… of all the dedicated volunteers who have worked so diligently to make the Vancouver 2010 Olympic games a HUGE success!

… of VANOC 2010, that despite all the bad publicity, have made these games outstanding!

… of our all of our AMAZING athletes!

… to be Canadian!

GO CANADA GO!!

the second reason for our trip to vancouver last week was because we got invited to go and watch the vancouver 2010 opening ceremony dress rehearsal. i can’t even begin to tell you how exciting that was for us, especially the kids!

we stayed in north vancouver at the lonsdale quay hotel and took the sea-bus across. then we caught the sky-train to bc place stadium. i think the kids were more excited about this part than the actual ceremony. it was fun though. totally outside the box for us “country folk”. we weren’t allowed to bring any cameras into the stadium but i had my trusty old iphone with me and managed to capture a few images.

i love the olympics. i think part of my love for them has rubbed off from my husband, since he loves them more than i do but also because this is what he does. he helps organize large sporting events all around the world and it’s always nice when the one he’s working in is right in our own “backyard” – so to speak.

the view from our balcony window.  you can just imagine the joy on an 8-year-old boys face when he looked out and saw this “pirate ship” – though i don’t think there were any pirates on board. as for me, i was dreaming about the yacht on the right.

catching rain drops.

a collage from the opening ceremony dress rehearsal.

on wednesday, the kids an i headed to the mainland to spend a day in vancouver. the purpose of our trip was two fold. the first reason was to meet my newest niece, niamh, who was born last saturday. the kids were so excited to meet her. it melted my heart to hold a newborn again. there’s nothing like holding a baby that just a few days old. it’s so special! i’ll tell you about the second reason for our trip tomorrow (hint -  it has to do with the olympics.) 

and of course i brought my camera. now, keep in mind that my forte is shooting weddings and boudoir. i am not a baby whisperer like my good friends and fellow photogs jillian kirby and shannon stevenson of lucy lime studios. and if you haven’t checked out their site yet, you should!

niamh was awake for most of the photo shoot which is surprising for a 4 day old newborn. but it didn’t matter, she’s sweet asleep or awake.

welcome to the family baby niamh!

proud big sister, who liked entertaining us with her harmonica!

proud cousins!

and one proud auntie!

well, i’m right here, of course!

life has been hectic this past month. i can hardly believe that we are nearing up on the end of january already. seriously?? but even though things have been kind of quite here on the old blog, believe me, there’s LOTS going on behind the scenes. i’m building the first of two new blogs, that will be linked to this one. it will be completely dedicated to boudoir and the other new site will be dedicated to RAD GRADS. this blog will still have most of the usual content on it that you’re used to: weddings, engagements sessions, boudoir and RAD GRAD mentions and, of course, some personal stuff about what’s going on in my life.  i’m also busy getting the details in place for the valentines boudoir event on february 6th. email me soon for your appointment. they are booking up! i was also in vancouver yesterday for a photography workshop with the awesome [b]ecker, southern california wedding photographer extraordinaire! he’s such a great guy and i took in so much useful information! now to start implementing some of it into my business.

tonight, after i was finished answering 2 days worth of emails,  i took the time to download the gazillion photos that i have on my iphone. i just love the little camera it has built-in it. i never have to worry about missing a “moment” when i have it with me. and it comes in especially handy when the kids are getting restless when we’re at a restaurant waiting for our meals to arrive or for taking the ever popular self portrait.

here’s a small collage of some of my favorites.

it seems like it was so long ago but it’s only been 2 weeks.  lights, elf hats, rock band, christmas cheer, gift giving, magical wizard wands, remote controls, great food and fun times – all such great memories of a wonderful holiday season filled with friends, family and the beautiful spirit of christmas.