Christmas Cards

For years, I got a Christmas card from a college friend with a photo of her kids.  They were two (perfectly adorable) kids I had never met. She never included a picture of herself and it was my friend who I really wanted to see.  I thought, “When I send cards, we will include ourselves for our friends.”  I didn’t entertain the thought of sending cards without a picture.  Growing up, I had looked through my parents’ stack of Christmas cards separating them into piles of Boring Cards (no pictures) and The Good Ones (photos included).  

Well, our oldest is almost nine and just once we’ve sent a photo of all of us.  Three years ago we sent this very red photo of everyone.

The next two years, I didn’t get a family photo but this year I wanted to try again.

This Thanksgiving when we were together, we tried to get one.

In my quest for good light, I waited until my little boy was beyond reason.

After this, I had several ideas for a family photo, but the weeks got away from me and soon, it was the Monday before Christmas.  I’d given up on a Christmas card picure for this year.  Then, the kids gave me an early Christmas present.

It was the first morning they were off from school and they were still in their jammies.  I busying around when I came into the living room and saw them all squashed in the (empty!) laundry basket.  I quickly grabbed my camera and we had a picture.  (I did try to take a few more that included the star on the tree, but the energy of the first photo was gone.)  

I got some printed and sent them to friends and family.  I had my idea of a perfect holiday photo.  That idea almost kept me from sending anything and making a little connection with loved ones.  We’ll try again next year to get everyone in a photo, but this year our basket photo was perfect enough.

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