I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  We had such a fun Christmas.  It’s funny how when you grow up your favorite part of Christmas is giving.  Usually the best is giving my kids their presents but this year I was most excited to give my sister in law and her hubby their present.  Louis and I shot their wedding over a year ago and I spent the last few months putting together an album for them.  It was such a treat to see their reaction and I hope that all my clients have the same reaction when seeing their albums.  I’ve never given anyone a present that brought tears to their eyes until now.

And of course I have to show you my little guys opening their presents.  First we’ll start with Zakk because this was his very first Christmas.

Gavin was more interested in what everyone else was getting…. this present wasn’t even his but he wanted it to be.  =)

Poor Jett was sick all day so he didn’t get much excitment out of anything, but this present did make him faint so I guess that’s a good thing.

This last one wasn’t taken on Christmas day but it’s my little guys first Christmas portrait so I have to post it.  Next Christmas he will be 18 months old and running around but for now he can’t run or even crawl away from me so I’m happy.

As promised here are some more pictures from our winter vacation. We had such a fun, stress free time. I was so sad to leave and even now I’m so sad to be gone, especially looking back at these pictures it makes me long for snowy days. Another year will pass before I’m able to go back but for now I have the photographs which is one of the reasons that I am so thankful for the gift of photography.

First I will show you our amazing condo that we stayed in while we were in Park City. I got so lucky booking this place because usually it is so hard to find a place in Park City, especially last minute but Hotels.com came to my rescue and we got a perfect place at a great rate.

Me relaxing on the sofa in the condo. We did a lot of relaxing there and usually didn’t leave until after 12:00 PM. Aaah, the perks of vacations. =)

On our list of things to do I had to go to Salt Air to take pictures of this train. I saw it on one of my Flickr friends photo streams and knew I had to go there. Too bad the kids were afraid to get inside, but right next to it there was a really cool building with graffiti all over it which made for perfect photo ops.

This rail car has a very interesting history. Located in Salt Lake City, Utah on the south shore of the Great Salt Lake, this rail car sits at the abandonded Saltair Concert Hall. In the early 1900’s, Saltair was a resort of fun and leisure for those who wanted to escape from the city. Parties, rollercoasters, swimming, and huge concerts made city goers flock to Saltair via the new Railroad. In the late 1920’s, Saltair was demolished after a fire burned the resort down. It was later rebuilt, with less flare, but again was plaqued by another fire. In the 1980’s, a modern Saltair was built in its place to host popular concerts, but again was closed down in the late 1990’s.
These rail cars are the only thing left from the original concert hall and resort. This is the only one that is empty, the other rail cars were filled with junk and broken glass. Even though the resort is long gone, you can still feel the 1920’s atmosphere when you stand inside this rail car.

Of course another thing we had to do is play in the snow. Jett and Gavin had a blast and Zakk stayed cozy in his zip up J Cole blanket that attached to the stroller, so poor little Zakk didn’t see too much action in the snow.

I did manage to get a cute picture of Zakk hanging out in the condo one morning. =)

One of my favorite days was going out with our friends, the Fear’s. We did the exact same thing last year. First we had dinner at the Gateway, then went to the Chocolate Factory, then the Planeterium, from there we walked to the train and then to Temple Square to see the lights, to top it all off we had hot chocolate at JB’s restraunt. Jett and Davina’s son insisted that we do things EXACTLY the same as last year. Even though it was like deja vu, we still had a blast and hopefully we’ll do the same thing next year.

Our last day we got more snow than we could have dreamed of. Here is a picture I took out the window of our car as we drove out of Salt Lake City.

And on our way out we stopped at my favorite spot in Salt Lake to eat. Crown Burger! Seriously, if you live in Salt Lake or ever visit there, take my word for it that this is one of the best burgers that you will ever have in your life!  The photo does not do it justice, you must get one in real life.  And the pink colored sauce is called Fry Sauce, no not ketchup, fry sauce….. it’s God’s gift to Utahns and one of the things that I miss the most about being a Utahn!

okay….. yes, I’m a pig….. I ate the burger, fries and the corn dog you see in the top right corner. And no, I didn’t get a stomache ache. =)

It has been a busy couple of weeks around here.  We had an awesome vacation to Utah and saw lots of snow, Christmas lights, and all my favorite old places to eat.  We got back home on the 22nd at midnight just in time to finish some last minute Christmas shopping and to trim the tree.

Christmas is finally here and tomorrow I will be back to work.  I was hoping to take off the rest of the year but as of the 26th I’ll be jumping back into the swing of things.  So if there is anything that anyone needs, please let me know.  I will be blogging more from our vacation but for now I just have one.  This is my favorite picture taken on our very last day on the way home when we stopped in Payson, Utah just to get this shot.

I am so excited to get outta here for a week!  I long for the mornings where I can wake up and look out the window and see a blanket of snow covering the ground, the trees and all the rooftops.  I think that was my favorite part of winter when I lived in Salt Lake.  I miss it so much and I am so thankful to my wonderful family for putting up with my need to go back every year before Christmas.  It just doesn’t feel like Christmas until I’ve seen the snow and the lights at Temple Square.  Last year I didn’t have my camera when we went to see the light but this year I will have it for sure.  There is nothing like it around here!

Get ready to see lots of snow pictures, lots of red noses, some really cute scarfs and hats that I bought for myself and my kids, and some Emmett family pictures (that’s my family from Utah).  Now you’ll be able to see why Zakk looks so different than Gavin, Zakk got more of the Emmett gene and Gavin got more of the Palos gene.  I’m just glad that one of my kids looks like me. =)

Sorry no picture for this post…. it’s too late and I have way too much to do to get ready to go.  And just to let you all know, I will not be taking any print orders from now until after Christmas.  For those of you who just put in your orders, they are being processed at the lab and will be sent directly to you from there.  I’ll hopefully have time to update the blog while I’m away but don’t count on it.  I’ll be sure to post tons of pictures when I return on the 22nd.

I just want to let you all know that I am having email troubles right now.  Apparently none of my replies are being sent.  As many know I have been having ongoing email problems for a while now but I am working on fixing this problem.  If you’ve sent me an email in the last few days please know that I have received it and responded to it but you just didn’t get it.  I will be working with my web server to correct this problem.  Please call me at 909.996.5110 or 909.989.3990 if you need to get in touch with me right away.

And because a post (even a bad one) is never complete without a picture here is one of me in action that my husband took on Sunday at an engagement session we shot together.  Usually I don’t like pictures of myself but I thought this was kinda cool.  If you want to see the pictures from our shoot visit our wedding blog at www.louispalos.net.

That’s what I’m going to be this Saturday at O2B Me Children’s Boutique in Rancho Cucamonga from 12-3. No I will not be dressed as an elf but I will be taking pictures of your little ones with Santa Claus. This will be my absolute last photo shoot for the year so don’t miss the chance to get some great Christmas pictures! The best part is you will receive a free 4×6 which you will be able to pick up from the store the following Saturday…. and while you’re there you can get some great Christmas gifts and Christmas outfits for your kids. Hope to see you all there! =)

Today I shot the cutest family out at the beach.  I love shooting at the beach, it’s always so much fun and so pretty.  I can’t believe that this was my only beach session this holiday season.  Everyone has been wanting something with lots of greenery but I have to admit that my favorite location will always be the beach.  I had a great time with this family and these two little boys are just so adorable and sweet.  Even though they didn’t really want their pictures taken we bribed them into getting some really great shots.  =)  Sorry this is a little sneak peek but again, I am so tired, it’s 1:30 in the morning and I have two sick babies.  Tomorrow is not going to be a fun day for me.

This little guy is so incredibly handsome! And the fact that he is a mommy’s boy means that he’s going to be a little heartbreaker when he gets older. He was a little shy and didn’t want to let go of mom but what can you expect from a little 21 month old guy. I just adore the shot of him holding onto his mommy. It reminds me of one that I have of my little Gavin holding onto me.  I hope you like the sneak peek of today’s session. Sorry this post is short and sweet but I’m very tired and ready for bed and can’t really think of anything clever to say. =)