Family pictures

I've wanted to have some family pictures taken for a while, but for a variety of reasons we've never gotten around to it.  Those reasons would be:

1. Stepson hasn't been here to visit since 2008.  In my opinion, a family picture should include the WHOLE family.  Otherwise, what's the point?  Mr. EM finally said that we should just have the pictures done and we can always have them done again the next time we see Stepson. 

2. Quality photographers are EXPENSIVE, unless you know one personally.  We do not have a lot of money to pay for a quality photographer and, until recently, we did not know one personally.

3. What to wear?  Where to have these pictures taken?  What time of year to do this?  Yes, these silly questions boggled my mind.  I'm not a fan of those family pictures where everyone is all matchy-matchy and I do not like stiff, posed pictures taken at some place we'd never visit unless it was because someone told us we had to go there in our matchy-matchy clothes to get our pictures taken.  Time of year is somewhat of a no-brainer, fall is my favorite season.  BUT, fall is so busy...not just for us, but for everyone.  Trying to coordinate a time/place/outfit with the weather and schedules of all parties involved?  Well, it caused me to just put the whole family picture idea on the back burner to be looked at again at some later date.

Until...

Mr. EM came home one day last fall and said that the secretary where he works takes pictures as a hobby and had offered to do some family portraits for us if we were interested.  He took the liberty of telling her we were interested and they set a date and location.  We were to meet her that following weekend at a local park.  My OCD kicked in big time and I started scouting all of our closets, looking for clothes that looked nice together but weren't all matchy-matchy.  I ended up having to buy something new for Little M., but after that we were ready to go. 

And then it rained that weekend.  All. Weekend. Long.  No big deal, we rescheduled for the following weekend. 

And then our photographer's aunt died.  So, we rescheduled for the following weekend. 

And then her camera broke.

Are you kidding me with this shit?

And it was going to cost her $600 to either fix or replace it and she didn't have that kind of money so the project was put on hold indefinitely. 

*sigh*

Fast forward to this October...I mentioned the pictures to Mr. EM, he said he'd mention them again to the secretary, and he actually DID in a timely manner!  A date was set for the following weekend.  I suggested the nature preserve where the boys go to camp every summer, he liked that idea better than the local park she had suggested last year.  I checked out our closets in advance and found that no one needed any new clothes.  Could it be that this was actually going to happen? 

Yes!  It did, in fact, happen.  She brought her son with her and they both snapped pictures of us in a few different locations for over an hour.  The results, minus the fact that Stepson is missing, are beyond what I was hoping for.  I'm sharing some of my favorites below...just don't link my parents or MIL to this blog or you'll be ruining part of their holiday gifts.

(Yeah, this was how they were feeling by the time all was said and done.) 

So, all in all, Mr. EM and I are very, very pleased.  I love that she got some really nice shots that will make great gifts for the grandparents, but more than that I love that she captured our family perfectly.  In my opinion, that's what makes a really good photographer and I think it really helped that she knows us personally.  Made all the difference in the world with how comfortable the boys (and, truth be told, Mr. EM) were with this whole undertaking.   

Here's hoping she'll be willing to tackle us again the next time Stepson comes to visit...