A gift for my Gilbert friends!

A couple of years ago, I made a shopping list for myself that was organized in the same order as the store where I shopped (and of course I blogged about it here). Ever since our move, I've been planning to create a new list and I finally did it today!

I shop at the Fry's on Warner and Cooper, so my list is created for that particular store. Of course it can be used at any grocery store since they all follow basically the same format, but using it at this store will ensure no backtracks-which makes me insane when I'm shopping!

The last time I did this, I shared it with several friends and got rave reviews-even from husbands! This time, I'm making it my slightly-late Christmas gift to all of my new friends and clients. I can't figure out how to share it online, so if I didn't already send one to you please feel free to email me and request one.

Christmas 2010

Christmas this year was a lot different for our family than ever before. We didn't get to celebrate with our extended families back in San Antonio. In a way it was nice; we didn't have to rush around going from one home to the next. But it was also a bit lonely, and I know that our parents missed us very much.

One of the cool things about being away is I had the opportunity to establish some of the holiday traditions that I've always wanted to do, and we had more time to do the ones we always do. Here is a quick rundown of our traditions:

Cookies!
In the past, the kids did all of the cookie decorating at my mother-in-law's house, and I was always thrilled that they did it there. I have never cared to make cookie decorating a tradition. It's messy, you have to plan ahead, the cookies don't really taste that great and who needs the extra calories?

But then I did a photo session for my friend Shari and her family, and part of the session involved cookie decorating. I was so impressed with the whole thing! It looked fun, and the cookies were so beautiful, and tasted great. I was convinced, so the next day I pulled out some cookie cutters that my mom gave me years ago, bought a few new ones and also bought all of the ingredients that we would need. Here is the beginning of a new Godfredson tradition:









The Gade family also inspired our Gingerbread neighborhood:




One tradition that I've always wanted to do is new pajamas for everyone on Christmas Eve. The kids looked adorable on Christmas morning in their new comfy PJs:



On Christmas morning, the kids woke up ridiculously early, just like I did when I was their age:









One thing that I love about the street that we live on is the Christmas Eve Brunch that we do every year. I didn't get any pictures of it this year because I was too busy having fun, but here are a few from last year:

Our neighbor Ken organizes everything and sets up tables and chairs in the driveway of one of the homes:


We always have amazing, pot-luck style food:



The adults talk:


The kids play football:


Afterward, everyone pitches in putting luminaries together to line the entire street:





Then, at 6:00 PM, we all come back out to light them and enjoy the evening together:





All in all, it was an awesome Christmas made even better by our new and old traditions.

What traditions does your family do each year? I'd love to hear about them!

The Geurkinks: Gilbert Portrait Session

It has been difficult for me to find great locations since moving to Arizona, but I think I found a new spot to love-the Riparian Preserve in Gilbert. There is water, shade, interesting vegetation, quiet paths and large expanses of green grass.

I've done almost all of my Christmas sessions there this year, and each one looks different because of how big and spread out the park is.

This was my last session at the Riparian Preserve, but since I'm working backwards it's the first to be featured.

Meet the Geurkinks!



Moms tend to love smiling images, me-not so much. I love ATTITUDE!


Here are a few shots for their mom:




Both of the kids are amazing gymnasts, here they are showing off their skillz:


Mother/daughter shot. Love this one:


Father/son. Love this too!




Gorgeous family, don't you agree? If you love these, let the Geurkinks know in the comments below!

Eggan Family: Portraits at the Riparian Preserve

I've mentioned that we have made awesome, amazing friends here in Gilbert in the short time that we've been here. Well, here is another entire family that I love, love, love.

You've seen Kenzie before. She is my daughter's best friend and one of the smartest kids I've ever known. I've photographed her a bajillion times in the last year-on her birthday, before homecoming, once for no reason at all, in her cheer uniform, on the football field. She used to be at my house a lot, but now that she is taking a ton of very difficult classes in school so that she can go to college somewhere like Yale or Princeton, she always has her nose in a book and I don't get to see her as much. That makes me very sad, but happy too because I know how hard she is working and I'm so proud of her.

You know how there is always one dad from every cheer team that is as enthusiastic and spirited as the girls? How he arrives early, sits directly in front of the cheer team and yells louder than anyone? Never misses a game? Well, then you know Duayne, Kenzie's dad.

And you know how there is always a cheer mom that kills herself to get the girls on the team something special for just about every game? How she makes blonde brownies for the football players because they all dyed their hair blonde? Thinks a goody bag isn't complete unless it includes a custom-made cheerleader cookie with each girls name stenciled on the uniform? OK, then you also know Mari, Kenzie's mom.

My session with them was unusually short, partly because there are only three of them and partly because I didn't have to chase Kenzie around the park, hoping she would look my way. High school girls are cool that way-they look and smile on cue.

So here is their little family:


I love how "at ease" Mari and Duane were the entire time:


Kenzie and her mom:


Kenzie and her dad:


Kenzie and her spoiled-rotten dog Cocoa:



Love the feel of this one:


Thanks Eggans, for letting me grab some shots of you! I hope you enjoyed it. I sure did!

Whew!

It looks like I've photographed my last session of 2010! The last 5-6 weeks have been the busiest I've ever had, which is the reason that nothing has gone up on the blog in that time.

So now it's time to catch up. For some reason, working backwards from the most recent session seems easier than starting from the beginning, so that's what I have planned.

My last session, and the first to be blogged, is one of my favorites. I'm sure you'll remember Shari and Patton, I photographed their wedding last September. Well, they are settled into their new home and enjoying the holidays with their brand new, combined family of five.

The reason this is one of my favorites is because Shari totally gets my "lifestyle" way of shooting and lets me do my thing-which really just involves me letting them do their thing! Shari had the girls in gorgeous, festive outfits, and her home was filled with the sights and smells of Christmas. We did some posed portraits, some touching shots of Patton with each girl, some playing-outside pictures and a bunch of cookie-decorating lifestyle images. I was really impressed with the girls gingerbread houses, cookies and all of the beautiful details, so I made a point to capture all of it so that they can always remember what Christmas felt like in 2010.