A yearly tradition at the Gardners is to visit Santa right before Thanksgiving. We skip the mall and head over to a studio where Catharine Morris Photography arranges for Santa to come to surprise the boys while taking their annual holiday photos. We have been visiting the same Santa for the last 5 years and each year they are so excited when Santa comes out to surprise them.
We start our sessions with fun seasonally decorated backdrops. Mason loves posing and Nicholas was extra curious about his surrounding this year as most 2 years would be. 
We then prepare to head over to the Christmas tree. I think Mason felt the energy this year and new something big was about to happen.
This year Nicholas was so excited he ran up to Santa. Mason stayed and posed showing his big grin of excitement!
The boys then get one on one time with Santa sharing their Christmas Lists that we do earlier in the week to send to the North Pole. They are surprised that I bring their lists with me and they are able to share them with Santa. Mason asked for PJs and Nicholas asked for cookies and a teddy bear.
This year we added this gorgeous ornament photo of each of the boys. I love how they came out!
We usually end with a PJ photo. I went with blue PJs to change it up, but I think I will go back to red next year. Below you will see the photos from over the years.
I then take our photos from a candid photo session we do yearly with our Photographer and Friend Nora, Solar Wedding Photography to use for our annual family holiday card.
The last few years I have put together a ‘Year in Review” where I update our family ( we live in NH where we don’t have any relatives, so it’s not often we see our family) how the boys are doing.
We hope your end of year is full of holiday cheer and the new year brings you happiness and a bright future!