Sleeping Beauty

And yes, she DOES frequently put on that sweater with purple fleece pajama pants or anything else that doesn’t match.:)

Best of 2010 Contest!

This year has been a wonderful year for me…and it’s the first year that BriAnne Huwe Photography has been in business, so I think it’s definitely something to celebrate! I’ve learned a lot…and I hope it’s valid to say that I’ve gotten better at this.:) Anyway, I want to start a new tradition, so every January I’m going to host a ‘Best of’ contest for the previous year. It will work this way. I will select my favorite photo from each session that I’ve done (unless this gets to be too much in the future and then I’ll have all of my fans vote for the top ten or something). Nonetheless, this year I’ll select one from each session (minus any of my own children). There will be a folder on my facebook page entitled ‘The Best of 2010’ that will contain all of these. Then the vote begins. This year the deadline for voting will be January 20th @10pm. If your friends and family are already fans of the page, all they have to do is click ‘like’ on your photo. If they’re not fans…well…who doesn’t love more fans, so invite them to join us.:) If you’re a fan of my page and don’t know any of the participants, then please, just vote! You can vote for as many as you’d like! The photo that receives the most ‘likes’ by the deadline will be awarded a $50 gift certificate for use on a session or prints in 2011 (meaning whoever’s session the photo is from is awarded that certificate). First runner up will receive a $25 gift certificate. Simple enough, right!? Alright, so let the voting begin! www.facebook.com/briannehuwephotography

A Christmas Post

First of all, I posted some thoughts on Christmas on my other blog and then realized that maybe I should’ve posted those on this one. Too late, however. I guess I could copy and paste, but my internet is WAY too slow for that.:) http://iambrianne.wordpress.com/2010/12/25/as-the-world-slept/

Next, I haven’t uploaded all of our photos yet, but Christmas Eve ones are always my favorite anyway, so here are a couple. Merry Christmas from all of us!

And the rest of our trip…..

Okay, well the main reason we went over to the west side was not so Tanner could cover my Mom in flour, but because my littlest nephew Greyson was being blessed. I got to take some photos of him for that and I got to take photos of my other little brother’s family while over there too. Then my little fam went on a little hike and saw some neat waterfalls near Battle Ground. It was a quick, but fun trip. Here are a couple of photos from our little adventure.

And a picture of all of the Walkers that were there for the blessing. We ended up doing the blessing at Amanda’s (my Sis-in-law) Mom’s house because Dan got stuck overnight in LaGrande after they closed I-84. He rolled in, they did the blessing, and then we had to take off. Glad we were able to be there for it at least…..wish we could’ve seen Dan and his little family longer! Also, please ignore my heinous eyes. At that point we thought it was pink eye (which is why I got to take pictures of sweet Greyson, but not hold him…..so sad). Anyway, now I’m not so sure what’s wrong with my eyes. I still look like that. Well, maybe not quite that bad, but my eyes (my left in particular) are just drippy and cloudy and HORRID. A mystery to be unfolded, I’m sure….. So, if no one sees me at church tomorrow, you’ll know why. This evening (for about 3 hours) I could barely hold my eye open. I looked like I was bawling and just had to keep a kleenex handy. Weirdest thing ever. Hope I can see tomorrow.:)

I absolutely LOVE this photo of Kyle and Haylee. I nearly had a coronary when he got that close to the waterfall with my baby, but I lived. Cool shot anyway though. I’m not certain, but I think this one is Sunset Falls. There are like 4 falls within this 1/2 mile radius or so and the map was ridiculous…..we got so turned around (and anyone that knows Kyle knows that’s it nearly impossible to goof up his sense of direction, but I assure you that this map accomplished it). Anyway, I THINK it’s on the Lewis River and I THINK it’s Sunset Falls.:)

Isn’t the westside pretty!? Love it…..always have.

"As the World Slept . . .

.....one silent night, a Savior's born and all creation smiles."

This is a line from from one of my favorite Christmas songs. A group called Newsong sings it (the group that sings 'The Christmas Shoes'). I love it because it does a really superb job of portraying the wonder, amazement, and general lack of understanding of the miracle that graced the Earth that holy night so long ago. The mission of the Prince of Peace was misunderstood. The Jews expected a Savior in an earthly sense and awaited a King who would save them politically. Even as our Savior walked amongst them and taught them and tried to help them understand, they failed to grasp the miracle that would spiritually change their lives.

I often times marvel at His life. I wonder if I would have understood...if I would have followed Him. And the answer is always a resounding, "Yes!" because the same spirit that testifies of Him today, testified of Him then.

The Christmas season is warm and wonderful because it's the celebration of the birth of our Savior and our King. The spiritual witness of the importance of that event...of the importance of Jesus the Christ...will continue to come. It manifests itself in human decency and in kind hearts.

I recently read a sermon written by a pastor who claimed that Jesus had been wrong. He claimed that Christ made mistakes in matters of His gospel. He was trying to make a pitch for a progressive, religious movement.....wanting the principles of Christ's gospel to change to suit the "needs" of our current time. I was stunned, to say the least. The miracle of Christ is that He doesn't change. He never has. He never will. His perfection and his sinlessness are the characteristics of Godhood that made Him an acceptable sacrifice for you and for me.

So as I sit here quietly at the end of a wonderful Christmas, I am reminded of what IS true. We celebrate Christ's birth because of His life. We celebrate Him because of His perfection and His ultimate sacrifice. We celebrate our God. It's a wonderful feeling. And so at the close of this day, I join with the rest of creation and I smile. I smile in gratitude for my Savior. I smile in gratitude for my knowledge and understanding of Him, His mission, and His purpose. I smile in gratitude for a Father in Heaven who, in what was undoubtedly His hardest moment as a parent, sent His Only Begotten Son into a world where He would be largely misunderstood, tortured, and ultimately crucified. I smile in gratitude for the spirit of Christmas and the abundance of blessings that grace my life.

And so I want to wish all a Merry Christmas. May God bless us all.

My Brave Mother

My Mom’s a brave soul. I’ve always thought this. I mean, for starters, she has 8 children…..and she made that look easy. I didn’t realize the level of bravery required until I had three that I couldn’t control.:) Anyway, not the point though, she’s brave. She consistently takes on endeavors that no one else will out of pure fear. And she does so unabashedly. Case in point…..when we visited her this past weekend, she decided to make Christmas sugar cookies and let Hunter and Tanner help. I knew instantly that her bravery was insufficient to survive the episode, but she’s a Grandma after all. You can’t talk sense into them. They love their grandchildren and tend to overlook the insanity that we, as parents, can’t turn away from. Anyway, as brave and wonderful as she is, I hope this little event made her realize that sometimes bravery just isn’t enough.:) I won’t even tell you what happened, you can just look at the photos, but let me just throw in an unknown fact…..I’ve never let Tanner near my mixer and therefore he has no concept of how to use it or the power that a dandy, little Kitchenaid possesses.

 Oh Mom, you’re so genuinely good. I wish I was as good as you are…..although my kitchen is glad that I’m not.:)

Here Comes Santa Claus…..

I love watching kids sit on Santa’s lap for two reasons. One, watching the kids go into hysteria like the jolliest man on Earth is actually some mafia boss is more than amusing and two, I LOVE watching their eyes light up. As far as my kids are concerned, that man holds the key to all of their dreams. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that at this age. Kids are what makes Christmas wonderful. And their experiences with Santa give us a little glimpse of what genuine hope is supposed to look like. I love looking at these pictures of my kids at our Ward Christmas party this year because I love their expressions. Those wonderful looks aren’t representative of Santa at all, but of pure anticipation for all that is good in life. What a breath of fresh air my darling children are!