It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

I had the best Thanksgiving vacation with my sweet husband!

We've been insanely busy for the past few months...so it was nice to spend a weekend at our house, decorate for Christmas, and have lots of time to just relax.

Aaron and I bought our Christmas tree on Saturday! This is our first Christmas in the new house, so we've anticipated decorating our home for Christmas since we moved in January. We're big supporters of our local farmer's market, so we drove by on Saturday afternoon to view their selection of trees. After walking around for 10 minutes, Aaron and I saw the perfect tree at the same time:

Isn't it cute?!

Putting lights on the Christmas tree is our least favorite part of decorating.


All done :)

Aaron and I spent the entire year collecting unique ornaments from every place we vacationed or visited. Our families also gave us lots of memorable ornaments that we can tell our kids about someday. Here are a few of our favorites:

These angels (there's another one on the reverse side) are made from oyster shells and moss. My parents gave it to us as a gift last Christmas and every time I look at it, I'm reminded of Charleston.

We brought this cute little moose back from Crater Lake, Oregon. One day, I'll tell my kids that the day we visited Crater Lake, we were too tired to walk around because we spent 10 hours climbing Mt. Thielsen the day before :)


This little beaver is Aaron's favorite Christmas ornament ever. Aaron's parents bought it from Hallmark when he was a little boy we can't find another one like it anywhere. Mom and Dad Fowler gave us the beaver ornament a few months ago for Aaron's birthday.


And here is our cute little mantle! I love Hobbes' stocking. It says "MEOW" on the top :)

There's nothing like listening to Christmas music, eating sugar cookies, drinking eggnog, sitting by the fire, gazing at our beautifully decorated tree, and remembering why we celebrate this time of year. Through all of the hustle and bustle of the next few weeks, remember that Jesus is the reason for the season :)

It Won't Work

Every single morning while the boys and I are eating breakfast, Sam tells me, "Mrs. Allison, you're beautiful today! Then, Toby chimes in and says, "Bu-ful day, Sin! You bu-ful day!"

After Toby and I dropped Sam off at school this morning, we stopped by somewhere special to pick up something special for someone special :) After telling Toby twice that he needed to keep his hands in the cart and not touch anything, his sticky little fingers snuck out of the cart and onto something breakable once more. I lowered my eyes to his, scolded him for not listening, and told him there would be a consequence if he disobeyed again.

The child looked straight at me with those big blue eyes, sighed a sigh of surrender, and said, "Bu-ful day, Sin! You bu-ful day!"

He just turned two-years-old and he's already attempting to manipulate me. Very cute, but it won't work :)

Priscilla and Chase: Slide Show

After each wedding we shoot, Sean compiles some of our best photos and puts them into a slide show to send to the bride and groom.

I'm really proud of our work from Priscilla and Chase's wedding. Check it out:

(Oh, and make sure your volume is turned up so you can hear the song.)

Toby Loves Aaron

Every time my phone rings, Toby says, "A-nen! A-nen!"

Translation: Aaron.

When Toby is alone in the back seat of my car, he'll usually have this same dialogue every day:

"Hi A-nen! Ha you? Dood. Bye bye." (Hi Aaron! How are you? Good. Bye bye.) I have no idea why, but he repeats those four phrases over and over and over.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:



It's a good thing that Toby likes Aaron so much because we're spending this entire weekend with the boys while Mike and Liz go out of town. I'm sure I'll have lots of interesting stories to share on Monday!

Fire Safety

I talked to my dad on the phone earlier. He's a Batallion Chief at Mount Pleasant Fire Department in Charleston, SC.

In the middle of our conversation, the tones went off at the fire house and we had to say "goodbye" abruptly.

He called me back a little while later and said he had just returned from a chimney fire.

Just in case you aren't able read the instructions on the Duraflame starter log wrapper, YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BURN 5 AT A TIME!

Don't be ignorant this winter. Check out these Winter and Holiday Fire Safety Tips from the United States Fire Administration. They might just save your house. And your life.

A Beautiful Wedding in the Valley...

The Bride

The Groom

Knockout couple, gorgeous wedding, beautiful hearts.

Congratulations, Priscilla and Chase!

(Photos by Sean Lyon)

Escaping to the Mountains

Aaron and I are escaping to the mountains of North Carolina this weekend to do a little vacationing...and a little bit of work.

Tomorrow, we're helping Sean shoot the wedding of this gorgeous couple. I don't think I've ever had the opportunity to photograph such beautiful people...

The weather is supposed to be crazy in Boone this weekend. Forecasted rain for today and tomorrow and SNOW on Sunday! What a perfect weekend to visit the mountains :)

Aaron and I took today off from work so we could enjoy the mountain drive, explore any hiking trails we might find, and maybe even journey down the Blue Ridge Parkway a bit.

Look out! I think this weekend's adventures might just fuel another "Fowler Family Photo Contest!" Stay tuned...