Juggling it all...

... it was all these things and more... We had such a great Christmas today and we are always so grateful for the time we get to spend with our wonderful family; every holiday with Scott's mom is a precious gift to us. We spent the morning with Grandma Jill who treated us to some of her yummy breakfast pizza and apple dumpling dessert (at 9am... mmmmm). We opened presents and inevitably the questions came... 'is that all?' or 'I wanna open more presents!' - that was always Brooke's line as I think she got the most joy from just the unwrapping process. But, once all the indestructible plastic was removed and every last wire twist tie was unwound from every doll limb and moving part we were in business. The highlights for the kids this year was :: Samantha - Pixos (a ridiculous crafty-project type toy that is waaaaaayyyyyy over simplified in their 20-sec commercial spot that runs every 15 mins on the Disney channel which she just HAD to have), an alarm clock an

... better late than never! Little Miss Sammy joined in all the reindeer fun this Christmas season and took part in a Christmas choir group for kids her age. The final concert was so fun and she was so very excited to perform all of her favorite holiday songs. Every time we would get in the car to go anywhere she just HAD to listen to the Christmas station in case they played one of her choir songs so she could sing along with the music and practice... worked for me. Here is just a quick snippet from the choir concert... man I love my new camera! Christmas Choir Concert 2009 from Michelle Herrick on Vimeo . (PS - And yes, you're seeing double... the girl directly behind Sam just so happened to be wearing the exact same shirt... )

So my 'little' side hobby has taken over my personal life these last few weeks but I am beyond grateful! I have been photographing old friends as well as a few new clients along the way and I'm lovin' every minute of it. Among the photography and the late, late nights editing I was able to help pull off one AH-MAZ-ING baby shower for a dear, sweet friend who just adopted the sweetest little baby , nay angel! I am blessed beyond words for such wonderful and beautiful and inspiring friends that help keep me balanced. At the baby shower we were trying to figure out how long our friendship goes back and we settled on at least 8 years - for that, I am blessed. Dear, sweet, hilarious Stacie hard at work. Girl, I figured for the purpose of this blog I would post this picture and not the "other" angle I got ;-) Love you! Some detail shots... And finally, the YaYa's... the best, most real friends EVER!! Tamara (Miss T), Leanne (the new-est mommy), ma-whaaaaa,