The Annual Family Photo Session? Check.

It isn't even December, folks, and I have two neat piles on my desk, one of family pictures, and one of envelopes.  I think this means I won't need to have my annual minor panic attack when I realize that the Christmas countdown is on and we haven't a single family picture to send out to all our friends and family. 

Last year (like most years before it) I wasn't so fortunate.  "It is cold now," I lamented to John in mid-December. "We missed our golden opportunity again."

We were down to three familiar Family Photo Options with which we are faced annually:
1) Take pictures outside in the cold with our noses glowing red as though we were distant relatives of Rudolph the Reindeer. (Been there done that --and ended up with black and white photos to try to mask our red noses.  I need to ask my mom how many generations back Rudolph is in our genealogy.)
2) Take an indoor picture.  Unfortunately, been there, done that, too, in spite of my love for outdoor pics.
or, 3 and my personal favorite) Go on Pinterest. Find a lovely and creative family photo with children about our children's ages and send that picture out with a note saying, "No, this isn't us. But this is a much better photo than we could come up with on our own..."

Well, this year we were fast heading towards the Pinterest Family Photo Option had not my photographer sister saved the day by saying:  "Hey, I saw a lovely place in Denver for family pictures.  And I saw a neat pose that would be adorable with your family.  I'll take your pictures for you..."

Perfect.  

So we watched the weather until it changed from cold and colder to a mini heat wave when the thermometer actually pushed the fifties on a Sunday afternoon.  We grabbed the moment (thanks, Dawn) and got the pictures taken.  Fortunately, our actual photography sessions go pretty well (provided we aren't freezing into position when we do it) and are little stress when they actually take place. 

This means we have our pictures printed and waiting on the family update to be completed.  That is a sequence I'm entirely unfamiliar with and hardly know how to handle. 

Applause, please.