Family Pictures

We've decided that before Ian leaves, we should get another family picture taken. Maybe it's just me, but the stress involved in this simple activity is completely overwhelming. In Utah, you all coordinate. You take the picture somewhere in the mountains. I put it out on my Facebook status to get suggestions on what to where, and John's cousin, Peter, said the following:

It's Utah. I'm pretty sure you're required by state law to wear matching light-blue dress shirts and khakis when not wearing Sunday best. The setting is required to be the woods (or a park that looks like the woods) but that's hard in the middle of winter. So maybe Sundance with matching blue parkas would be an adequate compromise. :)

Feeling the pressure to have a fantastic, professional-looking family portrait, I've been looking through all sorts of blogs, photo pages, and web sites for the best colors, settings, etc. I've even made appointments for the girls and I to go get our makeup done at the MAC make-up counter at Nordstrom. (And I'm still worrying about what to do with my hair and will it cooperate!) First I started with wanting everyone in black and white, or black and red. Then, everyone had to have jeans on with boots, but I didn't care about the top. Now I just want people to wear clothes so they aren't naked, but should still be comfortable. And then we decided that after the "formal" picture, we'd change into Star Wars gear (except for Maggie who is a Star Trek fan) for another round of pictures. Today, John came up with a brilliant idea: why don't we do a series with all of us in our Eagles shirts? I married a genius. So on Saturday, our nephew, Ben, will take three sets of photos for us: who we are on the outside, who we are from August through January, and who we are in our fantasy. I guess between the three, somewhere the real "us" will come through.