A 5 year tradition.

Today was one of my favorite days for holiday tradition... the holiday photo session. I knew I could pick this Sunday, as the Colts were facing the Bungles, and I could half-watch the game pretty non-comittally. When I was thinking back about the photos we have used on previous Christmases, I realized this year will be the fifth holiday card that Deane and I send together as a family. Each year, the card features our dogs (Roach and Lilly), with the exception of the first card ever (before Lilly was even born!). Sometimes Deane and I are in them, and sometimes not, but this year we decided to go for the all-out family pic. We tried to work out some ideas to get all 12 cats into the picture, as well, but short of hiring a professional photographer, that wasn't going to happen.

Picture day always stirs up a lot of emotions for me (mostly that of a spazoid freak). I want to make sure my family looks beautiful for those near and dear to me who don't get to see us too often. I have to ensure there are no weird objects in the background of the photo. I have to be the one to hit the button that sets the timer, then position myself back into the picture with hair/makeup/gut-sucking-in all in place. I also want to make sure the dogs are well-behaved and looking in the general direction of the camera (a difficult feat, indeed...). The day never ends without a lot of bloopers and general disagreement among all parties involved, but we always end up with a precious holiday photo (in which Roach nearly always looks like a rabies-crazed wolf, but that has pretty much become the tradition, anyway).

Without giving away the final chosen pic (which my blog readers will no doubt be receiving via real mail), here is a mini-photo diary of today's events:

We start the day with general protest from the dogs about wearing their holiday bandanas/posing for a picture:

Take it outside for some chances at pictures involving one or two cats (coincidentally, only one cat made it in):And after all of our antics, the day ends in complete exhaustion...

I can't reveal the indoor bloopers without giving away the final chosen pic, but I might post those at a later date. Today's time spent snapping pictures of ourselves and the dogs in our holiday best reminded me that Christmas is only 18 days away! What's your favorite tradition?