First Communion Portrait Package

$250

Includes:

30 minute session

3 Digital Images

(1) 11×14 portrait

There is the option to add on additional digital images, album, prints and other products.
Your session can take place in April, May or June.
I answer email within 24 hours, so check your spam folder if you’re waiting for a response.

We just got home from our 1 week trip to Ireland and LOVED it!! It was my second trip (previously had gone to Dublin and Galway 20 years ago) but first trip for my husband and kids. Their only request was that they wanted to stay at each place for 2 nights instead of moving to a new place each night and I am glad we did it this way. Overall I got high praise from them for the itinerary and they especially all loved the places that we stayed.

You know that our family loves to travel – here are the blog posts of our previous vacations:

California Coast + Lake Tahoe

USVI St John

Zion/Bryce Canyon

Colorado (Aspen, Telluride, Crested Butte)
Maui
San Francisco/Yosemite/Lake Tahoe
Iceland/England/Wales
Rome/Sardinia/Corsica/Paris
Kauai
Paris/South of France/Barcelona

Here is our itinerary!

Day 1

Landed at 530AM Shannon after a quick 5 hour 10 minute flight from JFK so we didn’t sleep and were pretty exhausted. We got the car and headed to our B&B – Parkhouse in Bunratty. We arrived at 630am and were asleep by 635 and set an alarm for 11:30 to get up. We spent the afternoon at Bunratty Castle and village which was a perfect first day for us.

Day 2

After breakfast we made our way to Parknasilla Resort but stopped in Adare on the way along with Ladies View and the Kissane Sheep Farm for a demo which was so fun.

We LOVED Parknasilla – the grounds are amazing, we did a lot of the hikes and the “Meet the Owls” event. Wish we could have stayed at this resort longer – it was perfect!!!!

Day 3

Ring of Kerry – We went to Sneem, Waterville, Kerry Cliffs / Portmagee. We LOVED the Kerry Cliffs! And the town of Sneem is adorable!

Day 4

Check out of Parkasilia and stopped in Kenmare before going to the Killarney National Park (Torc Waterfall, Ross Castle, Muckross House Abbey)

Stayed at The Killarney Park (they have an indoor pool which we loved just to hang out after the long day)

Day 5

Got up early and went to the Gap of Dunloe – did the jaunting car about halfway and then turned around to bring us back. We didn’t want to to the boat ride (very windy and rainy) and felt like we wanted to use the time to go to Dingle instead. We loved Dingle and stopped in Inch Beach on the way. We didn’t complete the whole Slea Head Drive but did a bit of it before heading back to Killarney

Day 6

Check out of Killarney Park and made our way to the Cliffs of Moher. Stayed at the Vaughan Lodge Hotel in Lahinch – what a cute town!!

Day 7

Aran islands – Ferry to Inisheer (Inish Oirr) from Doolin

2nd night at Vaughan Lodge

Day 8

Fly home 12:50 flight from Shannon

You know that our family loves to travel – here are the blog posts of our previous vacations:

USVI St John

Zion/Bryce Canyon

Colorado (Aspen, Telluride, Crested Butte)
Maui
San Francisco/Yosemite/Lake Tahoe
Iceland/England/Wales
Rome/Sardinia/Corsica/Paris
Kauai
Paris/South of France/Barcelona

Day 1 – We took an early morning flight from Newark to San Diego so we got our rental car and then had the whole afternoon free to explore. We ate lunch at Fig Tree Cafe and then headed over to Balboa Park and toured the beautiful gardens. We watched the sunset at Sunset Cliffs – the perfect spot! We stayed in an Airbnb in La Mesa which worked out well for easy access to everywhere we went in the area.

Day 2 – We had a 10am tour of the University of San Diego (beautiful campus!) and then spent the rest of the day at Torrey Pines. We loved the Guy Flemming hike! We went to La Jolla for dinner and ate delicious Mexican food at Puesto.

Day 3 – We had a 930am tour of San Diego State (loved this school too!) and then had lunch in the Gaslamp District, walked around Old Town and then spent the rest of the evening in Coronado Island (our favorite!)

Day 4 – This was a travel day and we stopped for lunch in Newport Beach at Ruby’s on the Pier (such a fun spot!). We also stopped in LA to visit one of my best friends. We ended up checking into our hotel in Santa Barbara (The Harbor View Inn) just before sunset. We loved the location of the hotel right on the water and we all used the pool.

Day 5 – We walked to the Santa Barbara courthouse which had great views from their tower. We also enjoyed the bikes on the boardwalk, had some pool time and ate a yummy dinner at Lucky Penny. We took photos at sunset at Leadbetter beach.

Day 6 – This was another travel day as we headed north. We did a lovely hike at Montana de Oro State Park before checking into our hotel nearby, Sea Pines Golf Resort. We went to San Luis Obispo for dinner at Finney’s. SLO is a lively little downtown.

Day 7 – We downloaded the Gypsy Guide and made our way to Big Sur. This was one of the best days of our entire vacation. Highlights include Ragged Point, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and lunch at Nepenthe. We stayed in Monterey for 2 nights as our base to explore the area.

Day 8 – We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which was worth the time and money! We all especially enjoyed the sea otters!! We also did a hike at Point Lobos and explored Carmel-by-the-Sea which is gorgeous!!! I would love to return there for a girls weekend 🙂

Day 9 – We did a Steamtrain ride in the Redwoods near Santa Cruz and followed it up with some amazing ice cream bars from Donnelly Chocolate in Santa Cruz. It would have been around a 5 hour drive from here to our hotel in Lake Tahoe so we decided to split it up. We drove about half of the way there this evening and then got up early the next day to finish the drive.

Day 10- It was so fun to be back in Lake Tahoe!!! This time we stayed at the Hyatt Incline Village and loved this location.

Day 11- We rented bikes in Trukee and also downloaded the Gypsy Guide again this time for Tahoe. We did about half of the loop this day which included sunset at Logan Shoals.

Day 12- For our last day we did paddleboarding at the beach right at our hotel. We also did more of the Gypsy Tour and did a really neat hike. We ended the day with a free guided hike through the hotel that took us to Monkey Rock right around sunset. We could return to Tahoe again and again. It is one of our all time favorite destinations.

We flew from Reno to Denver to spend a couple of days there with family before flying back home to NJ.

Now all we have to do is figure out where to go next!!

You know that our family loves to travel – here are the blog posts of our previous vacations

Zion/Bryce Canyon

Colorado (Aspen, Telluride, Crested Butte)
Maui
San Francisco/Yosemite/Lake Tahoe
Iceland/England/Wales
Rome/Sardinia/Corsica/Paris
Kauai
Paris/South of France/Barcelona

Here is our St John itinerary

Day 1 – We took an early morning flight from Newark and after landing in St Thomas, we boarded the ferry over to St John (20 minute ferry and they leave every hour on the hour). I pre-paid for our ferry tickets online so it was super easy. Once we arrived in St John, our rental Jeep was waiting for us and we were on our way! We stopped for lunch at the Windmill Bar and Grill (great food and even better views) and then checked into our incredible villa in Coral Bay!! We immediately jumped in the pool and enjoyed the views for the rest of the day. This is a photo from the deck overlooking the private pool!

Here is a photo from the Windmill Bar:

Day 2

We were up early and at Maho Beach by 845am so no trouble getting a parking spot. The water was crystal clear and perfect for snorkeling. It was so much fun to see the turtles!! Later in the afternoon we hiked the Ram Head Trail which was gorgeous although HOT. If we had to do it over again we would have gone a little later in the day (at 430/5 or wore our suits to jump in the water). After the hike we stopped back in Coral Bay for a yummy dinner at Wok on the Beach.

Here are 2 photos from Maho and 2 from Ram Head Trail

Day 3

We made sure to get up early again to get a parking spot at Trunk Bay and it did not disappoint!! Wow, I think this is one of our all time favorite beaches (second only to the beaches on the north shore of Kauai). We had an amazing day here!! When it was time to pack up to head back to the house for some pool time, we stopped for smoothies at Columbo’s (SOOO Good!!) and later that night we had a great dinner at Rhumb Lines. After dinner, we decided to hike Peace Hill trail for sunset and this was beautiful!! There were only 2 other people up there with us, a couple, so luckily we were able to get a photo of the 4 of us.

Here are a few photos from Trunk Bay

And here are a few from Peace Hill at sunset

Day 4

This morning, I stayed at the villa with Thérèse and relaxed at the pool and on the deck reading while Chris and Sabrina hiked the Reef Bay Trail (they reported back that it was shady but still a tough hike!) Later in the afternoon we went to the Salty Mongoose for an early dinner (great pizza!!!) and then went on to Francis Bay beach for sunset. There was nobody else at the beach and it was lovely!

Day 5

We spent the morning at Cinnamon Beach which was beautiful although had the biggest waves (as opposed to no waves at any of the other beaches). So not a lot of snorkeling this day but at lunch we headed back up to the villa, stopping at Columbo’s again for more smoothies! We hung at the pool and then had an early dinner at Skinny Legs (awesome burgers!!) and then went to Trunk Bay for an amazing sunset!

Day 6

Sadly we had to check out of our villa (it was only available for 5 days) so we made our way to the ferry and returned to St. Thomas. We checked into Secret Harbour Beach Resort for our last 2 nights of vacation. It is right on the beach and our room had an amazing view. We had dinner at the resort at sunset.

Day 7

We had a full day at the resort and rented paddleboards to explore the area and spent time at the beach and pool. It was a relaxing end to a wonderful week!!

You know that our family loves to travel – here are the blog posts of our previous vacations

Colorado (Aspen, Telluride, Crested Butte)
Maui
San Francisco/Yosemite/Lake Tahoe
Iceland/England/Wales
Rome/Sardinia/Corsica/Paris
Kauai
Paris/South of France/Barcelona

Here is our itinerary for our Utah Vacation

Day 1

We flew from EWR to Las Vegas at 840am and landed at 11:30am local time. After we got our rental car, we checked into our hotel, The Platinum and got a late lunch at Sadelle’s Cafe at the Bellagio and walked around a little bit. Then we enjoyed the roof top pool at the hotel and had an early night because we were still on East Coast time zone!

Day 2

We left Vegas early morning and made the 2.5 hour drive to our amazing Airbnb in Springdale. Sabrina found this gem early on in our planning It was right next to the Visitor’s Center so we just walked there and caught the shuttle each day. It was also above a cafe where we got lunch all 3 days. The balcony had amazing views of the mountains – it was perfect! On our first afternoon, we did Emerald Pools trail to the lower and middle pools. What a great introduction to Zion. Not too hard and absolutely beautiful! We returned to the visitor’s center and hiked up part of the Watchman trail before the sun started going down.

Day 3

We did a 10 hour private hiking tour with Zion Guru to Bryce Canyon. Our guide, Jake picked us up at 630am right at our airbnb. He was wonderful and patient and showed us the highlights of Bryce which was stunning!! Having a guide was so beneficial for us because it saved me the stress of having to drive in the dark and we ensured that we saw the best spots in the park. We also learned a lot about life in Utah from a local and he gave us great tips on where to eat and how we should spend our remaining time in Zion. On our way back to our airbnb, Jake pulled over for us to stop at the Keyhole Canyon at Zion which is a neat slot canyon that Sabrina loved!

Day 4

We rented gear and hiked The Narrows at Zion which was epic!!! We ended the day with 10 miles on my Apple Watch – I think about 8 of those miles were from the Narrows. We made it further than I thought we would (just past Floating Rock past Wall Street). The water was up to our waist in sections of the hike and it was strenuous. We could not have done it without the walking stick and dry pants / shoes.

Day 5

We did the Canyon Overlook Trail – amazing views. It’s only 1 mile but felt harder than I thought it would because of how sore we were from the previous few days. We made our way back to Las Vegas and checked into the Four Seasons. We spent the afternoon lounging at the various pools. There is a lazy river that we loved and a fun wave pool. We also walked over to Mandalay Bay casino where we played a slot machine and won $20 🙂

Day 6

We had a morning flight home from Vegas back to Newark.

If we had another day, we would have rented bikes and we also would have attempted the first part of Angel’s Landing. But Sabrina only wanted to miss two days of school so we fit what we could in the days that we had. We would love to return to see Moab, Arches, Antelope Canyon and the Grand Canyon.

I took over 200 photos but here are a few faves!! The first 5 photos are from Bryce

Here is the view from our airbnb balcony

Here are 3 photos from the Emerald Pool Trail

Here are a few photos from The Narrows

Here is a shot from the Canyon Overlook Trail

For previous vacations

Maui
San Francisco/Yosemite/Lake Tahoe
Iceland/England/Wales
Rome/Sardinia/Corsica/Paris
Kauai
Paris/South of France/Barcelona

Day 1

Flew from NY to DEN -landed at 9:30am and after we got our rental car, we drove straight to Devil’s Thumb Ranch and just hung out at the pool and relaxed. Wad dinner at their restaurant (Heck’s) and walked around the beautiful grounds. Such a relaxing start to the trip!!

Day 2

We were up early and took the mountain bikes out around the property to explore a little bit. Then we made our way to Steamboat Springs where we spent the afternoon at the Olde Town Hot Springs– my daughters loved this place. The slides were fun and they have 2 outdoor rock climbing walls and an indoor rock climbing room.

After dinner we did the Fish Creek Falls hike which was beautiful!!

Day 3

We headed to Aspen and checked into our hotel – The Tyrolean Lodge which was such a gem! So close to downtown and wonderful price point. I am so happy we stayed here and not in Snowmass. We explored town- got some food at White House Tavern (excellent!!). There were several brass / instrumental groups playing around town which was so fun to hear. After dinner we did the Grotto’s Trail which was beautiful!! And hardly anyone else was there so we got some nice photos.

Day 4

I had parking reservations so we got at Maroon Bells around 7am and did the scenic loop trail. There was still some haze/smoke from the wildfires but the scenery is still amazing. And there was hardly anyone else there until about 930/10am. We saw a fox on our hike and got a great photo!
We got back to town and there was a lovely farmer’s market so we got some treats to eat. We borrowed bikes from the hotel and did the Rio Grande trail and then drove to do a meadow hike (not sure what it was called but we parked in a lot on the Independence Pass). Overall- loved Aspen!!

Day 5

Drove to Telluride and stayed at the Mountain Lodge which we LOVED!! I wish we could have stayed here longer. We spent the afternoon at the pool – beautiful views from the pool!! Then took the gondola into town and did the Bear Creek Falls Hike. This hike was HARD!! We almost turned around a couple of times but are glad that we finished it. The altitude is no joke- we found ourselves very easily winded on hikes that would otherwise be pretty easy for us.

Day 6

Took the gondola to town and did the Jud Wiebe Trail – this was also really HARD for us but gorgeous views and glad we did it! After lunch we took the gondola back up and spent some more time at the pool to recover from our exercise! Overall we loved the town on Telluride and glad that we stayed at Mountain Village. The gondola rides were a big hit and we met some nice people on each ride too!

Day 7

We booked a private jeep tour (2-6pm) from Alpine Scenic Tours in Ouray
This was one of the highlights of our trip for sure!! Our guide Sam was amazing!! We went to Silver Basin and Governor’s Basin and another waterfall near Silver Basin. The scenery was out of this world and we would have never gone to these places on our own.

Day 8

We did the Box Canyon Falls in Ouray – beautiful!!
Then we went to the Baby Bathtubs Hike nearby – very pretty hike
We were exhausted by this point so spent the rest of the day at the hot springs in Ouray. The kids loved this place – water slides were a big hit!!

Day 9

We drove to Crested Butte and on the way stopped at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (amazing!!!) We stayed there for about 1.5 hours just in awe of the views at each look out point.
Then we continued on for about another hour until we got to the magical town of Crested Butte!!! The scenery is just unlike anywhere else! That afternoon we did the Judd Falls hike and there was nobody else on the trail. We felt like we were on the set of the Sound of Music! We ate at the Last Steep for dinner which was so good. Loved the downtown of CB- so charming and fun. We were so happy with our Airbnb here as well- very spacious for our family of 4 and the kids loved having a pool!

Day 10

We did the Woods Walk hike which was a pretty easy walk with gorgeous views
Had some pool time at our airbnb and then did a family photo shoot – Snodgrass (gorgeous) and Rustler’s Gulch (wow!!! One of the most amazing places EVER!) I can’t wait to see the photos!!!

Day 11

We rented Paddle Boards from Float Shack and took them out at Lake Irwin which was gorgeous
Then we did horseback riding at Harmel’s. We had a great time on the trail!!
We ate at Secret Stash for dinner- best pizza on the trip!

Day 12

We sadly had to leave CB (stopped at farmers market first for breakfast) to drive back to Denver (about 4.5 hours) to return our rental car

Day 13

We flew home!

We will definitely be back to Colorado!!!

Christie Adams Photography is a NJ children photographer based in Bergen County. In business since 2007, Christie has photographed over 1000 families from all over Northern NJ. The studio specializes in timeless and classic portraits where the focus is always on your children and family rather then trendy backdrops or props.

The studio is booking spring sessions at parks in Glen Rock, Ridgewood, Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes.

Christie Adams Photography is a NJ family photographer based in Ridgewood / Wyckoff / Glen Rock. In business since 2007, Christie has photographed over 1000 families in Northern NJ.

Christie Adams Photography is a NJ newborn photographer. Established in 2007, Christie has photographed over 700 newborns and specializes in timeless and classic portraits. The focus will always be on your baby and family rather than elaborate props or trendy backdrops which will quickly date your photos. Instead, your images will look beautiful on display in your home for decades to come.