This was the photo I used for our Christmas card in 2002. It was probably one of the last photos I took with a film camera since I received a digital camera as a present that year.
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This is the first picture I ever took with a digital camera. It was a Sony point-and-shoot digital camera and I believe it was a 2 megapixel model.
This photo was taken on Christmas Day at my in-law’s house. When we opened our presents there that day, my Sister-in-Law revealed the gender of her unborn baby by showing us her ultrasound video as part of a present. It was fun to find out that I would have a nephew!
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We spent Christmas Eve that year with my family. I remember that we listened to this book on cd. It is one of my favorite presentations of the Nativity.
I tried to take some family photos with my brothers so we could surprise my parents with them. They didn’t turn out too great, but it’s still fun to look back at them. Riley was in that no front teeth stage so she looks like she has a giant hole in her mouth.
This next one is my favorite! We were all posing when my Hubby decided to jump on us! It was always fun back in the film days to finally see the results when you picked up the pictures from the developer.
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Can you tell I was into black and white film that year?
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We enjoyed Christmas morning at home. It’s so nice to be able to be at home to open presents in the morning when kids are small. The afternoon of Christmas Day was spent at my in-laws. They had a friend come over who has a tiny little dog named Katie. (Yes, it’s true). I think my daughter spent the entire day like this. She didn’t even care about her presents once this little dog came over.
I put together a big cookbook that year for all of our family members as a gift. I spent hours typing up recipes and searching for clip art to illustrate them. I guess I was well on my way to becoming a digital scrapbooker even then!
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Christmas 2001
The ever-challenging Christmas card photo opp. I tried several times to make it work. This one had problems. So did all the other ones we tried to take with our camera on a timer and 2 wiggly little kids.
How about just the kids? Nope, that didn’t work either. Notice how I seemed to pay no attention to backgrounds in the pictures? It’s nice to know I’ve learned a little about photography since then.
Cute kids in cute outfits though. Hubby’s mom used to buy my daughter a new dress each December to have for the holiday season. I think she continued on that tradition until Riley was about 10. The dress in this photo was one of my very favorites.
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We actually settled on this picture for our card that year. The little wave my son was doing was just so him. We were all just in sweatshirts and t-shirts and it was kind of a last minute thing that we even set out the camera. But it got the job done and it is still one of my favorite photos of our young family.
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I don’t seem to remember what we did to celebrate on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that year. I’m sure we split our time between both of our parents’ houses but I really don’t recall the details. Maybe the pieces will come together as I dig through more photos and scrapbook pages?
Christmas 2000 seems to have been the year of many Santas!
Alex telling Santa what he wants while at a company party for Daddy’s work.
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Riley with Santa at a church party with my parents.
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Riley at Daddy’s work party. Don’t you love her tights? That was always one of my favorite outfits on her.
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Riley at the mall with Santa. Daddy took her on a special trip to see Santa because she loved him so much!
That is one of my favorite Santa pictures. I like how different Santa’s outfit is here, almost like he is wearing a set of printed long-johns. I also think he looks quite authentic. I’m quite sure that this was the year with the most Santa pictures for us. Makes me want to go and see the big guy again.

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Want to play along? Lots of ideas for prompts in this post. How about documenting what your photography has been like at Christmas? Do you take your own holiday card photos, or does someone else do it for you? Do you visit Santa? Where do you find him? Is he in your photos? What year did you make the jump from film to digital photography?
See all my previous Memories of Christmas posts here.
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