Thursday, December 29, 2011

It Was Merry and Bright

I hope everyone had a good Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Solstice. I have a few simple images from Christmas evening.

ornaments
There were lovely decorations.




goodies
A delicious turkey dinner was followed by incredibly yummy treats.




Elliot cookie monster
Which was pursued by this little wise man a.k.a The Cookie Monster.




lily tiger goof
Where there are wise men, there must be angels and this little sweetie is always angelic even when she's being a goof in her tiger hat and Rapunzel dress.




Maeve whistle
The littlest angel is their one year old baby sister who is about to blow the whistle on her older siblings.




guitar hands
Of course, where there are angels, there must be sweet music. Guitar playing was courtesy of my son.




candy house
And speaking of sweets, the kids sure went all out in decorating their gingerbread houses.




Christmas window
Thank you again, Amanda and Colin.

53 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my - such sweet and delicious shots!

Pauline said...

lovely through and through. happy new year!

Sueann said...

Beautiful images...love your angels!!
Hugs
SueAnn

June said...

Beautiful.
The colors, the light, the long fingers of your son...I wish you'd gotten one of his hair, though. I love his hair.

Liz Mays said...

Fantastic, beautiful photos which clearly show the love and warmth of your day. :)

Mimi said...

Oh my goodness, the warmth coming through in these photos is incredible!
You capture such beautiful images Hilary.
It looks like a lovely Christmas for everyone.

Brian Miller said...

nice...my fav is the girl in the hat...ha that is awesome...looks like yours was great as well...

Bob Bushell said...

A lovely time for eveyone. Goodbye christmas and say hello to our New Year, HHHEEEEELLLLLOO.

Hilary said...

Oh, to have a son, or daughter, who plays guitar. Sweet.

Anvilcloud said...

Well done -- as usual.

Steve Gravano said...

Looks and sounds like a great time was had by all! Those cookies look delicious, wish I was there to help the poor little fellow! ;)

DJan said...

One thing I notice is how you will sometimes have one part of the picture in the light and the rest kind of shaded. I would love to know how you do that. These are filled with the feelings and emotions of the season, Hilary. They bring me joy to look at them.

Linda at To Behold The Beauty said...

What fun sharing your Christmas with you. The kids are adorable. That boy looks like he should be playing the piano with those long, artistic-looking fingers. Both girls are adorable. And what an interesting perspective you chose for your son's guitar playing.

stephen Hayes said...

It looks like you guys really know how to celebrate the holiday season. I hope you all have a wonderful New Year.

TexWisGirl said...

how sweet to share with family!

messymimi said...

Lovely, and i'm glad you had such a wonderful Christmas.

Dan said...

Innocence, Simplicity, Sugary and Sweet, Warmth, Goodness, Merry, Colourful, Elegance, Companionship, Love, Generosity, Bright, Magical, Friendship and of course HIS birthday...

OmaLindasOldeBaggsandStuftShirts said...

This is what it is all about....lovely images of precious moments. Oma Linda

Tabor said...

You had a perfect Christmas. What a joy to be so blessed! One of our angels wore a Rapunzel dress as well. Fads fly so far these days. Who made the 100's of cookies?

Suldog said...

It all looks wonderfully warm and inviting. Excellent!

Dianne said...

what beautiful children
and of course you take magical photos of them

your son's hands are wonderful, absolutely the hands of an artist

Scott Law said...

Looks like you had a wonderful Christmas, as it should be. Now I'm going to go eat a cookie.

Red said...

Looks like you had all the essential ingredients for and awesome Christmas.

Kerri Farley said...

What a beautiful post .... and the image of your son playing the guitar ..... is a treasure :)

Hilary said...

* Thanks, Lady Fi. :)

* And to you, Pauline. :)

* SueAnn, thanks very much. :)

* Thank you, June. I'll snap one of his mane sometime soonish. :)

* Thanks so much, Liz. I hope you're feeling better by now. :)

* Mimi, thank you so kindly. Very much appreciated. :)

* Thanks, Brian. She's a little monkey, that one. The kidlet - not the hat. :)

* Right you are, Bob. I hope yours will be a great one, too. :)

* Hilary, many more times than not, it's incredibly sweet. But he also plays black metal... ;)

* Thanks, AC.. as always. :)

* Steve, if after that meal, you still had room to help the little guy with those cookies, I'd have been mighty impressed. ;)

* Thank you so much, DJan. That's so nice to know. Most of these images were taken without flash and shadows just fell where they were. Often though, in late-day sunlight, I like to focus on a leaf or flower which gets caught in a shaft of sunlight. I increase my shutter speed considerably and then, just the item in the sunlight will show up brightly and everything else will fall into shadow without adequate light. I think that might be what you're referring to ... and now you know. :)

* Thanks, Linda. Yes, I think Elliot is interested in violin. He does have a musician's fingers, doesn't he? As for the perspective for Alex's guitar playing.. it was the only one I had at that exact moment. He was right beside me. :)

* Thanks very much, Stephen. I wish the very same to you and yours. :)

* Thanks very much, Tex.

* Thanks kindly, MessyMimi. :)

* Daniel, you do have a way with words. :)

* Thanks very kindly, Oma Linda. Much appreciated. :)

* Tabor, I didn't even know that Rapunzel was a Disney offering until that night. Little girls just love that stuff. Her dress was too big on her little shoulders but she felt like a princess in it. The cookies were partly made by the hostess (my ex's cousin Amanda - mother to those kidlets) and her friend who was also there that night with her family. Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you're feeling much better by now. :)

* Thanks, Jim. Indeed it was. :)

* Thank you so much, dear Dianne. Your kind words never fail to bring a smile to my face. Thanks for that. :)

* Thanks, Scott. We did indeed. Enjoy your cookie. :)

* Red, we had that and more. Thanks for your visit. :)

* Thanks very much, Kerri. I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

VM Sehy Photography said...

Looks like you had a lovely and delicious Christmas. Ours was very laid back. Just what the doctor ordered.

Ruth Hiebert said...

Beautiful festive scenes.

Daanish said...

Thanks for sharing colors of happiness:)

Be blessed next year and years to come,ameen.

Reena said...

Wonderful images! Such fun and joy. Wishing you and yours a wonderful new year ... I have enjoyed my time with you Hilary over the past year.

Indrani said...

Utterly tempting shots.

CiCi said...

The close shots of the children are wonderful. The girl being goofy and silly is a wonderful shot. I do love photos of people being real. I have a hard time taking photos so close to the subject.
I also like the picture of the decorations on the tree. The lighting is amazing.

Out on the prairie said...

the sweets made me go back and take another look.MMMMMMMMMMM

Laura said...

so much JOY!!! Happy New Year Hilary:-)

Russell said...

Lots of fun images. I like the one of the guitar playing the best - I can almost hear the music.

I hope you and yours had a very nice holiday, too.

Take care.

Friko said...

Lovely, really lovely.

Happy New Year, dear Hilary!

Glo said...

The delights and magic of Christmas have been captured in your photos :) What fun... got a kick out of the cookie monster, the tiger-hatted rapunzel angel, and the whistleblower. Joy is radiating from their eyes!

Glad to know you were serenaded by your son and surrounded by treats of all kinds.

Wishing you and yours a picture perfect 2012!

yaya said...

The first shot just says Christmas to me..the ornaments are beautiful. The kiddos are really cute too! I hope you have a wonderful New Year celebration!

Gillian Olson said...

All looks beautiful. Best wishes for the new year.

Linda Reeder said...

Lovely! I'm in the process of taking down decorations now. It's with mixed emotions. It's time to move on and clean up, but it was all so lovely.

Mage said...

Just lovely....thank you. We are still enjoying the bling and joy for a short while longer. Yours just makes the season better here too.

Unknown said...

GORGEOUS shots! Thanks for sharing them!

Lynne with an e said...

Thank you for sharing some of your personal favourite Christmas moments. They shine with love and laughter...and yumminess. I wish you a very happy and inspiring New Year!

Betty Manousos said...

your xmas looks merry and bright indeed!

what a delish post!

here's wishing you the best for 2012!

happy new year, my dearest!

Shammickite said...

Happy New Year to you and your family. May 2012 be full of happiness and good health, and lots more wonderful pictures from your camera!!

lime said...

just beautiful. that littlest angel is a heartbreak. oh those eyes! glad you had such a wonderful time. wishing you the best in 2012 and thanks for sticking with me through the wild ride that was 2011.

sage said...

Lovely, looks like your holiday was blessed.

Unknown said...

Hilary: Never a dull moment and some poignant ones, at that! I like that your son has guitar fever! As Martha Stewart (manaufacturer of one of the door wreaths) would say: "That's a good thing!" :)

Zuzana said...

I love your eye for details.;) And I love your youngest sons hands playing the guitar.;))
xoxo

Barbara said...

Looks like a wonderful celebration! Happy New Year, Hilary!

arrielle_p said...

What a lovely decor for this Christmas season! The color and texture of the picture pleases me to no end.

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Cheryl Kohan said...

Lovely, lovely, lovely! I especially love the shot of your son playing the guitar...it's so artistic that you should frame it!

Hilary said...

Thank you all very kindly for your lovely comments. I appreciate them all very much and wish that time would permit me to continue replying individually. Alas, right now, it does not but your kindness and encouragement means so much to me. Thak you all for that. :)

Lisa said...

I loved your images and the Sweet Music is and will be with me for sometime.