Merry Christmas from the Millers: Lifestyle Photography for Holiday Traditions

Christmas time is special for families because there are lots of wonderful traditions to be passed down. And I love these traditions and enjoy documenting them so that I can look back on them with with happy tears when my sons are grown. Each year I think to myself, “it’d be great to create a whole album of photos telling the story of our Christmas traditions.” And then I remember that I have two-years worth of photos to print (that’s my New Years resolution). So maybe next year I can get around to making a Christmas album? But for now, I’d like to share some of the traditions we’ve documented this year.

Our traditions start right after Thanksgiving with the search for the perfect tree, which in our family, is one that’s not too wide or tall. Something like this:

This is the first year we cut our own tree and I’m so glad my husband suggested it, because my boys loved watching their daddy “chop down the tree.”

It is so sweet to see my boys want to help their dad.

Then comes the family portrait. You might think this is a breeze for me being a photographer, but I have to be honest—self portraits with my family generally make me grumble under my breath. I set the camera on a tripod and use a remote shutter. The running back and forth to check my settings and forced smiles alternated by frantically coaxing our children to look at the camera, should be enough for me to plan ahead and hire a photographer next year before the busy season kicks in. After all of my grunting and fussing, I’m glad to have this shot. And I’m totally fine with the smirk on my youngest. His day was not going the way he wanted it.

Now that my oldest is learning to write, I will definitely be taking annual photos of letters to Santa. I’m so proud of his new skills and someday I will love looking back on what he was requesting.

We are very blessed to have Santa visit our new neighborhood and I prefer this image over a photo with Santa at the mall any day. What a sweet moment!

And when you’re the mom and photographer, sometimes your camera gets messy. With our cookie baking tradition, my camera had a light dusting with flour…

I love this shot of me with my son. I handed my husband the camera and he captured this sweet moment and I don’t mind if its a little out of focus.

These cookies still aren’t iced as I type this post, but that’s ok, we’ll get to it tomorrow.

Wishing those who celebrate a very merry Christmas!