Family Pictures

My sister and I decided that for a Christmas present we would surprise my mom with family pictures. This proved easier said than done! When you take seven siblings and their families and try to coordinate work, school, and travel schedules - things get complicated! There were times when we wanted to wring everyone's necks (and I'm sure they felt the same way about us) but we did it! We pick a day and found a photographer in Cedar City, which would be a central location for all of us to drive to.

It was the best when we told my mom about it. We wanted to wait until everything was set before we spilled the beans. We called her on a conference call and said we were going to do family photos and she was like, "Well, it's hard to get everyone together, everyone has different schedules." And it was so great to say, "We checked with everyone! Here is the date." It worked out to do it December 23rd, miraculously. And I have to say, everyone really pulled it together and sacrificed their busy last Saturday before Christmas to make it happen.

It was a 2.5-3 hour drive up and then back. A bit long, but the girls were very good. Poor Lars was just recovering from a stomach bug and had loose stools the days leading up. He didn't complain too much, but I'm sure he'd have rather been home. We had to wake him up when it was time for photos. He was a little dazed through it all and not his usual smiley self. I chalked it up to getting woken up early, but when we finished and went back to the car, I realized he had actually had a wet and poopy diaper the whole time. I'm sure it wasn't comfortable at all in the cold for him. Oh well, we got some great photos and it was nice to see everyone right before Christmas.