MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Festive Kiddos

My sister and I spent one whole morning last month with our combined total of three kids, and did her son's 18-month photos, his Christmas photos, my kids' Christmas photos, some of all three together, and...when it was all said and done, we put them in Santa hats with matching outfits just for fun! It was quite exhausting, but I adore the Christmas card shots I got of my girls (I will share them tomorrow, so be sure to check back!). By the time we took these Santa-themed ones, the kids were quite DONE. Really, can you blame them after a marathon session like that? LOL

Here is what we got of my nephew...first, the hat came off:



Then he showed us how he really felt about the tree:


Here is the only one of him with the hat on, complete with begrudging pout:


My older daughter didn't do a lot better. No tree-tipping or glares, but this is the look she gives the camera when she's just tolerating me in the hopes that I'll go away soon:


And a smile, but only because she's looking at something else:


My younger daughter actually didn't seem to mind taking a few more shots...here is her sweet self:


...and one that shows her personality a bit more!


The girls together. Don't they look like they put up with so much?


This one just about sums it up...if this photo doesn't say, "We're done with pictures today," then i don't know what does!

Gifted

This year we were much more successful with getting a Christmas picture of the three kids together!

Oh Christmas Tree

Here is our tree, decorated and overwhelmed by presents...



and with the lights off:

Snowy Day at the Tree Farm

The day we went to the tree farm to get our tree started out lightly snowing and very pretty. Within 20 minutes of being at the tree farm, the temp dropped, the wind picked up...the kids were soaked and crying and the snow was blowing. You wouldn't know it from the pictures! It just looks like a gorgeous winter wonderland. :) Here are some shots of this year's crazy tree-fetching experience:

We always love to pet the bunnies they have every year.





The girls in the sled being pulled down the hill by Daddy





Their cousin does not like to be left out, so he plunked himself in the middle of their sled.


Grandpa and Grandma got to pull them around for awhile as we agonized over which tree to cut down


Evicted from the sled by his protesting cousins, Drew resorts to frantically running around in circles


One of my favs from the day...converted to a chocolate black and white for their Christmas card


Last year she would not stand by the tree for the picture, and this year her sister refused...so I guess they are taking turns! :)


Alright guys, chop down those trees!




The long trek back up the hill








Here's one of my brother and his wife with their tree, since they weren't in the other pics


Here we are with our tree! This photo was not taken by me (obviously, since I'm in it, hehe), but I think it is the only one that really shows how the weather had turned on us by the time we left!


By now our tree has been a resident of our living room for about three weeks, so be watching for a more current photo of it tomorrow!

Cutie in a sled

Here are some more Christmas card photos! Isn't she a doll?






(I think she was going to throw it to me!)

Christmas Card Pics

Alright, I think it's safe to share these now, since probably everyone has mailed out their Christmas cards at this point. :) This year I did a few quick photos just for use in Christmas cards...here are a few for now; more to come:

Too Cute

I have to share some more pics of this little guy, because he's just too cute! :) I shared a couple for his sneak peak last month, but once I finished with all of them there were just too many I loved, so I need to share some more. I last photographed M. when he was 6 months old, and it was so fun to see how much he had grown and to see him turning into a little toddler. He even said a few new words at his session, which was pretty exciting! He was really cracking me up with his new toddler 'tude, hehe...I got all kinds of adorable expressions from him and a few dirty looks, too--he definitely enjoyed making me work for every smile this time! Now that my own kids are past this age I think that newly-independent streak is the cutest thing. So, lots of favs from this session!










Aww!







Reading his favorite book

Church Pictures

Several months ago I was asked to take updated photos of our church for the website. Here are a few of those, as well as a few others I submitted along with them, taken last year at Christmas time.

Lots of sunflare on this one--it was almost unavoidable due to the location of the sun and the wide-angle lens i was using, but I thought it looked pretty neat!


I loved trying black and white on these...