I had a lot of fun walking through downtown in Danville Virginia the other day. I believe it used to be a tobacco factory.
Most of these photos are HDRs. Merged in HDR Effects Pro and edited in lightroom.
Enjoy
John
Some of my lovely girlfriends came over and we had a mini Christmas party to make Christmas cards for children who are hospitalized over Christmas. 
My family drove up into the beautiful (little) mountains outside of Boone to pick out a Christmas tree for my mom and sisters. It was a chilly fresh morning with gorgeous light breaking out over the trees.
We loaded up into a wagon and rode up to the top to select our tree. It was bumpy and cold and way too much fun.
Binding up the tree so it would fit on the roof of the car
Tree hugger!
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” Luke 1:30
And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Luke 1:28
The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, and the virgin’s name was Mary. Luke 1:26-27
Our Thanksgiving Day was a bit small this year. My brother Josh wasn’t able to make it down from college as he was the stay in RA, and John’s sister spent Thanksgiving with her in laws. It felt small but it was still lovely. We crowded around my mom’s little table and decorated a stack of sugar cookies in the blink of an eye. Which of course were absolutely delicious with that hint of almond.
Of course most of the afternoon consisted of making our Thanksgiving feast.. and then we all gathered in my mom’s apartment to enjoy it and be together.
Sometimes simple and small is beautiful.
The evening was spent in games and just being together as a family. How be it not the entire family.. but I’m just grateful we could be together at all. So many people can’t be together and so many people wouldn’t even have enough food to share around if they did. I hope I never lose perspective.
So many things to be thankful for..
John and I celebrated the day by giving the gift of hope to girls who have been rescued out of sex slavery.. to help them build a new life. I don’t ever want to lose sight of how I’ve been blessed so that I can bless in return. If you would like to join me in giving a future and hope to hurting children around the world, visit my gift catalog with World Vision by clicking HERE.
I hope you all had a very lovely Thanksgiving surrounded by the people you love. -Bethany
I want to invite you to join in my vision of making our world a better place for children – as simply as giving life changing gifts in the honor of friends or family for their Christmas gifts. Check it out!
My family drove up to Linville Gorge Wilderness to breath in the beauty of Fall. We could not have timed it more perfectly on purpose bursting onto the scene as the leaves were at the peak of their spectacular beauty. We climbed up the Hawksbill trail and broke out of the trees onto a sea, rippling and flowing with vibrant reds, yellows, oranges and so forth. If you stood on the top and did a complete 360, you would lose your breath at the magnitude of color lying beneath you. (PS. John did a 360 panorama from the top, let’s see if we can get him to do a blogpost. )
Of all the many, many things I miss about the Rocky Mountains, there’s nothing quite like an Appalachian Fall…
To purchase the photos as artwork click HERE.
