Hello, hello! This year has really flown by! Wow! We remain in the same careers – Kenny at Chevron ETC in Downtown Houston & I’m still at Luby’s (7 ½ years!). Same house, same pups – Rosie & Pascal. Such different personalities but both bring so much joy into our lives. Since most everything else hasn’t changed from last year, travel has been the most interesting news.
TRAVEL: Business trips sent me to New York City in February, Cancun in June (to shoot a friend’s destination wedding) and sent Kenny all the way to Kazakhstan (below Russia and to the west of China) in November. That was an experience that he really enjoyed and he said the Kazak people are very kind.
In addition, to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary we finally made it to Alaska and went on our 1st cruise! We went on Holland America’s MS Westerdam that sailed out of Seattle. We explored Seattle a couple of days (the Chihuly Gardens were beautiful) then sailed to Juneau, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan and Victoria, B.C. (we missed Sitka due to a storm in the area). The highlight of the trip was the helicopter ride we took out to Mendenhall Glacier – where we also hiked for 2 hours. What an amazing excursion!! (see pictures above). In Glacier Bay we saw the Margerie Glacier calve a small piece off as we sailed away and we were able to visit the world famous Butchart Gardens in Victoria, B.C. We also went snorkeling and even though we did not go on a whale watching trip, we did see small orcas from the ship, as well as dolphins & harbor seals.
We wrapped up the year up with another trip to NYC, this time to celebrate my 40th birthday. We experienced the Rockettes in the gorgeous Radio City Music Hall and the Rockefeller tree was stunning, both during the day and at night in the snow (to the right). And the snow storm Saturday! Central Park was gorgeous covered in several inches of fluffy white stuff (see photo to the left)! What an amazing way to experience my first snowfall… it snowed all day. It may not have gone above 30 F our whole trip but scarves, hats, gloves and hot drinks as we walked around added to the whole magic of the trip! I’ll never get tired of visiting that city!
OTHER NEWS: I’ve slowed down in terms of my personal photography projects but I am still shooting family portraits, toddlers, newborns and a handful of weddings. Enough to keep me busy! Kenny continues his weekly gatherings with friends playing pool. Overall, we’ve had a great year and look forward to next year’s adventures! So with this, we wish you a…
Happy Holidays & Happy New Year!
Elaine, Kenny – Pascal & Rosie