Lens-Artists Challenge #377 | Holiday Fun

Ann-Christine leads us this week with a great theme as we get closer to Christmas holidays – Holiday Fun! She encourages us to share some holiday memories – “Shared Joy is double joy – as we say in Sweden”.

I will also be choosing Christmas for this theme, with my kids late teens I cherish their young childhood Christmas years even more!

The magic of Christmas, is most definitely through a child’s eyes! My two human babies and fur baby Christmas 2009.

His face in this pic is just the best! He loved his cars and still does!

I have spent many years of our holiday celebrations just watching the little ones and taking photos to capture their expressions! Truly the best.

Playing with a new to me lens, I remember this like yesterday!

Our boy’s hockey passion, begins!

Her first camera! It was so fun!

The kids puppy’s first Christmas, back in 2011, our boy Becker.

Christmas 2012 our son was given something that my husbands uncles had made him when he was a young boy for his beloved cars! Literally ‘old school’ car tracks on boards that go together!

Making Gingerbread Men! Christmas 2012

The ornaments mean… so much! The yellow dog, our Becker and the black one, my Elwood who I had when I met my husband and who quickly became a family dog!

The annual Christmas parade! SO many memories myself as a child and our kids and nieces when they were young. Our big sucker truck!

Their sweet faces, watching the santa tracker!

Only super heros decorate Christmas trees the best! 😉

My sweet great aunt, she would have been 99 just yesterday, and passed only a couple years ago. The sweetest old lady who had the biggest heart, independent yet also so fragile. Ive always lived a few blocks from her growing up and she was a big part of our lives spending every holiday and celebration with us. Our family loves to play cards, especially when we get together. She loved it! This was 10 years before she passed. I love these memories! I love that we were so lucky to have so many years with her.

Their little faces, I loved, love, every stage the kids are at, but I can also admit I miss all the stages, deeply.

All the family games before dinner… so many memories, especially of those who loved the game and are watching over us. ❤

They just keep growing…

This challenge theme, although warms my heart deeply, has also been pulling on all the heart strings. Our 2nd Christmas since my brother passed. There are still many times it doesn’t feel real. Yet the only way I will hear his voice again is on the voicemail I saved. Last Christmas we were still very numb. It was just over a month. This year seems to remind deeper, he’s physically not here.

He is however, with so many loved ones ❤

Yes we were, are, an elf household 😉 Charlie is wearing the scarf our daughter made for him!

We also did the family Christmas PJ’s, and still do! This Christmas we surprised the kids with each a carry on luggage – their perfect size and a Disney Cruise. The biggest and best trip we’ve ever taken and I am so thrilled we got to experience it with our kids! Christmas eve it was a tradition they could play with the elf before he left for the north pole!

Cousin time at Christmas at Grama and Granpa’s making gingerbread houses and trains.

2020, the year Christmas was forced to be different on everyone. Oh my the memories lost and how I will never do that again. Blessings to the cousins being together for more gingerbread, fun and laughter! My children and my brothers intertwined each other with their ages, the tens of thousands of photos of the memories, I am so grateful we could do that together and it brought us so close.

Sledding at grama and granpas with the cousins during Christmas holidays, this one my brother and son. My son, at the time, was the only boy of 5 grandkids. He now has a bookend with my sisters baby 😉

Traveling during Christmas, 2021, the year it began to not be cool to let your mom take photos of you 😉 Teens hide, doesn’t stop mom!

2022 Christmas Parade pulling the Mount Forest Drifters Snowmobile float. It was so cold that night, I remember it very coldly, I mean clearly!

We now have the joy of watching my sisters family grow up with our niece and nephew, children truly bring the magic of the season!!! Many more memories created and captured. Their pure innocence and absolute joy. Seeing my “big” kids with the “littles”!

If you would like to learn more about the weekly Lens-Artists Challenge please check it out here!