Merry Christmas!

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there,
the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and
wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Luke John 1:12

As we prepare to gather with family and friends I wanted to wish all of you a peaceful and joyful Christmas.
The Records - Chris, Betsy, Alison and Sean

Home for Christmas

We are so excited to have our daughter Alison home for Christmas. Alison flew in from London Tuesday night and will be here through the New Year.
We haven't seen her in four months and it's great to have her home. After stints working as an au pair in Switzerland and Groombridge, England, Ali will be returning to London to get a more permanent job.
It's so great to have your loved ones home for the holidays!

Ali brought us this cool ornament from Prague

Nutcracker Photos

Seeing the North Carolina Dance Theatre's (NCDT) Nutcracker performance is always a great way to get into the holiday spirit.
This year's show includes a new set and choreography by artistic director Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux.
I photographed the dress rehearsal Tuesday night as the company prepares for the first show Friday night.
The cast also includes talented local children who spend many hours practicing and performing.
(As always, click on the photo to make it larger and hit the back button to return to the blog.)
Happy Holidays!

Ellen Hummel as Clara

Drosselmeier, portrayed by NCDT's Sasha Janes, lifts Clara

Addul Manzano leaps

Mia Cunningham and Addul Manzano

Kara Wilkes

Kara Wilkes and Randolph Ward

Chris and Sheryl Wed in Winston

There was a great mix of culture at Sheryl and Chris's wedding in Winston-Salem Saturday.
Both the wedding and reception took place at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church.
The magnificent church is where Chris and his extended Greek family worship. Sheryl's family is Chinese and they seemed to have a great time taking part in some of the Greek dancing.
Company photographer Laura Mueller did her usual stellar job working as a second photographer.
We had a great time working with everyone.
Thanks Sheryl and Chris - have a great time in Thailand.

A beautiful setting

Sheryl's brother gets an assist from Chris's good friend Brian.
Laura hung out with the guys

Chris gets ready

Sheryl gets help with her hair

Chris's cousin and Best Man Chris gets his smile warmed up

Flower girl Elise

Just after the service

Laura got me at work

Sheryl and Chris

Time to dance

Jim and Susan's Family at Lake Norman

I first photographed Jim and Susan's extended family a few months back and Susan wanted to get more photos of her immediate family.
They live in a magnificent home off Lake Norman which had been used for some of the filming of the Will Ferrell movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
Son Colin is awaiting deployment to Afghanistan and Susan wanted more photos of him as well.
We also had to get some new pictures of son Nate and daughter Peyton.
Thanks guys, I enjoyed working with you all again!

Family photo

Jim, Peyton and Susan

Colin

Nate and Peyton

Peyton and her pal

More Adventures with Ali (Chasing Your Dreams)

Alison just emailed some photos of her quick trip to Prague over Thanksgiving weekend.
We are so proud of her spirit of adventure and adaptability. She has taken her passion for travel to many incredible destinations.
Ali and her good buddy Amanda had a great time exploring the historic city as they braved freezing temperatures.
The photos are a bit low in resolution so I put them together in a collage. If you look closely you can almost feel the cold.
I know Ali is getting ready to settle down and get a "real" job, but for now she is taking advantage of a great opportunity to chase her travel dreams.
We are all also excited that she is coming home soon for Christmas!

Ali in Prague

Turkey Day

There are so many things that I am thankful about and tops on that list is family. I'm thankful for Betsy and our children and for our extended family. We are lucky to have several relatives living close by and we get together often for family celebrations.
Thursday was no exception as we had 14 people at our house for the Thanksgiving meal. We had a pretty serious ping-pong battle with son Sean taking the overall crown. We got to have a long conversation with daughter Ali (in England) before her European "Thanksgiving" trip to Prague this weekend.
We are also lucky be seeing several of our northern family members this weekend.
I hope everyone out there had a great day celebrating with family and friends!

Record house 1:45 p.m.

Record house 4:30 p.m.
(We're missing a few in this shot but you get the idea)