{Christmas Traditions - Christmas Memories}
Homemade cookies, compliments of Grandma have always been fond Christmas memories for me as well as my kids. In the past few years my grandmas has suffered several mini strokes, and one of the things she is not able to do anymore is her baking. This year we decided to give her special recipe a whirl for ourselves and keep the tradition going. We had fun making them and creating our own family memories. When the first batch got done we quickly frosted one up and with 1 bite I heard the words… “I remember these” from my kids. Like how could you forget that taste, they are simply the best. When making these cookies, which was a 2 day process, I gained a new appreciation for my grandma, I cannot believe she made the amount of cookies she did every year for her family. What fun memories this recipe has given me and my children these past few days We love you Grandma!
Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas, full of beautiful memories
So... it's a pretty sad day when you come to your blog to FINALLY make a post and you can't remember how to access your own blog...lol. I know, I know... I have been terrible at blogging this year. But the good side to that is it means I have been very busy :) 2011 has been a year of blessings for Hayley Hamlin Photography for sure and I am so very thankful for every one of them. One area I think I have actually managed to blog a few of this year is my weddings/engagements. My last wedding of 2011 was a first for me, a winter wedding. The funny thing is I knew anything could happen in Michigan, I mean anyone who lives here knows if you don't like the weather just wait a few minutes. But oddly enough we had been getting okay weather... but the day of the wedding it was freezing cold! And I am talking COLD! Thankfully the bride, groom and wedding party were AMAZING to work with and not once did anyone complain about the cold.
Though we never got our dusting of snow, it was still an absolutely beautiful wedding and I was blessed to be apart of it. Anyone that knows me... knows there has to be a "theme" photo from the wedding. My last one was golf balls for Buck's Run, this one being that it was a winter wedding... well we had to have some candy cane love, right :)
So to start us off, here is the newlyweds and their candy cane lovin... Mr and Mrs Craves :)
This next 2 photos from Bay City, MI is probably some of my very faves. Well who am I kidding, they are my faves...lol. We did their engagement photos in Bay City and the wedding was close enough where we could go back downtown to do some of the wedding photos there too. Well, if we thought it was cold at the wedding site, the alleyways were like wind tunnels and they were 10 times worse. So we went back to the bus to warm up for a second and I said to Lindsay, I know the water area is close and it's sunset... if you want to get a couple more photos I really think they would be beautiful. I was really hoping they would but honestly didn't it wold happen because we were frozen. I am SO glad they obliged because... well just take a look. The light is heavenly in these next 2 b&w's :) And yes, you will see a lot of b&w's from this wedding, my bride loves b&w!
These are from Downtown Bay City.
This one is another personal favorite. This is outside the Founders Hall Chapel on SVSU's campus.
Okay... so it's freezing and you know you have an amazing group to work with when they are willing to play football! And the bride is running out the door of the church saying wait for me...lol :) LOVE this pic!
Before shots.. getting ready. Lindsay and her mom :) The Founders Hall on SVSU campus is where the ceremony was held. The light in this chapel is nothing short of amazing. Not to mention the windows. I was in love. Going into the wedding I really didn't know what Lindsay's dress was going to look like, but I had no doubt it would be amazing... and it was. With the gorgeous chapel and light, I had to put it all together and show off her amazing dress!!
And of course the outside view with the window and doors, gorgeous as well!!
The gorgeous bride!
When we were done taking photos up front I followed Lindsay back to the dressing room. I stayed just far enough behind to play with the gorgoeus light coming through the windows. LOVE!
This actually choked me up at the wedding. Watching the mother of the bride and mother of the groom hold hands like this up the isle was such a touching moment. Deep breath and tears...
Love this shot of the girls watching the bride enter. They all looked so beautiful!
The happy couple exchanging rings...
Another highlight of the wedding was the couple that sang...absolutelybeautiful!
I know I am all over the place with this post, these are taken Downtown Bay City. Love this alleyway, was so glad we could go back and get some shots there. The guys looked great strutting their stuff down the alleyway. Such a beautiful bunch here. These dresses were gorgeous and so were all of the girls!! Love this one of the guys! And I think what I will remember the most about this shot is when Aaron lifted Lindsay up, she said "were they being appropriate" lol. Such a fun group!! Loved working with you all :)
Thought I would also add the video from the engagement session :) The video has music, so be sure to turn off main blog music before hitting play :) Enjoy!!
Thank you, thank you for letting me be apart of your special day! I have truly gained new friends for life. Can't wait to capture more memories for your family :)
