Family photos

Every year I try to send out a Christmas card that includes a picture of Ryan, me and our two dogs, Dodge and Potter. While we were living in Salt Lake it was a tradition of sorts for my Dad and Kim to help us pick a background and then take numerous pictures until we had the perfect one. I think Kim and I got a little obsessed worrying about lighting and making sure the dogs looked as cute as possible whether they were wearing bows, reindeer antlers or santa hats. My dad got into it too, but not nearly as much as Kim and I did. Either way it was a lot of fun and one of the things I will miss this year living in Denver. Last year with Cael only a few weeks old and Ryan and I still trying to adjust to parenthood sending out Christmas cards was not high on my priority list. However, I vowed this year would be different. I decided we would try to get a shot (on our own) using the timer on my camera. After several 'takes', I gave up and decided this year to do professional pictures for Ryan, Cael and I and to include a separate picture of the dogs. I think Ryan actually dreads this part of the holiday season, but as usual, he was a trooper and pacified me as I demanded retake after retake AND made him wear a pair of reindeer antlers (to give him credit it is a PAIN trying to get two dogs to cooperate while also trying to make sure that Cael is looking at the camera too). Even though we won't be using them for this year's annual Christmas card, I thought it would be fun to share the different poses.