it's family photo time

It just wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't take a family photo to send to our 300 closest friends and neighbors, would it? So, we decided that yesterday would be "The Day" ... got the kids dressed and ready and headed out the door to the local photo developers. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being "absolute disaster" and 10 being "roaring success", I was giving this outing a solid 4.

First, the local photo developer's shop is, quite literally, a hole in the wall. With temps hovering at about 50, I figured we'd be pretty chilly during the photo shoot.

Second, the photo guy and his wife are about 60 years old. Last time I was at their shop getting digital prints developed I had to show them how to upload my photos to their computer. Hmmm...

And, last but not least, Julianna has developed a decided dislike for strangers, and both these folks fit that category.

But, in the end, it turned out quite well. I was shocked to discover that in the back of the photo shop they had one of those doo-hickies suspended from the ceiling like the JCPenney photo studio, where various background colors roll up and down like the maps in my 7th grade classroom. (The one in my 7th grade classroom was about a generation newer than the one here in town, but, hey, it still worked!)

We managed to get a few shots that I labeled "I can work with that...". They gave us the digital copy of four of our favorites. The whole experience cost us 45 minutes and 3 USD (including the snack we bought for Julianna to stave off her hunger pains).

Here's one that ended up on the cutting room floor. The photo we ended up choosing is headed to your mailbox in the next few weeks! hope you enjoy :)