Deck The Halls Holiday Home Tour Part III and Christmas Cheer

Merry Christmas

and a

Happy Holiday Home tour

I didn’t have time today to make another treat, because I did an elf photo shoot.  They are absolutely the worst kind of subject.  Most of my conversation and instruction went like this:  “Hey!  Stop that and leave him alone.”  “Please look at the camera.”  “Just because your head is pointed at the camera does not mean your eyes can look some place else.”  “Don’t put your arms around his neck.”  “Move your hat out of his face.”  “Stop teasing him”  “Hey!  No fighting.”…

And on and on it went.  I’ll put a few out takes at the bottom of this post.  They are a cheery group, though.  Even their fighting was all in fun.

On to the Home Tour.

I’m getting some great feed back on the beautiful homes I have been featuring.  And the homes we have today are no different.  We are still traveling around Northern California and we are going to stop at a lovely home in Rocklin, CA.  This is where a very darling couple lives whom I have only known a few years but it seems like I’ve known them forever.

They have a lovely home and the outside is beautifully lit with Christmas lights.  Look at her gorgeous Christmas Tree.  I so wish my tree was as elegant.  And, I’ve never seen a Nativity Scene like the one she has.  Her photos are a little small, but if you click on any of the photos you will see a larger view.

Thank you so much, Mr. and Mrs. Batz for showing us your lovely home.

While we are in the area, let’s stop by the Butler residence.

Mrs. Butler and her father are photographer buddies of mine.  I’ve known them for several years, now, and I can highly recommend their photography studio, Vintage Creek in Loomis, CA.  Look how lovely her decorations are.

It looks like you could pop a baby in front of any of these scenes and it would be the perfect “First Christmas” photo.

Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Butler for letting us see your beautifully decorated tree and the matching presents.  Will you come wrap my presents for me?  Oh, that’s right.  I have elves. (sigh.)

Next stop, we are going to a home in El Dorado, CA.  This is the Thompson residence.

I have known Mrs. Thompson for several years now.  She and her daughter are outstanding photographers.  We all belong to the same Camera Club, El Dorado Camera Club.  They are extremely creative and crafty people. The wreath above was made out of coffee filters.  Yes, coffee filters.  I love it.

Look at the lovely natural decorations that they have on the outside of their home.  This reminds me that I have a couple of Sugar Pines on our property.  Maybe I should gather the pine cones up for decorating next year rather than using them for kindling.  Maybe Mrs. Thompson will come to my house and help…

At any rate, this is a beautiful welcome for Christmas.  Thank you so much for sharing your home.

Next stop…The Quinn Family and then the Clark family.  But, I will save that for another post.

As I mentioned above, I did a photo shoot with each elf today, although there were a couple who were too shy to have their photo taken by themselves.  I have done many photo shoots and I have tackled family photos with 30 people including babies, toddlers and old folks.  I have also done many photo shoots with beautiful models and shy seniors.  None of those shoots compare with the chaos that went on with this shoot.  I did get at least one nice shot of each elf (although sometimes they just refused to look at the camera because there was so much going on around them.)  Here are some of the out-takes.

Phew!  It’s been a busy day.

So, you are wondering where the Christmas Cheer is?  I’ll be right back.

I’ll have one more home tour post before Christmas.  You really need to come back to see these two beautiful homes and I will probably throw in some pictures of my decorations, too.  Meanwhile, enjoy some cheer and Christmas lights.