Happy Holidays 2010!

Janine: Alright, gang! We really need to write our Christmas letter tonight...since it needs to be sent out before Christmas. I would like us to increase our family unity by writing it together this year!

Natalie: I want to help!

Madeline: Me, too!

Janine: You can both help. I will certainly need your help....let's see, where is Max?

Madeline: He's playing Legos again.

Natalie: He's always playing Legos.

Madeline: What about Daddy, don't you want his help?

Janine: Hmmmm...let me think about that for a minute. :)

Abe: You can just put the same thing down for me as you put last year.

Janine: Well, you are still in school...but you did get a new job.

Abe: Actually, I am almost done with school. Don't mention that I got laid off, though. Just write in the letter that I got an even better job at Dolby, applying software engineering and statistics in video and audio research. Come to think of it, you also got a new job this year.

Janine: Right! I will say that in August, I started working for Connecting Waters Charter School as an Education Specialist--I love my job providing guidance and resources for local homeschooling families!

Abe: Now, time for some humor! I want our letter to be funny, not boring like last year's. Why don't we do a theme like the 'Twas The Night Before Christmas?

Janine: Taken. Another family did that last year.

Abe: Okay. No themed letters. If it is going to be funny, I want it to be totally different. Like, how we write a letter where the whole time we talk about how we really want to be funny, but we don't know what to say that is funny, so we tell about how if we knew something funny to write, we would write it!

Janine: That's not funny. Max, where are you? You need to come here right now! We need your help writing this letter!

Abe: That's the point. It's not funny. That's why it is funny.

Janine: Hilarious.

Natalie: I can tell one of the jokes I made up, like: What's a monster's favorite part of Christmas?
Madeline: What?

Natalie: Santa Claws!

Janine: Now that is funny. Max, there you are!

Max: Hey, Mom! Look--I built this Lego robot that's also a tree.

Janine: Fabulous, Max! What do you want us to say about you in the letter?

Max: Dad, the robot is using photosynthesis to power it's laser cannon.

Abe: That's great, Max! I can see he is very powerful...

Janine: We should write something about the kids.

Abe: What kids? ...oh, yes, of course--the kids! Kids, why don't you each think of a few titles that best represent you for our Christmas letter.

Natalie: I'm ready! Artist. Singer. Lego Builder. Dog Lover. Can I go work on my Lego house now?

Janine: Sure.

Max: Hey, that's not fair...I want to put Legos on my list!

Abe: It's okay, Max. Other people can like Legos, too.

Madeline: Is it my turn? Swimmer. Chicken Trainer. Hiker. Legos.

Max: What? You can't train chickens!

Madeline: Sure I can! I trained the rooster to stop pecking the kids at Peace Village.

Max: Finally, it's my turn! Lego Fanatic. Dancer. Reader. Cat Lover.

Janine: See, you, Natalie and Madeline can all have Legos on your list!

Max: Mommy, I'm hungry...

Abe: So what do we have down for our letter so far?

Janine: Dear Friends and Family, This year the Westons are so grateful for all of the blessings that we have received from our Heavenly Father. We began the year by...

Abe: Is that supposed to be funny?

Janine: No. We are going to make it serious again this year. Now, where was I...too many interruptions! We began the year by...what are you wearing?

Abe: You mean this sweater?

Janine: It's a pink women's Christmas sweater...and it has bows on it! It's embarrassing when you wear that...

Abe: I'm trying to get some inspiration to write our holiday letter...plus, it also just happens to be the winner of the "2010 Fremont Ugly Christmas Sweater Competition."

Janine: Very ugly. And I don't want to encourage this behavior by bragging about your winnings in our letter!

Abe: Okay, sounds like we have enough content--let's go to bed!

Janine: We should probably put in something about celebrating the birth of our Savior in the letter, as that's what Christmas is all about.

Abe: Good idea, then our friends and family will know that we love Jesus Christ and that we make an extra effort to focus on him during Christmas.

Janine: You mean, rather than trying to come up with a funny letter?

Madeline: Merry Christmas!

Max: Happy New Year!

Natalie: Happy Hanukkah!

Janine: Happy Kwanzaa!

Abe: Happy Holidays!

Love,

Abe, Janine, Natalie, Max, & Madeline
Rosie (dog), Sammy (dog), & Friday (cat)

http://www.wildwestons.blogspot.com/

2010 Holiday Portraits: Sat, 11/20

The holidays are almost upon us! Need an updated family portrait, or pics of the kids for holiday cards?

1-Hr Holiday Session Package ($150) includes:
•Up to 1-hour portrait session with unlimited images
•Disc of your high-resolution digital negatives

Weston Photography will be shooting at the following locations on November 20th:

•Shinn Historic Park and Arboretum

•Vallejo Mills

Availability is limited, so make your appointment today!

Sincerely,

Janine Weston
Weston Photography
capturing life in a natural light
http://www.westonphotography.net/
Become a Fan of Weston Photography on Facebook!

Custom-Designed Cards Make All the Difference!

Break away from traditional templates with a Weston Photography custom card design. Ideal for holiday greetings, birth announcements, thank you notes, party invitations and more! Card design is FREE with your portraiture session. Put a smile on someone's face with a custom-designed card, today!

Weston Photography Presents: Happy Holidays 2009

We've made it to the end of 2009--what a year it has been!

We finally moved out of our 789-square-foot condo and into a rental house over double that size with a yard, garage, and a second bathroom! Although we were sad to leave our Central Park Ward church family, we have made many new friends in our new Centerville Ward. Being that we moved only 1/4 mile away, we are fortunate to be able to continue to mingle with our old friends and neighbors as well as the new!

Abe, still gainfully employed with Checkpoint in Redwood City, uses statistics to conduct research while he continues to work toward his second master's degree. In the last year, he has transferred from the Statistics Department at Cal State East Bay to an online data-mining program at Central Connecticut State University. He hopes to finish his degree in late 2010. Abe takes full advantage of our local public library and their wide assortment of audiobooks, maximizing his commute time with enriching audio entertainment. Abe now diligently serves as our church ward clerk, attending important meetings while keeping copious notes, tallies, and tracking action items for the ongoings of the Centerville Ward.

Janine completed her Master's of Library and Information Science degree at San Jose State University in May, and is currently moonlighting as a substitute Youth Services Librarian at Menlo Park Library. Additionally, her photography business continues to provide a source of inspiration and creative outlet. Along with homeschooling our three children, Janine volunteers at the Fremont Main branch of the Alameda County Library doing storytimes & bookclubs and at the Bayside 4-H Club as a project leader for Visual Arts & Crafts. She also enjoys her church calling serving as the Bears leader for the Centerville Cub Scout pack. Healthwise, Janine has been experimenting with raw diet recipes, walks to Curves three days per week, does yoga, and hikes with her family to keep fit and flexible.

Natalie, 7 years old, has enjoyed taking classes at Teach-Me-Art, going on fieldtrips, and taking advantage of the flexibility that homeschooling affords to pursue her personal interests. In addition to developing her skills in reading, writing, and math, Natalie has learned so much in 4-H. This year she is in the Primaries, Cooking, Beading & Jewelry, and Visual Arts & Crafts projects. She has decorated jars, blended smoothies, whisked pudding pies, beaded bracelets & necklaces, assembled button wreaths, and recycled crayons. Her favorite project so far has been learning how to make earrings--in fact, in the near future, Natalie may have the nerve to get her ears pierced so she can actually wear some of the earrings she has made! In her spare time, Natalie enjoys reading Harry Potter, Time Warp Trio, Junie B. Jones, Magic Treehouse, and the Boxcar Children books.

Max, 5 years old, loves Legos! We usually have to pry him away from the "Lego Pit" long enough to complete a few math and writing lessons before he's back to building. That being said, as a Kindergartner this year, Max loves to read, and he reads at second grade level--books about Star Wars Clone Wars, Transformers, and Pokemon are his favorites; however, he can be found reading everything from encyclopedias and picture dictionaries to graphic novels, picture books, and chapter books. Max also excels musically--he can't help whistling all day long! He delights in singing and moving to classical music and looks forward to weekly piano lessons with Aunt Krissy. In 4-H, Max is in the Primaries, Visual Arts & Crafts, and Cooking projects. Recently, Max helped measure and mix homemade granola--his favorite breakfast food! When it comes to physical activity, "active" is an understatement. Max loves to climb, do push-ups, jump, flip, and do his signature "hyena" move. Ask him to show you sometime...

Madeline, 3 years old (going on 13), is our feisty one! Mature for her age, Madeline has been ready to move on from the church nursery to Sunbeams for about a year. Tagging along with her older siblings, Madeline finds herself participating and successfully completing many projects that would typically suit older children. Although she can't become a 4-H primary member until she is 5, she is often invited by project leaders to join in on the fun because of her maturity and ability. Madeline has been learning her letter sounds in preparation for reading. She has her own books, workbooks, and computer so that she can also do "school" while Natalie and Max are hard at work. Madeline makes a great little assistant in the kitchen--she loves to measure, mix, and pull ingredients out of the refrigerator for any recipe you have in mind. An artist at heart, Madeline is a natural at drawing, painting, stickering, taping, sculpting, and stamping. She sings, she dances, she "reads," she loves playing with her dogs & cat. She is Madeline. She is amazing!

Despite our hectic lives, we always have time for friends and family...give us a call, find us on Facebook, or send us an e-mail, and let the fun begin!

Love,

Abe, Janine, Natalie, Max, & Madeline
Rosie (dog), Sammy (dog), & Friday (cat)

GRAND OPENING: All American Pet Emporium in Niles!

What does your pet want for Christmas? This holiday season, consider taking professional photographs of your favorite furry friend! Join Weston Photography and All American Pet Emporium for Holiday Pet Portraits with SANTA at the grand opening of their new boutique in beautiful, downtown Niles.

Pet Boutique Grand Opening with SANTA!
Saturday, December 20th, 11am-2pm
All American Pet Emporium
37323 Niles Blvd.
Fremont, CA 94536
http://www.allamericanpetsitters.com/

Janine Weston
Weston Photography
capturing life in a natural light
http://www.westonphotography.net/
1.877.473.9194

Weston Photography: Holiday Cards

Time to turn your holiday cards over to a professional...

A stunning holiday card is composed of three things:
1. Professional photographs
2. Clean design
3. Superior print quality

With Weston Photography, you get all three. This year, work with Janine Weston of Weston Photography to create a holiday greeting card that makes an impact.

Weston Photography
capturing life in a natural light
http://www.westonphotography.net/
1.877.473.9194