Santa Pictures {2011}

December 13, 2011

Santa pictures? I thought you just wrote that you guys don’t do Santa? Well, yes & no. We read the story of St. Nicholas, they know the true meaning of Christmas, and they’ve learned how Santa came about. Nonetheless, pictures with Santa each year is something we do among our more important traditions.

My favorite Santa picture. 2008. Littlest Brother.

Our Santa pics are all framed and I pull them out after Thanksgiving. Littlest Brother loves to look at the one from 2008, it makes him laugh every time he sees it. Bass Pro Shops is my favorite place. Our local store has the Santa’s Wonderland set up in the boat area…tons of huge windows and great light. The wonderful thing about Bass Pro Shops is Santa pictures are free, so I can take my camera. And…the Santa is so patient and kind. The bad thing about Bass Pro is the line can get crazy long, but that is only if you go at night when all that great light is gone anyway. We took the older boys out of school during lunch/recess to get Santa pictures and lunch out. Yep, great light for pictures and not dealing with weekend crazy is that important to me. Shhhh don’t tell their teachers.

Look at that…great light…no line….bliss.

We thought she just might follow their lead. Ashley & Lisa sent me her outfit after I did a guest post last month. Who battles cancer and sends out thank you gifts? Those girls are amazing women and talented seamstresses!

The boys made it to Santa. When she saw him, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Our 2011 photo.

I got to use my new camera bag for the first time. Isn’t it pretty?!

Bass Pro is a different world. Camo. Hunting gear. Camping gear. Fishing gear. Lots of stuff that exists to get really muddy. Santa’s Wonderland is a wonderland for my boys. They don’t even notice the gun is pink. Poor little painted squirrel. Hey ya’ll, I live in Oklahoma…hunting, camping, catching your dinner it’s just what we do (well, not me).

Remote controlled 4 wheelers with mud already painted on the tires…I’ve got the perfect place in mind, it’s in the middle of nowhere, only one way to get there. You got to get a little mud on the tires (that is Brad Paisley for those of you that don’t speak country music)

While her brothers were playing to their heart’s desires…she found the coloring table.

Her brothers went straight to the bows & arrows….she found everything pink and soft to hug. I don’t even know what to say about her sometimes. I’d rather shoot the dart gun than hug the pink camo bear. She baffles me.

Bass Pro our playground in the winter. We can go see fish, ride the elevator, hide in the tents…kill time (or stuffed animals) when it is cold. Hip Hip Hooray for Bass Pro!

This was also my first outing with my new camera bag. I’d been using a backpack or wrapping my camera in a burp cloth….but I don’t need a diaper bag anymore. I started looking for a camera bag that didn’t scream “I’m a camera bag!”. I hadn’t settled on one when I got an email from Maile…the founder of Epiphanie bags. She sent me the bag of my choice and I get to give one away to one of you! It has the strong, protective workings of a traditional camera bag, but is so much cuter. I can carry my 5D, 24-70mm lens, flash and still another lens. It also has lots of little pockets for everyday things. There were tons of fun colors, but the gray was perfect for me.