From our home to yours… we hope you had a wonderful, a very merry Christmas!

Collage 1:

A bunch of fun events leading up to Christmas… our portrait at the Cibolo Nature Center, the boys in their Santa hats, the boys with Santa (Nathan), us at the Pipe Creek Christmas Tree Farm getting our tree, Ben working on his gingerbread house, the boys with our snowmen in the front yard (we had just made Evan’s), and Evan in the snow (this photo was seen on FOX News at 9!). 

Collage 2:

Photos from Christmas Eve at my grandparents’ house in Orange Grove.  Events included driving their mule, stuffing ourselves with the best down-home cooking, driving r/c trucks, unwrapping some pretty cool presents, getting to visit with cherished family, and rolling out the door late, to arrive back in Boerne at midnight (just in time to tuck ourselves into bed and wait for Santa).  Christmas morning was full of surprises in the stockings and under the tree.  Then we spent the day with Nathan’s grandparents.  More family, more food (too much!).

Did you notice our coupon in the Discover the Hill Country- Boerne Adventurer’s Guide?

Several of you have used it to receive a FREE 8×10 print, and we’re happy to honor it, but I noticed that exact terms were not printed with the coupon.  I need to list them here so that terms are documented…

Coupon is good for one FREE 8×10 with any paid portrait session.  Coupon must be presented at time of current print order.  Coupon is not good for a refund on a past purchase and does not have cash value.

It’s good through 1/31/09, so hurry in! 

*Portrait with blog is “Happy for the Holidays” (my favorite from Keith, Tracy, Kaitlyn, and Kole’s Christmas session).

When my first daughter, Hannah, was born my grandmother and mother came out from Connecticut to Salt Lake City where I lived to see my daughter–the next generation.  We went to a studio there and had a picture taken of our four generations.  A few short years later my grandmother died at 91 yrs old.  When my husband was at Purdue getting his MBA, we had all four of our daughters and my mother came for a visit.  On our limited budget, we went to a department store photo studio to take a three generation picture.  The camera would only go back far enough for us to barely fit all six of our faces in the picture.  It was so disappointing.  No cute pink dresses showing! 

A half dozen more years have flown by and my mother is here visiting.  No more cute pink dresses, a couple of teenagers and more desires to remember our time of three generations of girls/women who are separated by many miles, but bound by ties that distance cannot even loosen.  Now we have Amy to give us what we missed at that department store: a variety of poses, a desire to make our portrait an heirloom that will be in our homes for generations, a priceless memory.  This morning we did our session in less than an hour.  My mother was so impressed with Amy, and we can’t wait for her to be at the “magic” of our proof viewing.  There’s something very special about seeing those pictures projected on the studio wall.  Big smiles on all faces!  Can’t wait.  Thank you Amy!

*With blog is “Little Doll” (one of MANY favorites from Jude’s 6-month portrait session).

I’m wanting to add a new section to our website, filled with clients’ comments about our studio that may help someone visiting our website choose to use us instead of another local photographer.

Have something great to say about us or any part of our business?  Leave a comment here…

Who knows, we just may make a drawing out of all of the comments and give away a prize! 

*Portrait with blog is still untitled (it’s my absolute favorite from Lance, Dianne, Ella, and Benjamin’s family session last month- I was so excited about their patio I made Lance drag out their ladder!)

Last week my husband and I drove up to A+ Pediatrics to update the gallery display we had hanging in their hallways.  We took down a large collection of framed 11×14 black and white or sepia prints.  And in their place, we hung a collection of GORGEOUS 28×28 gallery wrap color canvases!  They are rich with vibrant color, too large to go unnoticed.

If you’re headed up to the offices soon, I hope you enjoy them.  And be sure to look for your kids- I chose my 15 favorite portraits from every different kind of session I’ve had over the last four years.

*Accompanying portrait is “Big Grin!” (one of my MANY favorites from Megan’s portrait session with her sister Addison- isn’t she a doll?!)

The six Johnsons met Amy this morning at the Cibolo Nature Center and had our family session for our Christmas cards.  Amy did a fabulous job finding unique ways to pose all of us–ending up with a trip into the creek for the last poses.  When I tried to say that I would be attending the slideshow/print preview all by myself I was quickly outnumbered as all my girls insisted that they HAD TO be there.  Now I keep being asked how soon we can see our slideshow.  If Amy can please teenagers, you know she is a fabulous photographer.  Thank you, Amy, for even getting Don to smile about a posed picture!!

Everyone who is procrastinating getting their pictures done, the calendar is rolling on (picture the movie version with all those dates blowing away from a calendar. . .).  Give me a call and you can have the joyful feeling I have today. 

*From Amy- I’m attaching one of my favorite portraits from the Johnson’s session.  I haven’t let Alice see any of the proofs yet, so here’s a quick preview…

We wanted to extend a big welcome to our newest Their First Year portrait club member- Gage Taylor.  Gage was born on October 6th at ? in San Antonio.  He weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces and was 18.5 inches long.  He is welcomed by his father Jeff, his mother Marti, big brother Cole, and many friends and family.  We cannot wait to see this cutie grow up in front of the camera!

*Portrait with this blog is “Brothers” (a favorite from Gage’s newborn session- just love those lips!).

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT THE BENEFITS OF OUR PORTRAITS CLUBS, PLEASE VISIT THE SAVINGS PAGE OF THE WEBSITE!

What a wonderful Halloween!  How fun it was to spend the day visiting with everyone who stopped by and seeing all the kids in their costumes!  Thanks to all who came by the studio for portraits.  Your FREE digital files will be e-mailed to you by the weekend if you’ve already let us know your favorite pose. 

We’re adding new Limited Editions!  And we’re making some changes to our LE calendar!

New- A cute vintage session.  Antique, oversized clothes; old trunk; well-loved teddy bears; vintage trucks; etc.  Fun dress-up time for the girls!  Lots of truck playtime for the boys!

New- A fun past-time session.  Fishing pole; overalls; the creek or a make-believe pond to fish in; a frog to play and pose with; etc.  What a blast for the boys!  Girls might love this too!

New Limited Edition Calendar:
January- Winter Wonderland
February- the vintage session (still needs to be named)
March- Easter
April- Wildflowers
May- Seashore (in Port A)
June- the fishing session (still needs to be named)
July- Fairytale
August- Seashore (in studio)
September- Fall Fun
October- Pumpkin Patch
November- Christmas

We moved a couple of LE’s to new months to make room for the two new sessions.  And we moved the Christmas sessions up to November to respond to the demand we’re already having for that particular event.

Have suggestions to make these Limited Edition sessions even better?  Want to help us name the two new sessions?  Want to try out one of the new sessions for FREE before we offer them next year?  Leave a comment on this blog!  We’d love to hear what you have to say.

*Portrait with blog is “Gone Fishin’” (one of my favorites from Landon’s session at the nature center over the weekend).

And the winner is- Mary Buckelew!  With ten of the 43 total votes cast in our finals, Mary was chosen as our favorite smile.  As our winner, Mary will soon be receiving a gift tote of gift certificates to Bear Moon Bakery, SnoBiz, Marble Slab Creamery, Cheesy Jane’s, and Shutter-Happy!  CONGRATULATIONS!

*Winning smile is from portrait “Puppy Love” (one of many favorites from her birthday session earlier in the year).

Our darling onesies and blankets that we’ll be giving away to our newest clients were personalized by Simply Sewn.  Simply Sewn is owned by Tricia Hotchkiss, who offers not only the embroidery and digitizing services, but also products including nap mat covers, pillows, lunch boxes, quilts, burp cloths, and tote bags.  So much cute stuff!

If you’re looking for any of these items, please support a local girl- visit the website and give Tricia a call!

We had eight different smiles get seven votes each!  With such a big tie, we want to give everyone a chance to have a final say.  Vote for your favorite smile…

Only one vote per e-mail address.  Please feel free to encourage friends and family to vote for your child.  But everyone voting must submit their e-mail address for their vote to count.  By submitting your e-mail address, you are agreeing to be added to our e-newsletter mailings.  But you may unsubscribe at any time if you are not happy with our services.

Voting will end on October 10th.

Click the Survey button to be taken to the poll-

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

Have a good resource for “MOM” stuff?  I found this website during a Fox news broadcast.  They did a whole feature on this woman from SA heading up a site called The Mom Crowd.

Loved it, started using it, decided to become a sponsor and start advertising on it.  Check it out- here.

*Portrait with blog is “Any Day Now!” (a favorite sweet moment from Marti and Cole’s maternity session this past weekend).

My first exposure to Dream Dinners was at a Hill Country Women in Business meeting.  The owner of the Leon Springs location was our speaker as well as the meal provider for the night.  I was impressed by their goal to help the busy mom save time and money and their great-tasting food.  But they did more to make an impression on me- they stepped up and helped us with our open house last year.  They provided us with prepared meals for all of our guests and donated a couple gift certificates.  Wow!

I had been wanting to go in for a meal preparation session since, but with the tough pregnancy, that goal was put off for a year.  But I finally made it!

Nathan and I attended a session together in August and had a great time (without the kiddos!).  It was fun, it was easy!  And we have enjoyed every single meal.  So we had to go back, attending another session last week.  Again, we had a great time spending an evening with each other and throwing all these meals together.  So we’re sold!  We joined their rewards program and plan to have a session every month.

Here’s a breakdown- We’ve prepared 36 servings both times we’ve gone in (that’s 12 meals for us).  Both times our cost was right about $150 (that’s about $4 a serving, $12 a meal).  And the actual time in the kitchen ranges from a super-easy-five-minutes-and-then-walk-away-for-two-hours to maybe 20 minutes standing at the stove.

So save your hard-earned $$$$ at the grocery store and save your time for your kids- go have a Dream Dinners session today!  Here’s their website- link.  When you sign up for a session, don’t forget to mention me as a referral! 

*Accompanying portrait is “Awaiting Twins!” (one of my many favorites from Kevin, Tara, and Isabella’s maternity session over the weekend).

We wanted to extend a big welcome to our newest Their First Year portrait club member- Rylee Stone.  Rylee was born on September 9th at 7:45am in San Antonio.  She weighed in at 8 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20 inches long.  She is welcomed by her father Robert, her mother Kelly, big sister Asheton, and many friends and family.  We cannot wait to see this beauty grow up in front of the camera!

*Portrait with this blog is “Sweet Pea” (a favorite from Rylee’s newborn session yesterday).

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT THE BENEFITS OF OUR PORTRAITS CLUBS, PLEASE VISIT THE SAVINGS PAGE OF THE WEBSITE!