Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

We had Christmas with my family this past weekend...and I'll get right to the point...CONNOR WAS THE CUTEST THING EVER...Here's a few pictures of him in his Christmas outfit...I couldn't pick just one (can you blame me)...




























And here he is with his proud parents...
















And of course, like every year, my mom is the best Santa ever...She truly makes Christmas magical...























This year she put together a little pre-gift-opening game of Chinese Auction for all of us....here's hubby planning his strategy of what to steal from who...























and my brother opening one of his gifts...























my dad...supervising...

and John Michael's girlfriend, Julie...(note-we REALLY like her, and he better not screw this up)

And, Connor's big gift...this awesome giraffe-rocking-horse....my sister LOVED this!

I hope all of you had a holiday as wonderful as ours!

George & Jennifer Tie The Knot!

Last night was such a blast. Jen and George (who I met at my previous job) tied the knot with a winter themed wedding! Their wedding was at 4pm, so we didn't have much natural light for photo's (always a problem with winter evening weddings), but I was able to get some portraits in before the sun set.

The handsome groom....

And yet another totally beautiful bride (I am so lucky to have such good-looking clients)...

I love the smiles on groom's faces as they see their bride walking down the aisle...
























I do....

There details...














































A toast...
















Cutting the cake...























And finally, my favorite part of this wedding...the KARAOKE AND DANCING! Jen and George did something I hadn't seen before...they hired a DJ who does Karaoke...and obviously this couple and their friends had some previous experience performing in front of a crowd....they were dancing and singing all night!

And lastly, I want to say thank you to my good friend Erin, who graciously stepped in at the last minute to second shoot for me because hubby had not yet recovered from his surgery....she was such a natural with the camera, and I had such a good time with her, that I'm going to try to convince her to come along more often. The shots she took were awesome!

Check the website next week for their slideshow!

All I want for Christmas.....

Is EVERYTHING, I guess....It's funy because I keep telling people nothing, then I sat down and thought about it and I had this huge list! Of course, I would like the cliche of 'world peace' but since that isn't going to happen here's the material items I'm longing for....

The Peaceful Progression Wake-Up Clock from Hammacher Schlemmer

African Glass Bead Bracelets from VivaTerra

mbt sneakers (to get rid of my flab) from blissworld.com

steep clean from blissworld.com

Metal twig jewelry tree from VivaTerra

This lovely Merinomink scarf and the matching gloves in the color Cappuccino (available here http://www.shopnewzealand.co.nz/en/cp/Takahe_Scarf_Merinomink ) - I already have the hat!

a snowblower...

"Wicked Good" slippers from LL Bean in a 12 for hubby and a 6 1/2 for yours truly!

these lip glosses from benefit cosmetics...

The official "Aero-Garden" for growing herbs inside year round

ice cream maker from cuisinart (available at willimas-sonoma)

W's Valley sweatshirt from Patagonia in Mushroom Brown

Canon 5D

A Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas CD

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

Ed Levine necklace. Hint hint to hubby-they have this at Louis Jewelers, next to the guitar shop-I left a card with the product number for you in my car-hint, hint ;-)

Some sort of I-Pod docking station with FM radio for my desk...

And, hubby wanted this Panasonic cordless drill with a light that charges in 50 minutes, or something guyish like that....I told him to keep dreaming when I saw the $420 pricetag! (For the record, he didn't know it cost that much)....

To help me make more green choices...

A composter for...well, that's obvious.

An automatic car starter (sorry, no picture)

Oh, and hubby would like some sort of tractor-lawn-mower thing with bulldozer-snowblower-tiller attachements that costs more than our second car

So, that's all I want for Christmas this year....for now....what's on your wish list??

Going Green

OK...so I really haven't had much time for blogging lately...so I appologize to all you loyal blog readers that check on a regular basis, waiting for me to post something new! I really had no time for picture taking this weekend (but check back next weekend for Jen and George's wedding) but I did have something I wanted to post about. I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, and this technically isn't a 2008 resolution, since we started a few months ago...but hubby and I have decided to try to do our part to 'let the healing begin'! Now, I'm not claiming to be an eco-expert by any means (and for all I know, some of the eco-friendly decisions I think I am making may not be eco-friendly at all) but when it comes to making choices, I'm trying to make more green one's...in the process, I found that I LOVE most of these products one hundred times more than my tride and true non-green products...here's a few of my favorites...at my kitchen sink, Seventh Generation dish detergent...

This soap is tough on grease, gentle on hands, AND smells like lavender mint! It's really kind of like being at the spa! More importantly, the back of this bottle reads, "YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE...If every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 25 oz petroleum based dishwashing liquid withour 25 oz vegetable based product, we could save 81,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat 4,600 U.S. homes for a year!" That blew my mind! Guess what this bottle doesn't have....any 'call the toxic hotline if ingested' warnings...what it does have-a list of all-natural ingredients!

Here's what's UNDER my sink...

Again...I fell like I'm at the spa when I'm cleaning....Instead of a chore, it's become a treat! What's in those boxes??? Micro-fiber cloths specially designed for glass, wood and stainless steel...what's so great about them?? THEY AREN'T PAPER TOWELS! Once they are dirty, I just throw them in a load of laundry I'd already be doing...What's better?? The window wash smells like mint, the wood cleaner/polisher/protector smells like almonds and I can't quite get the stainless steel cleaner smell...but it's wonderful! What's even better?? It's all non-toxic, biodegradable, naturally derived and isn't tested on animals! What's even better than that??? Until 12/31, spend $20 on Method cleaning products and go to http://www.givegreener.com/ to get your own free, chic, reusable, market tote! The big plus there (besides the free tote)...americans throw away an average of 16 plastic bags per week..this tote folds up into itself small enough to throw in your purse so the next time you drop by a store for a few items, you've already got your own bag! Here's some facts from the website:

plastic bag facts:
# of plastic bags used per person each week....16
# of plastic bags Americans throw away every year....100 billion
# of plastic bags used worldwide annually.... 500 billion - 1 trillion
# of years these mountains of plastic can last.... 1,000!

Now...I'm not out there to 'save the planet'...but I'd like to think I'm taking baby steps toward making more earth-responsible decisions...Next time I'll tell you about my make-it-yourself all purpose cleaner and shower scrub and these new eco-friendly dryer sheets I'm trying...

AMS Photography gets a makeover!

Today was Christmas in Bolton! It's such a fun day, that hubby and I go every year....even though we don't have kids! Today was fridged, and I mean REALLY fridged...so we bundled up and headed out...for hot cider, music, the tree lighting, face painting for the kids, children's sing-along's with Chip in the Library, hay rides around town, and yummy food! Since the town got it's makeover today, I thought it was time for AMS Photography to get it's winter makeover...For those of you who are new to the blog, I tend to change it's appearance with the season....so that it coordinates well with the photo's of the season...I don't know..call me CRAZY!

My hubby with his niece, Maria....

Chilly hay rides.....

with SANTA!

And, finally, the Bolton Christmas Tree! We didn't stick around for the tree-lighting ceremony because we'd already been out in the cold for two hours, but I love to see this tree lit at night in town.

Days like today are just one of the many reasons I love this little town!!!!!