I did not do a holiday card this year. I wanted to. I had a design picked out over at Minted. I was really excited to take the time to sit and write personal messages to each recipient. The only problem was, I didn't have a photo.
I know you are shouting at the screen "Kelly, you have a million photos!". I know, but there is something special about sending out a new, never been seen photo. I tried. The examples are right here. I thought staging the kids in holiday attire would be fun, but they just were not into it. I tried again, and Parker kept rolling his eyes back. I had to step away from that shoot after catching myself calling Parker a demon. We played trains instead.
And my last attempt was on Christmas Eve. I had it all planed out in my mind. That should have been my first clue that it would end disastrously. I thought we would all gather in the back yard, in front of the majestic forest and snow covered ground right before church, all dressed up. I could set my mom up on our back porch and she could spray and pray*.
It was time. I got the camera. I got the kids dressed. Then we went outside.
It was then that we noticed that my dad had disappeared. He did not tell anyone that he was leaving. He did not take the car, yet was nowhere to be found. My only guess was that he had walked to the church to save our seat. So by the time we made it around back the sun was behind a dark cloud. Parker was freezing (and by freezing, I mean he was screaming and sobbing like his leg was just chopped off). And when I looked back to see where Tyler was, he had fallen and was stuck in a big ice hole. He had Matilda in his arms, she was fine, but he was stuck. I tried to find the best light and asked my mom to try her best.
So then, I thought we would try again and do a New Years card. But you guys, it is now the 10th of January, and I am admitting to myself that it is just not going to happen this year. And that is okay. Maybe I will start doing Donate Life cards in April instead of holiday cards in December. Yep, that sounds like a good idea.
*spray and pray is when you take a ton of photos and pray ONE of them looks good.
P.S. My dad had just gone on a walk. He came to church right on time.
