Our Christmas

Our Christmas was quiet and low key.

The kids were so excited...

 On Christmas Eve the kids are allowed to open one gift. 

Jack said, 'I already know.... it's pajamas."

Silly boy!

 and yes, it was pajamas.  HA!

 I wanted to capture some fun, creative shots in front of the tree.

I love the glow of Christmas lights. 

 Christmas morning....coming down the stairs!

Jack got Lucy up at 5:32 am and I caught them trying to sneak downstairs.

I said, 'don't even think about it, go back to bed."  

Jack turned to walk back into his room and mumbled something about politics.  LOL!

They held out for another hour and then we all went downstairs to open presents.

After we opened presents, we lounged around the rest day and had a yummy dinner. 

The lists were short this year, but I think everyone was happy. 

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!!

Photogenic family...

My dear friend, Cathy asked me to take her kids photo again this year.

I was excited because this family is SO photogenic!

I absolutely love how these turned out.  

I was worried about the weather...it's been so gray here and of course, I'm always concerned about how to pose a group of four.  

I could not be happier with the end result!

These guys love to pose and have fun. 

How cute are they???

I bought this "be merry" banner last week and think it's fun to use as a photo prop. 

Cruise to the North Pole

We live about 20 mins away from beautiful lake Coeur d' Alene in Idaho.

Every year there is a lake cruise to the North Pole (a little island on the lake). 

Here are the kids with some Christmas characters.

 This is a cruise boat returning, but it was identical to ours.

 The north pole all lit up..

 As we pulled up, there was Santa with one of his elves.  

He read off the names on the nice list.

We were all excited to hear him say, "Olivia, Jack and Lucy."  :)

We were greeted by the Grinch as we pulled back up to the docks.  

He was hilarious!  

This is one of the those things you do once, just to say you've done it.

I was bummed.... I thought we were going to be able to cruise over to the island, get off the boat and sit on Santa's lap.  

Next time, I will have to read the fine print.  :)

More Bokeh...

I am so excited about creating bokeh with Christams lights.

I have been dreaming about taking these kinds of photos for years.

These can only be done with a fixed/prime lens. 

Oh, I am in love with my 50mm lens.

Here's two more photos...

Last week my photography teacher, posted some photos just like these and shared her setup/technique.

This is my take on her original idea. 

I love them!

Play Date

I have been wanting to have a "play date" with my camera.

I have gotten lots of fun ideas from my photography class in the past few weeks and I've been dying to try them out.

I had nothing on my calendar today, so I got busy with my props and lights.

It took a few tries, but I finally got the look I was trying to capture.

 Lucy had a play date today with her friend, Ethan.

How cute are they???

 I still have a few more ideas I want to try before Christmas. 

I had so much fun today!

Getting in the spirit

Olivia had her first choir performance on Saturday night.

It was for Handel's The Messiah.

It was absolutely amazing!

Olivia did great, we are very proud of her!

 This is a photo I snapped with my phone during the intermission.

I told Jack he had to dress up and this is what he picked out.

I love that he has a sense of style.   :)

He got lots of comments and enjoyed all the attention. 

We had a busy day with getting our tree, decorating the house and going to Olivia's choir concert.

It was nice to come home and curl up in front of the tree with some hot tea.

Now, I'm officially in the spirit of Christmas!

Tree Day 2012

Yesterday was the 1st Saturday of December, otherwise know as, "Tree Day" at our house!

Tree Day is my favorite day of the year.

I absolutely love this tradition. 

Jeff and I started this way back in December 1998, which was Olivia's 1st Christmas.

Since moving to Washington state, it hasn't been quite the same.  

We no longer hike the national forest for the perfect tree, instead we go to a tree lot.

We still pack hot cocoa, hot cider and lots of mini donuts.

And of course, santa hats are a requirement for tree hunting. 

The kids love it too....

I love the drive to get to the tree farm, it's just about 20 minutes north of where we live.

It is closer to the kids school and I often dream of moving to the country. 

Many of you know, I'm completely over sub-division life (that is another post, for another day) and want to own some land.

This photo is my dream.....

Farm house on 10 acres!  Yes, please!

There are several great places like this out on the prairie....

maybe, someday.    :)