The Dreaded Family Picture

For the past 10 years, I have tortured my family once a year by insisting that we take a picture for use as a Christmas card. Someday I will pay a professional to take these pictures. But until then, I will continue to use my trusty tripod, self-timer OR my awesome friend/neighbor to take these pictures. You see, my younger children are very wiggly and non-cooperative while in front of a camera. Because of that, paying for a sitting feels like a huge waste of money. Nevertheless, I am grateful to have a record of what we've looked like through the years. It can be very, um, INSIGHTFUL:-)

As most of you know, the whole process of family pictures is a big 'ol pain. For me, the pain begins with the question, "What should everyone wear?" Nothing in their closets ever seems good enough so a shopping trip ensues (at least I'm not paying that sitting fee, right? I can justify the new clothes). Then it moves to, "Where should we have it taken?" I put lots of thought into that "perfect backdrop". That question is followed by "How should we style our hair?" (as you can see from the pictures, I seem to have the same hairstyle each year). The biggest hurdle is finding time to actually take the picture. We had a small window of time last Saturday morning. A storm was blowing in and we knew we had to hurry. It's a good thing we got it done then because it's been raining ever since.

Shown below are pictures from "Christmas Past and Present". It's fun to see how the kids (and parents) have grown/changed. I think we have improved!

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2000