IT'S A BOY!

We would like to welcome Auden Pethel to our IP family.

Auden was born last Wednesday (July 23rd) at CMC-Northeast.

He was 21 1/2 inches long and weighed 9 lbs. 8oz. (BIG BOY!)





Here's the new Pethel family, getting ready to leave the hospital.



And... Auden's first portraits... at three days old!



What a beautiful family!



We're so excited about watching him grow. We'll keep you updated too!

Locklear-Waller Wedding

Guest Blogger: Tara Molles, Associate Photographer



Renda and I photographed Craig and Melissa's wedding at Oak Island, NC on July 18th.
Even though there was threat of tropical storm weather, and it rained off and on the whole way to the beach, the rain held out until the happy couple left!




Craig has been our personal trainer at the Sportscenter for several weeks and has been such a joy to work with! We wish him and Melissa the best of luck as they move to California next month!

Congrats! We'll miss you guys!

Myers-Hollifield Engagment

Congratulations to Jason Myers and Tyler Hollifield on their engagment earlier this year!

They share a love of harleys and vacationing at the beach, so we captured that in their engagment session!



This is actually the bike that they met on!



Look at those FABULOUS heels!



After we finished with the harley, we headed to Sunset Beach! And their 4-legged baby, Hunter, joined us! Isn't he cute?!



We had so much fun with Tyler and Jason! We could photographed all night... if only the sun could have stayed up!




Tyler and Jason will be getting married at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens in June of 2009... and we can't wait!

Fundraiser

We recently held a fundraiser for Karen and Buddy's church, North Kannapolis United Methodist Church. The church needed a new computer, so we set aside a Sunday afternoon to photograph 10 minute sessions. (You don't realize how fast 10 minutes goes by!)

Meet Jacob and Austin! They were photographed on our bridge last year, so we thought we'd photograph them by our antique gas tank!

We even had four legged subjects! Meet Bailee and Nutmeg!

And here's a family blessed with two sets of twins! Meet Parker, Haliegh, Cooper, Tyler, and the oldest, Josh!

Now... this was a challenge! It was a litte crazy at first, but we got the hang of it! (Oh.. the things we'll do to make four 18 month olds smile at the same time!)

Thanks to everyone who participated in this fundraiser! Because of you, we raised $1000 for the church, to go towards the new computer!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Once again, our Baseball Days were a hit!



These were a few of our favorite images from the event!



Luke enjoyed himself too! He watched for popcorn crumbs and ice cream cones. (Even though neither are on his diet!)


We look forward to next year's Baseball Days! Thanks to everyone who participated in these exclusive sessions!

Birthday Blessings

Guest Blogger: Tara Molles, Associate Photographer


On Thursday, July 10th, I photographed a very special birthday party. This party, planned by "Birthday Blessings," was held at the Salvation Army Center of Hope in Charlotte. Birthday Blessings hosts one party a month for the children living at the center with birthdays in that month. The children were treated with a bounce house, remote control cars, characters, face painting, goody bags, and cake, of course!


Charlotte Baby & Child editor Corey Williams and her daughter attended the event as well. (That's Corey in the pink.) They will be featuring the event in their fall issue of the magazine so be sure to check it out!


Here are a handful of images from the party!










Enjoy,
Tara

July's Donation Reminder

We hope you've gotten a chance to look through our "Digital Divas" webpage on www.avonwalk.org.

We wanted to remind you that for each portrait session in July, IP will donate $5 toward the Digital Diva's team goal of $5,000!

Remember, every dollar counts!

Focused on a Cure

40 miles, 2 days, 1 cure.

We've made a commitment... and we need your help!

As you know, those close to our IP family have been faced with the battle of breast cancer. After watching friends and loved ones go through this hard time, we've decided to fight back!

We've recently made a very big decision to walk in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Charlotte on October 25 & 26.

Over the next few months, we will be training to walk a complete marathon (26.2 miiles) on Saturday, followed by another half-marathon (13.1 miles) on Sunday, October 26. That's a total of almost 40 miles!

In addition to training, we will be focused on raising a required minimum of $1,800 each as a team member, but aiming for a much higher goal of $5,000 as a team. The money we raise goes to five crucial areas: awareness and education; screening and diagnosis; treatment; support services and scientific research.

You can read more about our team, Digital Divas, and make a donation online at http://www.avonwalk.org/. (Search for our team under the Charlotte walk.) Or you can contact us at 704.933.5600 and we will provide you with a form to send along with a check donation.

There are other ways to give. Ask you employer to match your donation. Avon also offers automatic drafts of any amount from an account over a period of time.

Or here's an idea... Challenge us! Give us a date! Whatever amount we raise by that date, match it (or a percentage of it!) We're up for a challenge!

While making a contribution to those who desperately need it, your gift to the Avon Walk will be tax-deductible and responsibly managed by the Avon Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity.



At the same time, you will be showing your support of our efforts, for which we are extremely grateful!



Every dollar counts! We thank you in advance!

Thank you for all your support!





Sincerely,


Digital Divas







P.S. This is a major commitment, that we have made. But the truth is... it takes a lot more dedication to overcome the battle of breast cancer.



We want to hear your story. Tell us about your struggles, your inspirations, and how you made it through.

Sharing your story may not only help you to heal emotionally, but it may inspire others to fight harder!

Call Renda at 704.933.5600 or email her at renda@irresistibleportraits.com to share your story.

Summer Vacation

Hey y'all! We are glad to be back from vacation! Of course, being gone for a week means we have LOTS TO DO!

We enjoyed the beach! We worked some while we were there. We photographed a few sessions at beautiful Sunset Beach, NC. I love Sunset Beach. It is still a family beach with NO high rises!

We had great weather and great subjects!

We had a fun engagment session with a cute couple, Aubrey and Jeremy. They are getting married September 13, 2008 at Ocean Isle Beach.



They have a beautiful boat and love to fish. So..... we got the great idea to follow them in their boat with us in our boat! It was a little harder than we expected. The wind was up. The tide was down. The current was running crazy. I thought we would just put the boat where we wanted and we would take pretty pictures.... not that easy!



We ended the shoot on the beach near Bird Island. I was having a great time photographing and meanwhile our boats were rocking and being filled with water from HUGE waves. Here's Renda bailing the water out!





Needless to say, we got some awesome images! Woohoo! Let's do it again!

Enjoy,
Karen


Oh... AND we saw a bald eagle! Beautiful, huh?