The History Of The Annual Monster Family Holiday Photo Session....

So it's become a family joke that Christmas picture taking day is the worst day of the year... It all started when I was about 12 and my dad decided that he wanted everyone in the picture... I mean everyone... All of us (mom dad, myself and my younger brother), our three labs, and all of our horses (Luckily we only had 2 horses and a pony at the time). Oh and that the camera would be on a timer, meaning my dad was going to be running back and forth while we are all trying to keep our animals under control.

This day ended up being one of the worst days of our lives (not really but it was a very bad day).
It ended up with...

~my brother probably hating horses (especially ponies) for the rest of his life while he and his pony Cowboy were sitting in the corral staring at the corner as if they were in time out

~my dad and I yelling at the top of our lungs

~my mom trying to be positive and probably saying something like, "hey, stop yelling, at least we all have our health!"

~my dad and I about to strangle each other

~the dogs all tangled up in their leashes

~the horses getting annoyed at the dogs bouncing around

... and the result..... the most horrific Xmas card of all time! I wish I had one of the pictures so that I could post it in all of it's glory.... but I do not.

So now every year we dread the family Xmas picture (the hubs actually made a comment about me hiring someone to take his place). We just have to prepare ourselves for an awful day full of yelling and pouting (mostly between my Dad and myself. Some say we are a little headstrong).

The day actually was pretty pleasant... No real yelling, and a ton of pictures for us to go through and all agree on.

Here are a few that didn't make the cut.  Enjoy our goofiness!

Brother and future sister in law- doing the homecoming pose. 

Apparently I was the only one who wanted to use this one.  What, you no likey? This really is classic me. 

My Mom and Dad-Well laughing is much better than strangling! 

Beakey-  trying to make a get away. 

Well guess you'll have to wait to see the ones that actually made the cut! Unfortunately, we didn't get our dogs in this year. They are both solid black and it makes it really hard to photograph them. You end up not being able to see their faces... Plus Hunter refuses to look at the camera unless I am taking the picture. Oh well, maybe next year.