Gary Gionet

Merry Christmas to all my web blog readers! Isabelle awoke at 7:30 AM and upon her discovering the tree surrounded with presents, she made the rounds waking the rest of the family. We had a great morning enjoying our time together. We are so blessed to have a little one in the home. Merry Christmas from Gary, Kelly, Kyle, Stephanie, Hippie & Isabelle

"I love my new teddy bear!" To view all of the photos from today, please visit my web site at www.garysphotographs.com select "Galleries" and then "Family". You will need to enter the family password. Send me an email if you need the password.

Today, we drove through the Temecula wine country and ended up at Lake Skinner. Just past the entrance to the park is a historical site. This is a photo of the 1890's Alamos School House. Unfortuantely, the facility was closed for renovations, but we had some great opportunities for some outside photography.

The bridge leading to the Alamos School House

A variety of old farm equipment can be found around the Whittier House near the Lake Skinner Park Administration offices.

This is a view of the lower camping areas at Vail Lake Resort. Lots of color for sure.

It's Sunday, and we are at the end of our day. While enjoying our dinner outside the trailer, this hawk came down about 50 yards away. He brought his own food and dined with us. I think, but don't hold me to this, he got the gopher that "Fred" the coyote has been trying to bag the past few days! Click on any image to view a large version. Use your browser's BACK button to return to this page.

We end this trip with our last campfire. It's been fun, but tomorrow we are back to the old homestead.

Saturday at Vail Lake was filled with a great deal of doing nothing (including photography). Kelly and I sat around watching the birds and catching up on our reading. Once again "Frank," as we have come to call our little coyote mascot, showed up in the grass clearing outside our trailer. He tried to catch that elusive gopher, no luck again today. We ate a late lunch, and then sat around the fire warming ourselves. What a beautiful day! Now we are off to the trailer for movie night. Tonight is "Flywheel" and some other Hallmark movie. Goodnight.

Friday, we arrived at Vail Lake Resort for the beginning of our 3-day weekend of rest and relaxation. So far, this resort has proven to be as beautiful and peaceful as we have been told. NO WORK, no phones, and no television, well, some TV is on the agenda as we watch our traditional holiday movies. Right now, we are watching "Bells Of St. Mary." Currently, it's in the low 30's, so a little hot cocoa is in order. More photos to follow.

While setting up camp, this coyote appeared in the clearing. It was an interesting site watching him trying to get at a gopher. After a few unsuccessful attempts he wandered off back into the oak grove.

Our kids all grown up! As expected, Kyle and Stephanie could not resist goofing off in front of the camera. Way to make Dad look good. :)

Kim and her family stopped by the studio for their annual Christmas portraits. Kyle just arrived home from work, so he was thrown in the mix.

It's that time when we pick a photo for our Christmas cards, and so Isabelle, Santa's newest little helper, offered to be our "very cold" little model. Thank you Princess! Love, Papa

Today was Isabelle's turn in the studio. We had a blast playing around with the snow. This was suppose to be a nice snow drift, but she ended up in a blizzard!

Today, we celebrated 3 years with our little wonder Isabelle. How fast three years has passed us by! Isabelle got plenty of practice opening presents, just in time for Christmas.

Some presents are just too hard to open :))

Princess Isabelle posing for the camera! To view all of the photos from today, please visit my web site at www.garysphotographs.com select "Galleries" and then "Family". You will need to enter the family password. Send me an email if you need the password.