this year must have been a lucky year, because i got to see my whole family – family from florida, arizona, lousiana, tennessee, and texas of course [my mom’s side] + arkansas and indiana [my dad’s side]. fun fact: my brother is the only one of my whole family who is actually a native of the state in which he currently lives. we’re all transplants, but he’s a true texas boy! anyway, my family is all spread out, so it’s great to get everyone together during the holidays, even if it’s just for a couple of days.
we spent actual christmas here in texas with my mom’s side of the family this year, and then went to hot springs after christmas to celebrate with my dad’s side. i succeeded in taking photos of everyone on my mom’s side while we were opening presents [except for my poor dad who had to work on christmas. we opened gifts in two parts – on actual christmas and later on when my dad came back from his trip. and i forgot to take photos during the second part], but i failed to get pictures of the family in hot springs. and also failed to get any pics of our little family christmas with just the four of us, which we celebrated the weekend before actual xmas. boo. but i do see my immediate fam quite a bit [and will see them even more when mike moves here!], and last year we didn’t get to see most of my mom’s family but i got lots of photos with my dad’s side of the family on our trip to st. pete, so i guess it evens out. plus between all of us, we did get some iphone pics of the kids on both sides of the family which i’ll post later on. next year i’m going to do better though!
these are just some randoms from my nikon… nama gave me a new 50 mm lens for christmas [!!!], so some of the hot springs photos are me playing around with that. nama’s house is such a photogenic place with the lake and trees and hills… here are some pictures from xmas at her house in 2013 [it was snowy that year!], and here are a few from 2012, which happen to be the very first photos i ever took with my dslr! my little camera is three years old. :)
{isn’t mimi’s tree just stunning?? i have stars in my eyes every time i look at it.}
{a hot air balloon}
{a colorful garland}
{of course i love all the pink that’s on her tree…}
{but what am i saying? i love EVERYTHING that’s on her tree.}
{aunt carol and greg}
{uncle mark and arend}
{mimi and mike}
{ashlin and aunt debbie}
{mom and me. we’re only missing dad! and the 3 dogs of the family – lucky, georgia, and hunter.}
{this one is blurry but it makes me laugh… mike and his tiny pillow!}
{playing with my new lens… which i haven’t quite mastered yet. this little pig was given to my dad from his mom, because she bought a pig in his name for a family in poverty through heifer international as a christmas gift to him. he’s a very giving person, so it was a great gift for him and of course a wonderful gift for the impoverished family. the best part is that it’s a gift that keeps on giving… the family who receives the pig will receive training on how to care for it, and then they will share that training with others and also pass its the first female offspring to another family. heifer international really is a neat organization – you should check it out.}
{on nama’s tree: the original american airlines fleet model in ornament form, signed by christopher radko himself!}
{my cousins’ labradoodle, cody}
{look at that face!}
{an amazing sausage & barley soup that nama made}
{brother bear}
{lucky through the window… he had his feelings hurt because no one invited him to come outside and shoot airsoft guns.}
{out the window}
{dusk}
{my uncle is a great photographer and he took this picture. i love the perspective.}
{sunset on the lake}
{because we all know i can never get enough sunset photos…}
{he’s such a good dog.}
{no matter where we go, his favorite spot is on top of the couch.}
xoxo