Merry Christmas (Arizona Style)

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas

This is my all time favourite quote for the holiday season!~ That Grinch figured out something most people never do. This year we chose to spend our holidays away from the usual flutter of the holidays that were used to. Instead we invited our families to join us in our new Arizona home and our gift to each other was to spend time together. From golf,christmas tree builiding, paper chain making,cookie making, swimming, reading, card games, hikes, mexican meals, puzzles, twister and much more. Our kids never did the Santa visit or usual letters this year...so we weren't sure if the big guy would find us. He did and left a useful stocking full of fun summer things; flip flips, pools sticks, goggles, and fun games. The most fun was the kleenex box full of $1 bills; boxing day sales here we come!~He also forgot his underwear at the bottom of our pool after his swim.(and left the pool cover off~Daddy will be sending him the heating bill!~) So we figure Santa would have been headed to Canada Commando Style!~

We're breaking tradition and starting some pretty amazing new ones!~

 Our baby Cousin Cameron had his first trip to visit us in Arizona. We got lots of baby snuggles and giggles from him. xo


Below is Christmas eve...

Christmas eve was a great day at home...with a swim and picnic lunch in the sunshine. Then cookies and Charades!~ Even a walk around our neighbourhood to check out the christmas lights...the consensus  is they look "tacky" without the snow. Here is Grady posing at the neighbours display...We are thrilled Uncle, Brent and Brittany got to spend the holidays with us.

 We had a amazing brunch and then a swim in the pool!
We are heading over to our Arizona cousins house for a lovely potluck with family, new friends and more...our house is smelling lovely with our ribs simmering the oven and the double stuff potatoes!~ Mmmmm...can't wait to enjoy our meal together.
I hope this finds you all surrounded by loved ones and a heart full of love!~as is my heart!

Here is a quick picture of my trio on our new rock at the front of our Holiday house....never a dull or empty moment with them in our lives.
Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It is magnificent and beautiful. Sending our blessings from afar. Happy Birthday Jesus!~
Wishing you all a Happy New Year 
xo Tammy, Kent, Makenna, Carrigan and Grady

ps: we will be back to work on the 10th of January~

{candle lit first dance} Perfection!

what a great way to end a perfect day....Mrs Shannon had this amazing idea to light over 200 candles for their first dance...outdoors under the twinkling of the stars. It turned out "perfect"!
Perfect is how I would describe the day.
thanks again Shannon and Marco...to a lifetime of great adventures together. I can't wait to capture more events in your life together. xo tam

{Mr & Mrs} Part 5

a great backdrop for capturing lovely images of these newly married couple. we even had our own private tour guide through predator ridge...we went off road to capture some lovely scenic shots.  Here are a select few of my favs!  Thanks for trusting me to capture your day! xo

{wedding crew} part 4

love these lovely ladies...some of the best bridesmaids. They took there job serious...always smiling and helpful. A pleasure to capture. Gorgeous women!~

this sweet girl was an amazing flower girl...she thought Shannon was a beautiful princess!

Marco and Shannon are truly blessed with some great friends...

and then the groomsmen....yes they were fun, silly and down right great friends. The ones you want to have at a party with you or right by your side when you marry the girl of your dreams. check out the difference in their posing...this was not directed! LOL!

{ceremony} part 3

an amazing location for a wedding...Predator Ridge. Located between Vernon and Kelowna. A great destination wedding. Guests can stay onsite. The staff did a great job on all the details.
Love their ceremony...check out the rounded chairs to ceremony. It was an exceptionally hot day for september in the Okanagan. with temps to +30 degrees. Poor Marco was right in the sun the whole time~
Congratulations to Mr & Mrs Mazereeuw

{first look} part 2

back in the day of pre-arrange marriages. when a marriage was a business deal between families...brides and grooms were never allowed to see each other before the wedding. Nowadays, that superstition is being kicked to the curb. In my photo world we call this "The First Look"
I LOVE that Marco and Shannon chose to take some time for themselves and have this intimate moment before the ceremony. Shannon brought a lovely gift of custom cufflinks with Marco grandmothers photos in them!~Ahhh! told you she was sweet.
can you feel the love yet? such a great couple...I love my job!

{details} Predator Ridge Wedding

Part 1: the details...sorry this amazing wedding will be a few blog posts...so many amazing images to share.

I met with Shannon and Marco in Vernon last year to chat about their wedding plans. A perfect couple...full of love and amazing ideas. Love how this wedding all came together. Shannon your a genuine creative person with a very lucky husband. wishing you a lifetime together...enjoy the images!

Shannon's big reveal to her bridesmaids and Dad!~LOVE! her sweet father gave her a lovely gift he got off of Etsy! tears were shed...by all!

the men folk are a little more relaxed...with beverages and toasts!~ gifts too were given. Marco got all his groomsmen a cool gift~wood carving tool.  Good times!!

{E-Session} Mike & Lacey

very excited to spend the afternoon at this amazing location that I've driven by many many times. It was a lovely fall day to capture this Engagement session for Mike and Lacey. Lacey had a big day...first thing in the am she shot her first moose...then home to shower and get ready for an photo session!~ just an average day in the Cariboo.  Good job girl...your making the other wives look bad who don't (or won't) hunt! you go girl.
Excited for their August wedding in Salmon Arm...should be a great weekend of fun! Here's to the both of you. So excited to be part of your journey to Marriage and grand adventures! ps don't they have the cutest dog Alpine with the two different colored eyes.

{E-Session} Jason & Sarah

a lovely fall afternoon spent with this lovely couple from Grande Prairie...hosting their June wedding in his hometown of Horsefly...I had met up already with Sarah over coffee! ~ She is the sweetest thing...full of amazing ideas for her wedding day. Jason is the usual Man's man...not loving the idea of photos. But  in the end fun was had by all:) right Jason?!! LOL!...and I got a great personal tour of the area. Excited for the man's photos are the "bar" at his childhood home.  Check out her lovely ring!~ wow!~ LOVE I can't wait to capture their wedding day. It is being hosted at Sunrise Ranch a lovely spot for weddings.

I always love when a client brings items to set a lovely scene....Miss Sarah bought a homemade blanket that meant a lot to her along with some champagne to toast their love! It was a lovely quiet scene along the shores of Horsefly lake...very fitting that the cork flew off!~

{baby} Cameron

we're very excited to announce the arrival of our newest nephew...Cameron!~ he is a Watson for sure with his jet black hair set with cowlicks. The kids and I were very excited to be able to meet him before  he got too big. Still a lovely tiny little baby. There was no way he was going to sleep for his first photo shoots~ bright eyed and bushy tailed.
Congrats to Bronwyn and Cody! they are both beaming parents of this little bundle!

{family session} Thurow

ahhh! A lovely spur of the moment evening for photos! With the lovely Thurow family. Miss J was wondering what I would be doing with the photos I was capturing...she was a great model. thanks for a lovely afternoon. These were captured in the beautiful yard of their new home...

this handsome one...is my daughters birthday twin...so fun to see them grow up! 9 years old already! I still remember his cute blond chubby self in the hospital room!  thanks for the smiles Thurow family! xo

blab, blab, blab....

yes yes yes...I have lots of blog posts to update. I've made a list if that counts.  Along with my other list to do. the snow if falling. which means I will hibernate and catch up behind the computer. i really don't like to be cold. i'm very thankful for a warm home...and children that LOVE the snow and find joy in it!~ I suspect we will be sledding in the morning before the snow has a chance to melt. Yay a home day!
For those of you who haven't found the world of Pinterest...well your missing out! Especially if you love creative things. It's like having eye candy...the best of magazines etc. My favourite sections are DIY & Crafts, & Home decor...I can spend hours "pinning"...
The great thing is you can save your ideas and pin to your boards to save to look at later. I've crafted many of these ideas or it will spur some other idea....oh I love. Saves the planet and my pocketbook with way less magazines. LOVE LOVE! Check it out at www.pinterest.com if you need an invite to it let me know I'd love to add you to my obsession.
otherwise click HERE to check out my FB page and CLICK like to keep updated on my current activity...this is separate from my personal page. it includes more pictures and work updates. I'm working on lots of new projects and you will want to stay posted to my activities...or maybe NOT! LOL!
The battery on my laptop is counting down...so I must keep this short. (0:09) left.
Let it snow let is snow...happy for home days in the am!~

{create} summer projects

I've wanted to do something with this desk for a long while...well this was the summer to do it.  I finally found the perfect fabric to recover the seat and went from there with the desk color. I LOVE IT!~ This was a wedding gift from my folks...its was looking beat up and tired. So we spruced it up with a great new color. Directions: rough up the surface with sander...primed the surface with tinted primer. Then painted a couple of coats of a pearl finish paint...color Peacock (from Rona) We spray painted the drawer pulls with black spraypaint.
Then I recovered the seat with this amazing fabric I found in the home decor department at Fabricland in Vernon.
Then I got the local glass shop to cut a 6mm piece of glass for the top of desk to finish it off.
Another summer time find was this amazing 9 pane old window. LOVE!~ I shot my kids birthday session with this frame in mind. The window panes are 10x10"...so I had my lab mount these photos to suit this frame. I was going to hang it somewhere else...but it so suited above my desk. I'm so in love with this space. LOVE my pretty desk!~

***all photos taken on my Iphone!

Goodbye summer...

as I sit today in my office and catch up on my blog...while the snow flutters outside my window. I came across these fun photos from our summer. This sums up our favourite thing to do. Swim!~being outside feeling the warm sunshine on our skin, running through the sprinkle and being kids. We had sooo much fun on our trips to Vernon this summer. With fun times in the pool. These are taken on my girls cameras...They each have one of these great cameras. Shockproof/waterproof= fun! These are Fuji cameras. Click on link here.  Makenna has a pink one and Carrigan a green one!~

Now off to hide Grady's shorts/crocs...since its taking too much convincing these days for him to wear pants...

{G} 4 years old

Our last blessing that provides us with loads of energy and laughs
name: Grady
AKA: G, G-Bear
age: 4 years old : TWICE!~very excited to have two birthdays...one with friends and one with famly. Thought maybe he skipped a year and was 5!~
friends: Charlie and Dawson (or as he states his "buddies)
likes: broccoli, cucumber, bananas, and grilled cheese (with ketchup!)
dislikes: dinner...so we call it snack time
LOVE his snuggles in the morning, prefers his momma's bed, pet Tia the bird, loves building train tracks, racing cars and driving in daddy's truck.

{Miss C}

she is my lovely 7 year old. Full of spunk and love!~ This wasn't her photo vision. I promise that we are going to work on her photo vision for a fun session...soon...

{create} summer projects

so many fun summer projects...this is one find I found this winter. This amazing piece!~ I loved loved the design. I was looking for a piece to add to my dining room. I didn't want the usual glass china cabinet...I found this at a local antique store. I only wanted the color to be darker....so I stained it this summer to be a darker shade to match my dark kitchen.
I love how much room it has in it. It stores our wine glasses and is a liquor cabinet on one side...with a locking old fashioned key which may come in handy in the future....

Summer Fun {chilko lake}

we've been planning this weekend for over a year...august long...Chilko lake.
Ahhh so worth it!~ it was fun to get out and hike, fish and hang out by the fire. A weekend with great friends and sunshine what could be better. The mom's set out to do a little hike to the top...an amazing hike. A good grind on the way up...but exhausting on the way down. Tulin Mountain. A six hour hike to an amazing view. A pristine area to check out if your ever in the area.

{styled session} Makenna is 9

My darling Makenna (AKA Doodle) loves loves to read. She is always sneaking at night to read, bring a book in the car, and getting up early to read. She devours books. We keep stocked up by purchasing in bulk from our local Sally Ann and loading her kobo with her newest favourites. Its so great that she is reading all my favourites from when I was that age....(she even was reading during this session...her sister thought she was faking it. But she grinned and said no she read a few pages!)

I'm so excited that she loves to read it makes learning so much easier if reading is pleasurable to you. And I'm so jealous that she has so much time for reading.

We chatted about what to do for her yearly birthday session. She loved this idea of a field, books and lovely pink things. I'm so in love with these images...I love to see this girl smile...Her eyes light up!~

Can you believe our girl is 9!? She is such a lovely daughter and a great big sister. She was so excited to share these photos with everyone!~I'm so pleased she is proud of them. She is so full of kindness and beauty!

Happy 9th Birthday my girl!~ I hope you have a great year full of great new books! xo Momma

stay tuned...Miss C has plans for her birthday session...not too sure how we're going to pull it off. But we'll roll with it!~
ps: I'm so far on blogging these days...But the sun is shining and summer is short here!~ and my trio is growing too fast...So I'm opting to spend the time outdoors with them creating our memories. I'll catch up when it gets too cold outside for me. Until then I'll keep snapping and save the images to share with you soon.

{maternity} Bronwyn

she is such a lovely to photograph...We are so blessed to have this lovely lady in our lives with an added bonus she is expecting our nephew:) During our last visit we squeezed in a quick maternity session during a gorgeous evening. Here is a quick snippet of my fav's...
...we're waiting for the middle of the night phone call!
xoxo

{e-session} J&B

only for these two would I take myself into the "rattlesnake" infested hills of Arizona during the hot season to capture these shots. At one point I forgot about the snakes and scorpions and even lied down on the ground....I get the jeebies just thinking of it...from the scorpions to the snakes homes~ your both worth it.

The best part....is this session was published on a wedding blog!!!! Yay! first time I've been published...so excited that it was with these two. Check out the link by CLICKING HERE.

thanks for sharing your lovely smiles and time with us. We are all thrilled to have you in our lives.
Check out their lovely e-session shots....we will still be doing an urban shoot...but these were too cool to miss.  wishing you a lovely lifetime together ( close to us I hope) xo tam

{Graduation} Lovely Miss A

this session was re-booked due to wet weather...so glad we waited for a lovely evening. Ashley has supermodel in her...she rocked her session! It is soooo fun to shoot a session for someone who just lights up before my camera.

Congratulations on your graduation...wishing you amazing adventures as you head out into the big world!

soooo many lovely shots...I just couldn't shoot which to share...so you get a bunch of this lovely lady in pink.


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{Family} Thompson session

A lovely evening to spend with a fun family of five....with three sweet daughters!~ we were cut short by a windy rain storm that ended as quick as it arrived. But we were able to capture some shots of the entire  family in the meantime. thanks Thompson family!~

Part 2 {C&B Wedding} Mexico!

Part 2: of this amazing wedding. Like I said before...all brides should have a two part wedding. Its a great experience for your photographer:) This time it was Mexico...Playa de Carmen. At a quaint resort just outside of the village of Playa. Situated on the lovely seaside of turquoise blue water....ahhh! Bliss.
An amazing venue for a destination wedding....and oh so easy the resort takes care of everything.

the men being men...with tequila shooters to bring on the festivities...I loved the flower leis in orange that Cody wore. A great way to share your day but with your lifelong friendships...

the beach front ceremony....with the blessing sun shining down on them. Bronwyn made a stunning bride once again...being escorted in by her lovely Momma.

friends and family from far and wide came to join in the fun....South Africa, Australia, Vancouver, Calgary, Vernon, Fort St John, Williams Lake

You don't marry someone you can live with - you marry the person who you cannot live without
~ Author Unknown ~

the lovely venue for the wedding reception...along with lovely treats from South Africa!

Congratulations to Mr & Mrs Watson....here to a lifetime of happiness and a home full of laughter!:)