Christmas Fun

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Our family certainly did! We had a blast just hanging out, playing games, eating way too much, and laughing like crazy. I love it so much. My sister and her husband and two kids are here from Florida so we are soaking up every minute with them possible. The adults stayed up to *wait* on Santa and had a blast trying to keep quiet while trying to piece together scooters, tents, games, and cars. Fun stuff. I've decided that Santa is super lucky that he didn't wake anyone up. ;) So, after staying up until around 2 and getting few hours of shut eye, we had a great Christmas day playing with every toy possible. My aunt, uncle, and grandpa all joined in on the fun for Christmas lunch. I managed to figure out my tripod and self timer to get a good family picture (but missing my sweet grandma who awaits us in heaven).

So here are just a few of the pics I tried to snap amidst all the craziness of Christmas day. I just want to say thank you to all my friends and family for making this such a wonderful year. I'm truly blessed to be at this place in my life. Love you all.



I don't think Santa brought the kids anything. ;)



Kinzie in her new castle... first thing.



Austin waiting for the "go" to open wrapped presents!



Here is proof that boxes are always the most fun. 100 toys and she's playing in a box. :)



She got make-up and she LOVES it. She loves to get all gussied up and look pretty.





I painted her fingernails and toenails for her, too.



Austin wanted to be just like Uncle Eric with his new guitar!



And this has been the biggest hit of all... the nerf guns that shoot super hard and the bullets stick on the person you shot.



Papaw and Uncle Eric having fun!



And a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do... ;)



Sweet girl



Our beautiful family. Left to right: Cole (Brother-in-law), Jessica (Sister), Tim (Dad), Mackenzie (Niece), Kim (mom), Austin (Nephew), Sandy (Grandpa), Gloria (Aunt), Terry (Uncle), Me, Eric (Hubby)



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thank God for all of His blessings this year and all that he is going to do in 2009!

Yesterday, I met up with the Winn children to take some Christmas pictures. Oh my goodness, I haven't seen such beautiful blue eyes in all my life! Seriously, all three of them were just stunning. We all braved the cold weather to get some fun shots (even stopping inside a nice WARM coffee shop for a few pics). It was lots of fun and I hope to do their pictures again sometime! Thank you Winn family for letting me capture this memory!

Yesterday was a crazy busy day for me... my niece and nephew are finally in town, so I spent the morning with them... then off to band practice... then I was a second shooter for a wedding. It was TONS of fun (and not to mention exhausting! whhheeewww)! I had a blast and got to use my new lens some. There are so many pictures to post process, but here are a few from the beginning of the pictures.

A beautiful chapel in a small town south of here.



The boys looking all studly



Once again, the guys.



Beautiful girls!



Weddings are so fun!



The bride was stunning!

Hello again. So much to share, so little time! Yesterday, I got to shoot a precious family at their house. It was beautiful weather (couldn't have been better) and we enjoyed getting outside to snap a few shots. They have a tiny 2 week old newborn baby and a VERY proud big brother. Here is the family:

Fun in Funky Town

So, my wonderful husband asked me on a date last night. If you know me and my crazy schedule from this past semester, you know that this is a special thing. I mean, we haven't been on a "real" date in months. I know.... it's sad, but it's not because we didn't want to! So we went to Ft. Worth downtown and ate at P.F. Changs (delightful) and walked around with piping hot Starbucks in our hands. It was great. What's even better? A wide angle lens to go along with me. Yup. It's new and I like it. Sigma 10-20. My hubby even let me use him as my model for the evening. He's so sweet (and not to mention a fantastic model... hehe). Anyway, so I've never shot with a wide angle lens before, but it's fun. I'm just learning what all it can do, but here's a preview of some of the fun we had.

I'm just amazed how wide it is. I mean, I was standing right on the corner...



Standing ohhh.... maybe 1 1/2 feet away from his head! lol



Back to ol' faithful (Tamron 28-75 2.8) for the next couple shots





I think this shot is cool! I said "Eric stop! I think I can do something!" Lo and behold, I can! LOL!




More wide angle...



Chucks = Cool band-y shoes



Could this be Eric Wilkins' solo album cover? I think so.... ha



We definitely tried to go to the top of some really tall tower... until some lady told us security would stop us. LOL. Self portrait!

Twitter

Notice my new gadget on the right... Twitter update. Basically it's like mini-blogging throughout the day... just one or two sentence phrases to update your friends on what you are thinking about or dealing with. You can update online or on the phone and get other people's updates and stuff. I think it's cool. It networks people together who can't talk often, but makes you feel like you know what's going on with them! Also, it's a cool thing if you need to send out a prayer request and others will know to be praying for you about something in particular. So... join so you can follow me and I can follow you! Come on... don't be one of those condemners until everyone else is doing it... :-)

Announcement

Just a couple of quick announcements before I go hang out with some Jr. High girls...

Today I took my LAST final of the semester! Done! Yup. Done. I'm thrilled. I'm happy. I'm relieved. I'm nicer, too. Ha!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! To Christy, Eric, and the staff for a celebratory dinner tonight in honor of finishing up the semester. The pizza was fantastic (one can never go wrong when giving me pizza). Ya'll are so kind and I'm so blessed to be a part of StoneWater Church. Really, thank you from the bottom of my heart. :)

Finally, and most importantly, there is something everyone needs to know. Yes, everyone. Something that has been hidden in secrecy for many years of my life, and I'm sure in your lives too. Get ready.... It's BIG. So, Eric was watching the Ellen show the other day (yes, that is funny) and she brought light into the audience's lives because of this secret. Are ya'll ready for it? Here goes:

The foil in the box that you use to cover food and store leftovers.... the one that's in the box, but falls out when you try to pull on it... then the box somehow always manages to cut you... then you get frustrated because you tore off a crooked piece of foil... yeah, that foil... well, on each end of the box there are tabs you push in to hold the foil so it stays, no one gets cut, and the foil tears of perfectly. Voila! A miracle. Did ANYONE know that? No one on the show did. We didn't. But now... we do. And now, you know the secret. Enjoy. :)

Happy Thanksgiving! (Yes, I know... we are way past Thanksgiving and on to Christmas). I wanted to share some pictures from Thanksgiving day because we should be Thankful for every single day we have. This Thanksgiving I thanked God ESPECIALLY for my family. I'm just so in love with the family he has blessed me with. We had a really great day with toooo much food! It would have been better if Jessica, Cole, Austin, and Mackenzie would have been here... but they will be here in 10 days for Christmas. YAY!

Here is Thanksgiving at my parents' house.

The beautiful table my mom set.

Mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, sweet potato pie, fruit salad, cranberry salad, turkey, ham, dressing, rolls, and three pies for dessert. YUM!




Here is my cute grandpa. I love him.




My sweet husband! (and our baby Romie of course)




The woman who made it all happen! I helped some too, though!




My Uncle and Aunt!




My daddy!