Wednesday, August 17, 2016

After Church (Photostory)

Church service has concluded at Beulah Baptist Church.  Several attendees have already left, but most are meandering and conversing with friends and family.


"Dad, are we leaving soon?"  (Shelley)
"We're going to wait for your mom."  (Emmitt)
"Well in that case, I'm going to the bathroom."  (Shelley)

"Take these two with you.  I'm sure they could use a bathroom break."  (Emmitt)
"Daaad, why do I have to take them with me all the time."  (Shelley)
"You are just going to the bathroom.  It's not like you are going to the prom or something."  (Emmitt)

"Fine.  Come on spoiled brat."  (Shelley)
"I'm not sure he's the spoiled brat in this case."  (Emmitt)

The husbands of three ladies, Camille, Dasia, and Jacquelyn, are currently on a fishing trip together.
Just a reminder, Camille is Darius and Kendra's aunt on their mom side, and Dasia is their aunt on their dad side.  Jacquelyn is no relation to either of these ladies, but she does own the bridal shop.  Camille has happily taken baby Cameron from his mom.  
"So have you heard from Harold since he's been gone?"  (Jacquelyn)
"He called when they arrived, but they must be having a great time because I've hardly heard a peep since."  (Dasia)
"I'm sure they are just happy to be away from us."  (Camille)
The ladies start laughing.

"Girl, I'm freaking out."  (Nikki)
"Why, what's wrong?"  (Kendra)
"This wedding just got real."  (Nikki)

"The wedding was always real, wasn't it?"  (Kendra)
"Yes, but announcing it to the church, just put my nerves on edge."  (Nikki)
"Every bride goes through those jitters.  As your maid-of-honor, I'm here to help with those jitters."
"I'm counting on you."  (Nikki)
"I got you, girl.  Don't worry."  (Kendra)

**Come on mom.  I have things to do.**  (Valencia)

Unfortunately, her mom is deep in conversation with the pastor.
"Yes, I sort of came to town to be closer to my daughter, but truth be told, I just needed a fresh start."  (Dree)
"Well I really hope you decide to make Beulah Baptist your church home."  (Pastor)

China is texting both her sister, Sylvia, and her husband, Darren, but she has one eye on her daughter, Taylor.

Taylor and Courtney are plotting and scheming
"You should come to my house and play."  (Courtney)
"What kind of toys do you have?"  (Taylor)
"We could have a tea party!"  (Courtney)

"So can we go school shopping now?"  (Christine)
"I thought your dad was taking you school shopping."  (Cassandra)
"Shopping with dad is boring.  I'd much rather go with you."  (Christine)

Robyn, Jacquelyn's daughter, is waiting to talk to her mom.
"I don't know, hon, looks like she could be awhile.  Maybe you should just call her later."  (Ron)
"You may be right."  (Robyn)
Ron is secretly trying to hurry home so he can see the preseason football games.

"We should get together and do something fun.  You know the old saying, 'when the husbands are away, the wives should play'."  (Camille)
The ladies start laughing.
"I'm not sure that is the saying, but I'm all in."  (Dasia)

"I told Dad we would go out to eat with them today."  (Leslie)
"Babe, you know it's football season."  (David)
"It's only preseason.  Those games don't even count."  (Leslie)

Harrison, Leslie's dad, comes over to see his grandkids and to confirm dinner plans.
"Oh Dad, I was just telling David about dinner.  Which restaurant did you guys decide on?"  (Leslie)

"We're probably going to the Asian place."  (Harrison)

"Is that okay, or did you have some other place in mind?"  (Harrison)
"That's fine.  The food and the service are really good there."  (Leslie)

Awww, Darius has made a new friend.


Lisa finally got her chance to say hello to the pastor.  They hug briefly.  The pastor has been counseling Lisa and her estranged husband, Charles, for some time now.  The couple has made great strides to getting their marriage back on track.
"So where is Charles?  I was expecting to see him again this Sunday."  (Pastor)
"I know.  He had to go into work, or else he would be here.  He wanted me to apologize for his absence."  (Lisa)

Tina and daughter, Shantavia, are shooting the breeze and catching up a little bit.  With Shantavia's busy schedule lately, she and mom haven't seen each other in about two weeks.  
"So have you two set a date yet?"  (Tina)
"We are not in a rush.  Work is so busy right now, that I can't possibly plan a wedding right now."  (Shantavia)

"Come here, Chad."  (Jada)

"I'm here to help."  (Tina)
"Well, I don't foresee a wedding any time before next year."  (Shantavia)
"Next year?!"  (Tina)
"I know you are all excited after Darius and Nikki's announcement, but like I said, we are not in a hurry."  (Shantavia)

"Jada, please don't pick him up.  He's just about as big as you are."  (Shantavia)

"No he's not.  Look, I'm bigger than him."  (Jada)

"Okay, but I don't think his mom wants you picking him up.  We're going to be leaving as soon as grandpa Harrison comes back."  (Shantavia)
"I'm going to get grandpa Harrison, okay?"  (Jada)
"Not okay."  (Shantavia)
"Come on, Let's just all get up and go.  If we wait too long, the restaurant is going to be packed"  (Tina)

"Really Dad?  You're killing me."  (Racquel)
I don't know what her dad said or did, but she just doesn't look happy.

"You'll be alright."  (Reinaldo)
Racquel's dad is a big jokester and it's hard to tell when he's being serious sometimes.



 Beulah Baptist church in Alexandria, VA is the church I was baptized in, so it's nice to have it represented in Morristown. We may follow up with a couple of these families as they continue their Sunday afternoon.


30 comments:

  1. Carmelia is pretty lucky to be married to Emmitt Smith. :)

    I've been weaning myself off of pro football, but my eldest daughter got free tickets for a preseason game tomorrow night. Too bad David or Ron can't go with us. ;)

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    1. Barb - I'm not even going to tell them you have tickets. Since this is my godson's first year in the NFL, I have to do a better job at keeping up. I missed his first preseason game and he made an interception. I spoke to him yesterday as he was headed to his next game. They play tonight. I have to remember to watch. Have fun at your game!

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    2. Great story, Vanessa. :) So many families together.
      But why is Lisa's name Leslie again? Did you do it just to hear from me? lol

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  2. Dukasha - That is the only way I know you are still there. As soon as I saw your name, I said, "whose name did I mess up this time?" I will make the correction. I must have just been typing away, and it slipped. I was so happy to get another story up so quickly.

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    1. Vanessa, I really love your stories and don't read them only to find your mistakes with the characters names. :) If English was my first language or at least if I knew it better and could type in English faster I would comment much more often. But be sure: I'm always here with you and your dolls. :) I know many doll collectors in Russia and Ukraine, some of them also love to buy different doll kids and make doll families, some of them are my good friends. But among all the people I know only you have so many AA doll kids 1:6 (who are always my favorite dolls among all the dolls in the world) and AA doll families and not only have, but also make great stories about them, so I'm just happy to be here and to see your photos and read stories. I have a big collection of AA doll kids and teens also and I think it would be interesting for you to see some of them, but I never have time to make photos. Or maybe I'm too lazy. Not good at all.

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    2. I have missed your stories and pictures.

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    3. Dukasha - I have come to rely on you to keep me honest with the names. If you remember, I started this blog strictly to keep up with the names of my dolls. The stories and everything else, were byproducts. I have been able to see a few of your dolls on Flickr some years ago. You have a very impressive AA kid and teen collection! Please continue to keep me on track with the doll names. I'm sure there are more mistakes lurking in my future.

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    4. Denise - Thanks! I've missed doing the stories regularly. Hopefully I can get some type of regularity with the stories.

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  3. Really good story ,im so glad you did this.

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    1. Jaiden - Thanks. I was happy to get another story up so soon.

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  5. So lovely! I adore seeing all of your dolls and all of their different lives and conversations!

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    1. Erin - Thanks. They appreciate you checking in on their crazy little lives.

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  6. It's nice everyone has something going on. They're all busy.

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    1. Janainah - They do have busy lives. Even when I'm not capturing the activities on camera, they are still going about their day.

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  7. Awesome photostory! It is so good to see Darius and Nikki, Leslie, Shantavia and all of the others that has not appeared in a while. I found myself trying to remember each of their story lines. Lol!

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    1. Georgia Girl - Thanks! There are so many more residents trying to get some camera time. It's a madhouse over here.

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  8. This is a very well written and illustrated post, Vanessa. There was a lot of socializing going on at Beulah Baptist after the conclusion of services. I would have been Valencia back in the day as a teen, so ready to go home while my mother continued to hug and speak to all the folks she had seen the previous Sunday.

    With other teens, I had already done my socializing before church and sometimes quietly during services. So I would be so ready to go home and eat the dinner my daddy had prepared for us.

    dbg

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    1. DBG - Thanks. It feels good to do stories again. Valencia is probably wishing they had gone to the early service. Much less socializing at that one. If there was an early service, I always opted for that one. Freed up the rest of my day.

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    2. I can tell you enjoyed creating this post as well as part 1. BTW that yellow ensemble I wanted for Dasia has sold. I will get something else from you soon along with shoes and/or something Lammily.
      I have something I need to email you when I get to my desktop computer.

      dbg

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  9. Hola, qué bonita colección de muñecos tienes, de todas las tallas, este diorama es tan real. ¡Te felicito por tan bello trabajo! La ropa también es tan real que me transportan a ese evento.
    Hasta pronto.

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    1. lindaivette - Muchas gracias. Hay muchas más muñecas que necesito empezar mostrando otra vez. Echo de menos todas las familias. Hay tan muchos. Es difícil mantenerse al día.

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  10. Hi Vanessa!
    Great story! I missed seeing all your characters. They seem to be as crazy busy as the residents of Moreville! LOL :-)

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    1. Cindi - Thanks! I miss all my characters, too. It was nice to do a story with so many families. Our dolls do stay busy, don't they?

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  11. Vanessa, you do such a great job at photographing these encounters, one forgets these are dolls and not people! I love the diversity of your group! BTW...love Tina's little hairstyle!!!

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    1. april - Thanks! Back when I used to do videos regularly, these little doll lives totally consumed my own life. I delight in knowing that even when I am not taking pictures, they continue to live full dolly lives.

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  12. Boy, church was crowed! I good to see everyone enjoying each other company.

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    1. Brini - Yes it was! And this was the second service.

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  13. I like going to your folks' church. Not a whole lot of malice going on ;-)

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    1. D7ana - Our church doors are always open. May be hard finding a seat. You might want to try the early service.

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