Orlando wedding, engagement, family photographer | Root Photography Blog

The many adventures of a cute husband and wife photography team!

Christmas 2011

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Continuing with holiday week- On to Christmas! :)

We spent Christmas at Nate’s grandparent’s home in Indiana. I didn’t grow up visiting grandparents, so I find the idea completely wonderful. I always feel like I’m on some Lifetime holiday movie set when we go visit- From their dreamlike comfy living room rockers, Nate’s grandfather’s sweet comments, to his grandmother’s cookies baking in the oven! One of the best perks of marrying Nate was finally getting a dream grandma and grandpa out of the deal… Just like in the movies! :)

As I mentioned yesterday when I wrote about our 2011 holiday card, Huck received a couple hippos for Christmas. <3

Meet Girl, a real life “Tramp”- She showed up on their porch one day and now a neighbor feeds her. Nate was in love, and if I wasn’t worried about Girl eating all of our furniture and well, Huck… She probably would have come home with us!

Always gotta be the center of attention!

Favorite. :)

With Nate’s family, you literally never know what you’re getting for Christmas. Maybe it’s a box of books with a gift card at the bottom, maybe it’s an empty box with “This will have something in it soon” if your gift didn’t arrive in time. ;)

It’s tradition for Santa to bring everyone a Whitman’s chocolate candy. Nate got some Buckyballs for Christmas- Something I gave him a hard time about asking for because I thought they were pointless. Once he opened them, though, I think I played with them more than him. So addictive! :)

Nate’s sister and her adorable fella. :)

More personal posts :

Christmas Card 2011

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*I* thought it was a brilliant beyond brilliant idea. I’ve loved the song “I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” since I was old enough to wail it at the top of my lungs and drive my Mom up a wall.

When it came time to talk holiday card ideas, I had the song stuck in my head and started thinking of how adorable it’d be from Huck’s point of view. “Mom said a hippo would eat me up, but then, teacher said a hippo is a vegetarian!” and “There’s lots of room for him, in our two car garage- I’d feed him there and wash him there and give him his massage!” Adorable, right? Nate was worried not many people would know the song or understand, but I thought even then, it’s a darling thought- Huck wants a hippopotamus for Christmas, only a hippopotamus will do! I assured him it’s a Christmas classic and we’d be fine.

The reviews were mixed- I would say about 75% of it was completely positive, with some past brides leaving rave reviews via our Facebook page or the occasional happy text. A week later, my best friend Casi sent him a hippo dog toy (seriously, who knew they even made those?!) with a note to Huck saying, “I take things literally.”  One bride wrote saying she didn’t quite “get” it at first, but then when listening to holiday music on the radio, heard the song. It wasn’t until we visited Nate’s family for the holidays that I realized some people don’t, in fact, know the song. I think it was Nate’s step mom who asked, “So, does Huck have like a thing for hippos or what? We’re confused.” My adorable mother-in-law, her parents, and sister had also never heard of the song, which resulted in me singing it for them repeatedly over Christmas.

Ah, well, it was worth a shot. I already have this year’s card planned out, and it’s a little more mainstream, so hopefully everyone will “get it.” :) I still couldn’t be happier with how it tuned out, hippo sticker on the envelope and all! :)

And for the record, yes… It’s a real song! Enjoy. :)

Thanksgiving 2011

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Yes, I’m just now getting around to blogging our Thanksgiving adventure. Give a girl a break! :)

It all started with a simple text from Lisa. We were on our way to Taylor and Micheal’s engagement session, when she asked if we’d be open to a cabin trip over Thanksgiving. Obviously, we were all in. Huck Finn, too. :)

Huck’s favorite part of the trip? Family cuddle time in bed. :)

In a cabin full of girls, this was bound to happen. ;)

This was my first Thanksgiving to ever help with the turkey. Thank God Lisa had the foresight to bring gloves!

Oh, and it was bacon covered… Thank goodness for Lisa Stoner.

The original plan was for Nate and Jeffrey to bring in a picnic table from out back and eat in the kitchen. Somewhere between them realizing a solid oak picnic table isn’t the easiest thing to bring up hill and Lisa and I realizing how romantic a Thanksgiving dinner via fireside would be, we moved our meal outside. Lisa, being the amazing wedding planner she is, thought of so many charming details to bring to the dinner, including a clothesline of photos. <3

The view of our dinner set up from our cabin. :)

Carolina brought her own charms to the table. :)

Huck slept.

Us, Thanksgiving dinner 2011. <3

Favorite.

On our last night, we explored downtown Helen, Georgia, where Jeffrey proved he can make anything look good.

Helen, Georgia had it all!

We ended the evening with a rousing game of Disney Monopoly. Huck called banker.

First time to win AND my first time to not cheat. Lesson learned. :)

*happy sigh.*

Lisa and Jeffrey hammock-ing before heading home.

Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove!

The drive home was gorgeous! The scenery wasn’t too bad, either. ;)

So ready to rinse and repeat next year! :)

More Happy Travels :

Photo of the Week

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Last December was the craziest, most stressful month for us. Nate and I started the month in Long Boat Key for a wedding, then to Orlando signing papers for our first home, the Bahamas for another wedding, and spent 10 days packing everything up and moving while still trying to sneak in photo editing time. Oh, and then we drove to Indiana to spend Christmas with Nate’s family! It’s no secret that I’m a Christmas-aholic and have been dreaming of decorating our house for as long as I can remember. In reality though, we weren’t even going to spend our first Christmas in our house, so it didn’t make sense to decorate, or even put up a tree. (I know, I can’t believe I even just typed that!) Needless to say, I had a lot of mini meltdowns that month… Half because of the stress of moving and half because I felt like Christmas was over before it began. :(

We had a wonderful trip to Indiana and drove home Christmas night. As we pulled up to our new house, I was convinced I was so tired that I’d turned into someone else’s driveway, because, well… Our house was decorated. I’m talkin’ lights on our porch, garland around our mailbox, and a fully decorated tree in the window. Nate and I didn’t say a word to each other; as we were unlocking the front door, I asked him, “Did you do this?!” with my eyes welling up with happy tired Christmas day tears. He responded with, “I wish I did!!!” I followed a trail of pine needles upstairs and into our den, where there was a Christmas tree fully lit, tinseled, and decorated with all of our ornaments. I completely broke down and cried- Our best friends Lorie and Jon had brought Christmas to our home while we were gone! It was the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for us. I’ll forever and ever and ever be grateful.

I’m sharing this story because today is Lorie’s birthday and I have no better example than that to show the world what kind of friend she is. There really aren’t any words to explain it.  She makes life more fun and home more homier. I’ve known her since I was five, and we’ve been best friends for a decade, and sisters for just as long. Happy birthday, dear Lorie. I love you to the moon. :)

(Side note: doesn’t this little bear look like our Huckleberry?!)