yesterday we made christmas come alive at our place. with the tree all trimmed and christmas through out the house, i decided i would take some photos of some of my favorite decorations for the tree.

our tree decorations are not what you find on those "perfect" trees at holt or in martha stewart.. no our tree is full of memories. i have decorations on there all the way from when i was a kid to just this year. its a heinz 57 sort of tree.

and we love it.

one thing that my mom started for our kids was buying them a decoration every year. i figured this was such a gosh darn great idea that i would do it too. so that one day (sniff sniff) when they have their own christmas tree, they'll have a few ornaments to start off with. :)

here's the photos with a little blurb about them and why i love them so.. enjoy. xo

my friend kerri, who i was roommates with before lover and i married, made this for me..you may remember her from the germany wedding i shot last year.. :)


ah yes..our first christmas together.. 14 of 'em.. :) not including the 2 when we were dating.. :)



these are some of the "old" ornaments i have on my tree from when i was a kid.. i remember my mom making the clothes pin nut cracker guys for a craft show..and croqueting the snowflakes..they are a ton of them draping my tree still.. :)


if you have visited our home, we have "words" up on our walls.. the power of words, i think, sometimes goes unsaid..so we have words on our tree..lots of 'em.. :)


mr snowman.. i just love him..he's so cheerful..i bought him one winter when i worked at a..wait for it, wait for it... christmas store in SK called, "santa's cellar".. not gonna lie..spent most of my paychecks on decors and gifts!!


capiz shells..we lived 6 of our married years in the philippines (the kids were born there too!) and so of COURSE i have capiz christmas decorations.. :)


when mr man caleb was little he made this start at preschool..i still hang up the kids preschool christmas art all over every year.. they love it. i do too..oh how they grow up soooo fast... *sigh*


this is one of rosie's "yearly" decorations.. so very sweet..


my newest decoration on the tree.. my friend erin g, who i have been shooting with this year, presented it to me 2 weekends ago..i collect pretty tea cups. and she found a tea cup decoration. how cool is that? :)



ya...my kids very first christmas decorations.. ok, cue "tears"... ;)


my BFF erin, who got married and moved away to victoria, gave us both one last year.. to remember always.. xo


we have a HARDCORE section of just santa decors. lover LOVES santa ones..the kids each decorate the tree but lover is the one who places "his" santa decors on.. :)


and a capiz to top our tree.. it's a lovely no?

happy holidays begin, this monday morning at our house.. :)

last year it was november 3..this year we're 5 days late. :)

yippee!

we totally LOVE christmas! it's a full on season for us.. don't hate. :)

as promised, here is some photos from the most AMAZING concert i have EVER been to.
it was so moving..not gonna lie; it brought me to tears 3x. no joke.

i can't explain the energy that the band brought. and their lights..fricken light show in itself! and the stage...HOLA! it was outstanding.

i have always had a place in my heart for U2 and Bono..this concert only reaffirmed it. :)

enjoy some of my faves..

when we were in the philippines this last month, you might remember booking some sessions with the proceeds going to GENTLE HANDS, the humanitarian organization jonathan's sister, charity, and her husband evan run in metro manila.

one of my sessions was such a blessing to me..and i would hope the family.

andrea was jonathan's secretary when we lived in the philippines. she is also one of the most talented graphic design artists i have EVER met. i had chatted with her before we went to the philippines, to see if she would be able to help me with some of my branding projects i was going to have printed while there. she graciously said yes. :)

little did i know until a day or so before i got there, that andrea's family (her hubby sonny and their 3 kids) were cruelly affected by the flooding in manila; their entire home was devastated from the floods. i was absolutely speechless.

we had a bunch of kids clothes and games and toys that we brought over specifically for their family. and then something incredible happened.

an anonymous giver gave the session portrait fee for me to use for a family that may want family photos. i knew EXACTLY who i was going to give it to... andrea and her family.

when we arrived in manila and i saw andrea for the first time to talk about my projects, she so graciously said, "you know trace, its a good thing we didn't end up buying that house. i know it's just our things. i'm so thankful we still have our lives."

not gonna lie..it stopped me for a moment, because i knew that if that happened to ME, i may not have such a POSITIVE outlook on it. and here sat my dear friend andrea, who lost everything, thankful. WOW. i could barely hold back the tears.

one of the best things for me was when i got to tell her that someone had paid for them to get their family portraits. she was thrilled. i was MORE thrilled. :)

andrea..you are truly an amazing woman...a faithful wife...a dedicated mother...a woman of grace, faith and strength. thank you for allowing me to photograph your beautiful family (even tho your littlest was shy!) and for doing such amazing things with my branding projects. you rock.

much love,
trace
xoxo

how about that? a wedding INTENTIONALLY on halloween so the guests (and the photogs at that!) could dress up!

heather and ian wore the glamor 1930s look and the guests...well they were in all sorts of crazy costumes!

the venue was fort langley, and with the weather GORGEOUS and the leaves in full autumn colors, it wasn't difficult to shoot that day!

here's a few and as always, look over to erin's blog for more yumminess!






and of course one of us.. a pink lady and a zombie..what a combo. :)