Family Picture Time

I mean family "torture" time...yes it is that time of year again.  We are those people that take them every year.  I love photography and if I had the time and money I would take it more seriously but for now I just make my family put up with my photo sessions.  I think it's important to document every year.  It's fun to see how we have changed and besides our adoption website needs an updated photo.
So it starts with me trying to figure out what we are all going to wear.  Should we go casual, should we dress up.  How should I do my hair...how should I do the girls hair... Aric hates formal indoor studio shots so it has to be outside.  He also doesn't like getting dressed up.  He really has too much too say about this doesn't he....
This year I decided to compromise with him.  We get dressed up and do a casual outside shot.
I was going to just set up my tripod and use the timer but my friend Ashley volunteered to come along and push the button.  So I would pose everyone and have her be where I would be, then we would swap places and she would take the picture.  It was a circus.  Her six year old was trying to keep her 18 month old from running into the lake and my girls were dying because they just wanted to play with their buddies instead of take pictures.  On top of this we had very little time  because the sun was going down....
Here is what we got. 
The Good.

 

The Bad.

The Ugly.

The Funny.

The work it takes to get these pictures done is insane!  Poor Ashley did the best she could at trying to figure out what I was envisioning.  It is so much easier for me to be the photographer and not the subject.  Even though I'm not in love with any of these, there are definitely some good shots.  I've still got some photoshopping to do, and I decided this one would work for the adoption website...

And just for fun these are some family photos from the past...

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

So now you can see where we started.  And that is exactly why I do this family picture thing EVERY year.  Time goes by so fast and it's impossible to rely on our memory to keep track of how much we change.  When I look at these pictures it triggers my memory and I remember things that were going on at that particular time.  In that last picture we were celebrating Christmas early because Aric was leaving to start training for his job.  I was pregnant and didn't even know it! 
So if you haven't taken a family picture recently...go and do it!  I know it feels like torture but you'll be glad you did.