Except, he doesn’t go by Santa.  His name is Jim Brey.  The Breys have been dear friends of the Wakeman family for years.  Jim and his wife Jean live in Wisconsin just down the road from my in-laws.  Jim owns Aztalan Engineering in Lake Mills, WI.   He built this company from the ground up.  I feel compelled to mention that Jim is 80 years old – and not even close to retiring.   He is an amazing man, and a great friend to all of us Wakemans.   In fact, my husband just got back from a week long Elk hunting trip in Colorado with him.  He keeps up with my husband!

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Owen’s father was briefly hospitalized.  As we do almost every year, we had planned on being in WI for Thanksgiving.  When we arrived at the airport- there was Jim!   He graciously offered to pick us up from the airport and drive us 1.5 hours back to Owen’s parents.  On our ride home from the airport, Jim asked about how my photography business was going.   We chatted a bit about my camera and I told him that I was working my way towards buying a new lens.  We we arrived back in Phoenix, there was a letter in our mailbox.   Jim had sent me a very nice note, along with a check “to get the lens”.  My jaw literally dropped.

So, after a few weeks of web research looking for the best one…this is the Bad Boy I decided on.

It’s a Canon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Autofocus Lens. Does  that all sound like Greek to you? Good, that’s what you are paying me for!

Can’t wait to try this one on! The next time I am in Wisconsin- I hope to be doing a family photo session for the Brey’s as a Thank You… Stay tuned for those photos!