas.

Lets all be part of this Christmas miracle!

Think About It...

Take a look at our little boy - who isnt so little anymore.... he just turned 7 when this picture was taken. This was the first time we got to celebrate Wallace's birthday WITH him. I had to go through his previous 2 birthdays knowing that we were his family, but we couldnt be with him. Broke my mama's heart every time I thought about it.... especially since we missed his 6th birthday by one week.

Now take a look at this family http://mattmandi.blogspot.com/2011/11/birthday-wish.html - they are going through the same thing right now. And even more heartbreaking is that their daughter knows she has a family -so she is probably missing celebrating with her family just as much as they are.

But... you can help! You can make them both feel a little less alone.... and you could win some really cool prizes too. They are doing a giveaway for an Ipad2and some really cool jewelry that would make perfect presents for those hard to shop for grandmothers that say "dont get me anything".... :)

Or even if you cant make that big of a donation, I know personally, that even $1 makes a huge difference. From experience, adoption is hard... and its really hard to humble yourself and fundraise... it can beat your heart up really fast. So even if someone could only afford to give us $1, it lifted our spirits up more than we could truly express and it often left me crying from thankfulness.

So I dont know where you are or what you are doing... but now is the Christmas season - which if you ask my kids, they will tell you is Jesus' birthday. Let's honor that and give Him a gift that He would truly love... one less child without a family. Lets make this Kalia's last birthday apart from hers.

The Thomason Family - Columbus MS Photographer

Like Ive said before, I love it when I end up friends with my clients... so when I found out Mary and Colby were adopting, well, I was excited. Adoption has been a huge part of our lives for quite awhile now, so to get to see it firsthand with another great family - just the best!

And seriously, how gorgeous are they?three gorgeous boys!And each one is so different... :)How beautiful is this?!!!As a photographer, sometimes I will come across a picture, and I am just so jealous that it wasnt me who took it... these 3 pictures are like that for me - every time I look at them, I am so glad it was me that got to be there to capture them! (you really should click on them to view them larger)One of my all time favorites!Are these guys going to be gorgeous when they get to be older or what?Gorgeous parents too... :)I dont even have words to say how grateful it was to be the one to get to take these pictures... I just feel overwhelmed when I get to be a small part of someone's wedding and then watch it come full circle in such a beautiful way.

As I said before, I am now starting to book for August and then soon September (which along with October are always my busy months) so definitely looking forward to that!

Hope all of yall are good... Id love to hear from you.... talleyimages@yahoo.com