Tag Archives: Christmas

“I want for my mommy to come home and my daddy to stay in jail.”

This past Sunday, I once again had the pleasure and honor of acting as the Santa photographer at the annual Reno Fire Department’s Children’s Christmas Party.  It’s been going on for several years now and serves kids who are either homeless or living in shelters or motels.  The kids are paired up with mentors who take them through the Reno Ballroom where they can get a hot meal, do some arts and crafts, get their faces painted, pick up some clothes and toys, and visit with Santa (and get  a photo to take with them).   The mentors are a key part of this event. They sit with the kids, talk to them, listen.  Bonds are created, some lasting beyond the day.

For confidentiality purposes I cannot publish any of the kids’ photos, but here are a few of the volunteers that contributed to making the day a memorable one for these kids who have endured far more than any of us would want for our own children (or any child).  My blog title is the answer one little girl gave to Santa when he asked her what she’d like for Christmas.

This is Jana who coordinated and organized the event. Awesome!

Officer Daniels proves you can’t be too big or too tough to sit on Santa’s lap!

Hug High ROTC and Cheer represent.

More awesome volunteers!

Just a few of the Spanish Springs High cheerleaders who participated.

McQueen High in the house as well (my daughter’s alma mater).

Everyone smiles when they sit on Santa’s lap!

Santa is a retired Reno Firefighter.

My elves acted as a well-oiled machine, getting kids names, guiding them to Santa, printing and handing out the 4×6″ photographs.

My Epson R2000 kept up very well, and turned out excellent photos for the kids.

If you would like to see more of the fantastic volunteers, click on this Gallery Link

Two more I must share. So many organizations help to make this a great event for the kids, but none more so that the Silver Legacy Casino. I wish I could have gotten photos of all the people from the Silver Legacy who participated but here are two who were working very hard to make sure everything stayed neat and tidy.

Estela

Edward (who also brought Santa some coffee).

And after photographing everyone else, I took my turn with Santa.

Happy Christmas!

A few images of our Christmas Eve.

Dinner was prepared by Daughter and her fiance.

The Booty.

The funny-mushy card.

Everyone got a headpiece . . .Sweetie looking adorable.

You know you’re all grown up (and a starving student) when you are this happy getting a vacuum cleaner for Christmas.

Pups got rawhide chewies ( I think this was a mistake I will not make again). Still, they enjoyed them.

Daughter had no idea how much I love Vivian Maier. And I didn’t have this book!

Merry Christmas to all you wonderful people who take the time to look at what I’m doing. I am so grateful. Daughter snapped this one of Sweetie and Me:

Day 359 – Family Day!

Daughter and her fiance came over this afternoon for dinner and to exchange Christmas presents.  We’ve watched A Christmas Carol (George C. Scott version), How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Boris Karloff narration), The Snowman (my daughter and I got hooked on this when she was quite small), and have now popped National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation in the DVR.  We LOVE this movie. It has just the right touch of schmaltz (teeny), love and comedy. A lot like life, eh?

The coffee is ready. Pumpkin cheesecake and apple pie await, and the kids are saying the lines along with Clark Griswold. All is good in our world.

A few shots from the gift exchange. Daughter and future son-in-law in their SF 49ers swag.

Sweetie looking adorable.

Day 358 – Meaningful Day

I spent several hours today in downtown Reno at the 12th Annual Reno Firefighter’s Christmas Party for homeless and underprivileged kids.   It was my honor to serve as the Santa photographer.

Santa and Mrs. Claus (Rick & Laura Griffin)

We provided the kids with prints to take with them as a memento of the day.  Obviously I cannot post any of the photos with the kids, but here’s one of us with Santa that I shot later in the day.  The firefighter is in my Freethinkers group and asked some of us to volunteer. The two young woman took care of the printing, and I did the shooting. We worked out a system where I did about ten kids, pulled my card to give to them to download and print. In the meantime I’d do another ten on another card. They were able to keep up with the volume and we never had any long lines of people waiting for their prints.