Decision 2012

This is Decision 2012 and it has nothing to do with politics.  But like many of the primaries, it began quite some time ago, like July to be precise.  Christmas cards have always been a pretty big deal in my family.  It's a lot of pressure to have the expectation of a great Christmas card.  I guess I'm one of the few who embrace it as a challenge and take on the task!  This year's photo began to form in July when I found the perfect dress.  Yes, I bought my "Christmas card dress" in July.  When I told my sister how fantastic it would look in  our photos, she rolled her eyes and asked if I seriously thought that far ahead.  I do.  

I'll go ahead and admit it.  I am my mother.  There wasn't a year that went by that she didn't plan our Christmas card down to the last detail.  We were beyond teenagers, I may have been married, when she finally stopped the madness   She just passed it along to me.  

This little family photo shoot took place at 9am in October before my sister had Allie Gray.  I knew it was in my best interest to get these photos finished before the baby came along.  I know how my mom feels about babies!  I also was on a pretty fine timeline because this was football season and if there's a college game to be watched, Jason is parked in front of the TV to observe.  I can assure you there was some empty promises of candy and a lego set was purchased on the scene but everyone cooperated fairly well and for a total of 30 minutes and one minor wardrobe change, I was pretty happy with the results.  Choosing the photo wasn't too difficult.  1) Which one do I look best in?  2) Is everyone looking/smiling?

The hard part came in choosing the card template out of the 1000 that mom and I have for photoshop.  When I finally picked the perfect one, the format was not just incorrect, I had to rearrange ALL of the elements to fit the type of card we wanted to use.  Let's put it this way, I had files named Christmas card 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and try again!  Turns out the try again finally worked and was submitted.  I was very happy with how they turned out and I hope you enjoy our card in 2012.  

Merry Christmas from our family to yours and all the best in the new year to come!

A few of the ones that didn't make the cut this year will follow:

 

I also LOVE getting all the Christmas cards during this season!  I keep them in a folder labeled with the year and it's so fun to watch children age and families grow!  My address book is ever changing but thanks to social media, that can easily be remedied.  I hope the always increasing price of stamps doesn't change the Christmas card tradition.  I cherish each and every one!