Project 2012 -- Week 52

Project 2012 -- Week 52

December 23-31

Welcome to my Project 2012 weekly post!  This is my time to look back over the past week, 
choose seven favorite images I've taken, and share them here with you.  
If you have a project you're working on, please leave a comment 
so I can visit your blog and see what you're up to!

Well, this is it.  My last Project 2012 post.  This post contains a little more than a week's worth of images, since there are two extra days dangling at the end of the year, what with 366 divided by 7 not being a whole number and all.  :)

This last week of 2012 images kicks off with a gift from my brother-in-law and his wife:  A honey-baked gift.  Jacob had the privilege of opening the package when it arrived.

[358] The gift of food

Christmas Day was filled with lots of fun, laughter, and memories.

[359] Christmas place setting

[360] White elephant gifts

We set aside a small part of the day to present a 50th Anniversary memory book to my parents.  They had reached this milestone back in June, but due to various circumstances we weren't able to pull things together until Christmas.  (Read about it here.)

[361] Family memories

[362] Thoughts from family

I caught the flu/a cold Christmas evening, of all times, and spent the next 24 hours in bed with chills and fever.  Yuck.  It then developed into cold-like symptoms, and I'm just finally getting around to feeling better.  During those days after Christmas, our guys had their guy buddies over a few times to play games, sing music, and just hang out together.  Their buddies brought food so I wouldn't have to cook.  That was nice.  :)

[363] Guys hanging out

[364] The final outcome

I ventured outside into the cold with my macro lens to capture a few images that contained snow.  We ended up with just a dusting, while we keep hearing about everyone else's snowy adventures.

[365] Winter grill

[366] Winter leaf

That's pretty much it for snow!  This new week promises lots of sun, so I guess that's a good alternative for winter weather.  We'll be off at the end of this week on a family adventure--off to warmer climes and wedding times!  Then it'll be back home and back to school.  With many changes staring us in the face this new year, our family adventure will definitely be a time of relaxation, renewal of hearts and minds and bodies, and strengthening for the journey of 2013.

Happy New Year!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

Visit my website
Stop by my family blog
Like me on Facebook

A Manger and Snowflakes

I took a few pictures of my Christmas manger scene, and several of the snowflakes gracing our Christmas tree.  My mom gave me the manger figurines, which are papier-mâché and belonged to my grandmother.  She had purchased them from a Ben Franklin; are those stores even around any more?

I love the snowflake ornaments on our Christmas tree.  I've been collecting them for a number of years, and hope to have the tree completely decked out with them one day.  I also collect glass icicle ornaments, but have just five or six of those.  They are definitely treasured!

The below snowflake is one of about ten, and they're new this year!  Fernando bought them on our trip to Wisconsin with friends to purchase a Christmas tree.  They're actually gold, but in this image are reflecting the pink hues of the lights.

The below snowflake is one of six or seven which were the first of my collection.

In addition to the snowflakes on the tree, I have snowflakes gracing my fireplace mantel.  We decorate the mantel with branches cut off the lower trunk of our Christmas tree (disposable decoration!), then randomly place on it some crocheted snowflakes given to me by my mom.  We also place a few red bows, add a candle in the center of the mantel, and everything looks Christmas-y.

And finally--it snowed this morning (the morning of this post)!!!  It has since stopped, but at least we received a dusting of white.  *happiness*


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

Visit my website
Stop by my family blog
Like me on Facebook

Project 2012 -- Week 51

Project 2012 -- Week 51

December 16-22

Welcome to my Project 2012 weekly post!  This is my time to look back over the past week, 
choose seven favorite images I've taken, and share them here with you.  
If you have a project you're working on, please leave a comment 
so I can visit your blog and see what you're up to!

Wow--I almost didn't take any pictures this past week!  Almost.  It's kind of nice that business slows way down for me during this time, so all my focus can be on my family, my home, and the Lord at His birth.

These biscuits will probably make it on my family blog in the form of a recipe.  They were tasty, though a little dry due to my overbaking them.

[351] Garlic parsley biscuits

This picture of me is cheating for Project 2012--Danny took it.  :)

[352] Christmas me

Sometimes the sunsets out my kitchen window are fantastic, even with power lines and telephone poles.  You have to get creative with the camera to capture them properly.

[353] Another suburban sunset

Then it was back to my beloved macro lens to capture some images from our Christmas tree.  The figurines in the manger scene below are from my grandmother; she purchased them from a Ben Franklin store a looooong time ago.  (Are those stores even around anymore??)

[354] Manger scene

[355] Snowflake sparkle

[356] Red snowflake

This year, I've been using 3M poster strips--they attach paper to wall (or other surface), then are easily removed without damaging the surface.  Yep, there's my plug for 3M Command Adhesive, lol.  It's so fun to decorate with people's greeting cards and pictures!  (Oh, and I love the bokeh!)

[357] Christmas greetings

If I don't post tomorrow, Merry Christmas!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

Visit my website
Stop by my family blog
Like me on Facebook

Winter Stroll

Knoch Knolls Park.  I've visited there before (see here and here).  Now, on a warm Sunday afternoon at the beginning of December, Fernando and I decided to take a stroll down some of the paths here.  The scenery did not disappoint, even at the beginning of winter.

Looking across the bridge

I spied a fisherman fly-fishing in the river!

I think the below image is worthy of a card.  I may just have some printed.

I'm not a big fan of shooting into the sun, although some photographer achieve great results using this effect.  I must say, though, that the below image turned out beautifully!

I took several shots of the sun as it set.  I just couldn't choose one; the colors were so pretty on this winter day, and the trees stood as stark spindly shadows against the light spread across the sky.

We headed a little farther along the path, then turned around and retraced our steps.

In one clearing, there were picnic tables and a chiminea backing to the woods.

We came to the wooden footbridge across the river, and it presented a pretty scene.

At the middle of the footbridge, the view was sweet and peaceful.

Looking in the other direction, the other bridge stood out against the colors of the setting sun.

I think that I've collected several images which will be turned into cards.  *happy smile*


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

Visit my website
Stop by my family blog
Like me on Facebook

Introducing Misses J and M

In preparation for this portrait session, I purchased two wooden letters from Hobby Lobby.

Now, I'm not a creative person, as far as decorating and crafts go, but I figured two wooden stained letters would be cute.  At the actual portrait session, I set everything up:  apple basket, blanket, real apples, and finally, the two letters.

Well, that was sure cute!  But it'd be much cuter with two cuties inside the basket.  Which is what I did.

Miss M leaned over a little, with her head resting on her sister.  It turned out to be, I think, the cutest shot of the day!

We got the girls situated in their Bumbo seats (I'm going to have to invest in those!) and proceeded to spend a bunch of time trying to get them not only to look in the same direction, but to smile.  Boy, was that hard!

Their mom wanted some shots of them on the couch, so we used another blanket and tried to get them to smile.  I kept the below shot for fun--don't you just love how babies love their fingers?  :)

The below shot was our best effort while they were on the couch.  I think these girls are adorable!

This was one of the most fun portrait sessions I've had in a while!  The babies were so easy to work with, and even though we all worked hard to get them to smile, we got some beautiful images.


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

Visit my website
Stop by my family blog
Like me on Facebook