A Dogs Tale...or Tail...Winston & Izzy

I'm sure I'm not alone with saying sometimes life just gets crazy...and January is suppose to be relatively quiet for a photographer...but along with flying by way too fast, it also hasn't been quiet.  I'm playing catch up on my monthly Dog Wash portrait winners. 
Here are some photos from December's winners...Winston and Izzy.  Winston is a 13 year old black lab and Izzy is a young 1 and a half year old yellow lab.  This photo shoot was pretty quick...it took place two weeks ago...on the coldest day of the winter so far...a balmy 10 degrees!  We met on the Portland Trails and although Izzy might have been up for more...poor Winston was not a fan of the snow balls accumulating in his paws...oh...and the last photo...they brought a friend with them to the photo shoot.

Vicki's Dogs

This was my fourth year photographing Vicki's dogs for her Christmas cards. When Vicki first contacted me back in 2008 and asked me to photograph her babies, I did need to clarify if we were talking human or canine.  Over the years we have said goodbye to Tiger and Louis, and hello to little shy Lita. Bella and Joey are old pros with me by now. I admit, I can't think of a much better way to "wrap up" a year than with a December photo shoot with these three cuties!

How do I get their attention?  Let's just say they are all food motivated and their "Mom" is a great help!  And...they pretty much let me know when they've had enough!

Christmas in Florida 2011

If you follow my blog you are already aware that the past two Christmas holidays have not been the best of times for my family and I.  Granted...not horrific, like some of the stories you here about on the news, the really tragic ones...but in perspective, the past two years have been bittersweet...grateful for our blessing, but missing some very important people in our lives. 
So, fast forward to this Christmas, 2011, we planned to "pull a Christmas with the Kranks"...and just skip it all together...but then we got a better idea...we would just Escape it!
We don't even remember when we started planning it...sometime in the late summer...but again...no reservations...we were just "gonna wing it"
I might add that the escape would never have been planned without my brother-in-law and sister-in-laws' help.  They live in Florida, and were our only motivation for the destination.  At some point in October, when we actually committed to this escape, my sister-in-law said..."no takesie backsies"

...and in traditional Minor style...stuff just kept happening...and the countdown was on...for our escape...because we knew...no matter what...no takesie backsies!
...and now that it is over, I can honestly say...we pulled it off!
In the month of December my oldest son badly sprained his ankle during basketball practice, (on his birthday) and he ended up in the emergency room, with a splint and crutches.  Our vehicle that we planned to drive to Florida became a crutch of it's own.  I put in my full time "peak" hours at LLBean.  My husband was working extra hours to be able to take time off for the escape...it might not sound like a whole lot...but let's just say there wasn't really any spare time to shop, wrap, or pack.
...but we pulled it off.
Here are just a few personal photos to prove it!!

...and of course...I've been working on this post for an hour...can't seem to get the photos in the order I want...can't seem to put the words with them either...so...I'm going to wing the rest of this.
This first photo is us...in the front yard...loaded up with not an extra inch to spare, in our new Suburban, about to drive 1700 miles.  My dog Chloe, who doesn't particularly ride well...was an additional very last minute detail.  She was suppose to be staying behind in Maine, but the stars didn't align that way...and we were looking for an excuse to bring her with us...we couldn't imagine not being with her over Christmas...so she came along too...and I think she is no longer nervous about riding!!  We have been taking a family photo in front of the tree every year since it was just Maria, Matt and I.  The photo in front of the church is this years Christmas photo...the only ones missing are the animals!  The evening Christmas lights is how we spent our first night in Florida...walking down the street looking at the lights...with our flipflops on...a definite new treat!

The whole family, December 25, 2011