personal Archives - Page 8 of 8 - Amy Clifton Keely Photography

Grandmother and Grandaddy–Celebrations

On my mom’s side, our immediate family is very small…she’s an only child and so am I; that means I’m the only grandchild too (yay, me!). Except when extended family is involved, our get-togethers are always a “party of 5.” Since we’re such a small, close bunch, it’s always important to celebrate special occasions.

Sunday, was my grandmother’s birthday–I don’t dare reveal how many!!–and today is my grandparents’ 64th wedding anniversary. YES–64 years! Grandmother is the original cougar–she’s 7 years older than him. 🙂 My grandparents grew up in a small mill village, just about 8 or 9 miles from where they live now; my grandaddy sang in a traveling quartet, and grandmother was their pianist. They devoted their entire lives to serving God by singing and playing music together, with him directing numerous church choirs and her playing the organ until they retired just about 4 years ago. Even now, though, Grandaddy will still play his accordian at their little church every couple of months.

Here are a few pictures from today’s birthday celebration….

Grandmother let out a big whistle when mom reminded her how old she turned today!

The lighting on this one is all kooky because my mom took a flash picture at the exact instant I shot this, but I love the expressiveness anyway…

Every year, Grandaddy makes the New Year’s Resolution to “stop being so silly.” As with most resolutions, that one doesn’t seem to last very long. 🙂

Whenever we go out to eat, they always share a plate, Well, Friday night, I went to dinner with them, and Grandaddy was joking with the server that they didn’t need an extra plate because he wasn’t going to share. Grandmother chuckled and said “He knows better than that!” The waitress heard her say it, and she totally cracked up, saying “I like the way she thinks!!”

Happy Birthday, Grandmother! And Happy 64th Anniversary to you both! I love you and I’m glad we belong to each other!

Borrowing from my Ohana friends’ post for their grandparents, If you’d like to leave a birthday or anniversary greeting, please click the “Show me some love” link, type your message, and click the “Name/URL” button. Don’t forget to leave your name! Thanks!

Pearl Jam–definitely still “Alive”

When “Ten” became popular my Junior year of high school, everyone had the tape (yes, the tape) in their car. My friend Kevin, however, never took his copy out of his tape player for the next two years! Pearl Jam has been a constant in his life, and I can’t tell you the countless hours I’ve spent over the years hanging out with him, listening to their latest bootleg over a bottle of wine. (Of course I’m listening to them right now as I type…) When PJ announced a small US tour–that included their first South Carolina stop in 10 years–there was no question that we would go. It would be our 3rd PJ show together, my 5th total. We headed down to Columbia this past Monday 6.16 with his cousin Colton (a carbon-copy of Kevin in high school!) and my photographer friend Amy.

Long story short, sometimes things just fall together in all the right ways. While tailgating in the parking lot, our high school friend Seth, who now lives in Nashville, came running over. Kevin hadn’t seen him in months, I hadn’t seen him in years. He was there with the opening band, Kings of Leon, and said he would try to get us backstage after the show. Through various friends and contacts in the music industry, I’ve hung out after lots of shows, but backstage at Pearl Jam? No freakin’ way.

Of course Eddie and the boys showed up with an amazing set list and we rocked out for the next two hours. My phone rang during the 2nd encore, and Seth said two words: “It’s happening.” (OK, my long story isn’t getting as short as promised!) We all traipsed down to the dressing rooms, where the rest of us waited as Kevin got to meet Eddie. Eddie-Freakin-Vedder, our generation’s equivalent of Jim Morrison or Jimi Hendrix. Back out in the hall, we talked to Mike McCready, complete bad-ass on guitar, and got a guitar pick from him, and we saw Jeff Ament, equally bad-ass bass player.

I rarely post personal stuff on the blog, but seriously. We were backstage at Pearl Jam. The End.

Miracle Babies: 1 year later…

This is a story about miracles…

Shanda is one of those friends that I can go for a couple of years without seeing, yet when we see each other again it’s not weird at all. We’ve known each other since Freshman orientation at Western Carolina (more than a couple of years ago!) and have kept in touch here and there over the years. Early fall 2006 I got an email that Shanda and her husband were having twins. But the next thing I knew, there was another email saying that the boys had been born nearly 14 weeks premature.

On November 16, 2006, Evan and Tristan came into the world fighting for their lives. But they did not come into this world alone–they were accompanied by the prayers of hundreds of family, friends, and strangers and the expertise of amazing doctors. Evan weighed a tiny 1 pound 13 ounces and Tristan a teeny 1 pound 7 ounces. Can you even imagine babies so tiny? Their preemie diapers were the size of a dollar bill! Here’s where the miracles come in….the boys spent 87 days in the hospital, but amazingly they came home before their original due date in February. And amazingly, they are perfectly strong and healthy and happy today! Shanda and Randy are such sweet and brave parents, and they are fully aware of the miracle of their boys.

I got together with Shanda and the boys at her mom’s house in Charlotte just a few days after their 1st birthday in November. We shot some birthday pictures and celebrated their first year of life. Their one-year homecoming from the hospital will be February 11th, so I thought this would be the perfect time to share their photos!

These handprints and footprints were made when they were newborns. Notice the size of the quarter in comparison to the footprints!

Regular size pacifier for a year old baby, compared to the itty bitty paci when Evan and Tristan were in the hospital…

Christmas hats they wore in 2006 compared to the winter hats they wore around their first birthday. Getting an idea of how much they’ve grown?!

OK, so here are the boys now! Are they adorable or what??

(I’m pretty sure their grins mean “No Mommy, we’re not eating leaves! Just looking at them.”)

Shanda said they are fraternal twins, but I still had a hard time telling them apart.

I think this is Tristan…

…and I think this is Evan! (Shanda, leave me a comment if I’ve got it backwards!)

It was almost naptime when we came inside from the chilly leaves, and there was some ear-pulling….

Paci-stealing…

and a couple of tears.

Finally happy again, in Mommy’s arms.

Like I said, this story is about miracles: the miracle of amazing medical care, the miracle of the prayers of many, and the simple miracle of a cold day in the leaves with two perfect babies. If you are able, you can click here to make a donation to the March of Dimes in honor of these boys or the healthy babies in your own life! http://www.marchofdimes.com/howtohelp/howtohelp.asp
Shanda–thank you for letting me share your story. I can’t wait to see you guys again!

Go Heels!!!

Wow–what a nailbiter! I went to the UNC/Clemson basketball game tonight with my friend Kevin (a huge Clemson fan), and it was a crazy game. The Heels won it with a 3-pointer literally in the final second of overtime. I was a little worried that Kevin and his dad wouldn’t drive me back home from the game. 🙂

Finally, Here I Am!

For the past year or so my photography clients have been asking “When are you getting a website?” and “Can we view our photos online?” I’ve been admittedly slow moving into the 21st century, largely because my brides and families do such an amazing job advertising for me! I was so fortunate to have tons of work during 2007 JUST from word-of-mouth. I love viewing other photographers’ websites and blogs, though, so I’ve come to realize the importance of getting photos and stories out there for the world–or at least my clients and their families–to see. So here goes, this is post #1. I’m learning, so if things look funky for a while, bear with me as I experiment. 🙂

OK, I’m going to attempt to include a photo in this post…after all, this is a photography blog! My close friend Robyn was married this fall, and I was honored to be a bridesmaid, so I couldn’t photograph her wedding. I did shoot her bridal portraits, and this is a photo of her gorgeous bouquet, taken in the stands at Clemson’s Death Valley. (For the record, I’m a UNC Tarheels fan.)

SO…officially…finally…here I am! Amy Clifton Photography. Enjoy!