4 People 12 Times

Remember way back when I announced I was gonna do this project?  Yeah, I didn't do quite so well at it.  I have done so well with my weekly project (3 years running!) that I really thought that this once a month thing would be a breeze.  So, as I sat down this morning to write I started wondering if I ever finished up the year and realized that I didn't.  The whole idea around the project was to do a family photo once per month, nothing fancy, just a snapshot, and then summarize the month in a post.  I really am glad I did it, even though I failed miserably because if I hadn't I might not even have one photo of the 4 of us together for the entire year!  How sad would that be?  I'm not going to officially be doing it again this year but it has helped me to be more aware of handing someone else the camera occasionally and getting my whole family in a photo even if it isn't the greatest most flattering photo and I most likely would never in a million years hang it on my wall.  Probably in about 20 years I will love these...I know I will.  I'll look back fondly at how young we all were instead of being self critical like I am now.  If you want to view these in order, click here, scroll down and read the bottom post first and work your way up and then come back and read the rest of this post.

Here we are in October 2011.

This was taken on our weekend trip to the Smokies by some random couple who I handed my camera to in hopes that they wouldn't hop in their car and drive off with it (they didn't).  I took their photo in return.  I should remember to set my camera to 'auto' when I hand it to someone else next time.  Oh well, it's still us.  And since we go here every year I need to remember to try to get a photo each time so that we can compare them through the years.  This is the first time we've gotten a photo of all 4 of us...I usually just snap the kids.  I kinda like it.  And I have some really fond memories of these little weekend getaways.  The drive is so beautiful and it's the perfect way to enjoy the fall colors and the crisp air and just take some time to enjoy it instead of the business of school and work and my photography (fall is my busiest time of year) making it go by in a blink.  We went hiking (the kids hated it), we had a campfire and roasted marshmallows, we explored a bamboo forest we didn't even know was there, we went shopping, we had pizza, we sat and admired the beauty of nature and we were refreshed.

On Thanksgiving Day, 2011.

Thanksgiving came before we knew it.  My mom hosted it at her house for the first time.  We all crammed into her dining room and were all together.  It was her birthday too which was fun.  I have a whole series of her and her twin making the same exact faces while blowing out their candles.  Twins are creepy sometimes. : )  The kids settled into their school routines during November and photography started winding down a bit for the season.  We painted our garage doors and house trim.  My husband had a birthday.  I guess November was just a blur since I can't really remember much else.

Christmas Eve, 2011.

How is it that in December, when we are at so many family gatherings, that's the month that I don't have a photo of the 4 of us?  This is the best I could do.  These were at least taken the same day.  December is so fun with my kids.  We did a lot of celebrating and just enjoying each other.  Lots of fires in the fireplace and movie nights watching the Christmas specials.  We did all the typical activities we do around Christmas and I have fond memories of all of it.  I love the holidays.  I'd say overall we had a pretty great year.

I really am glad I did this project.  I have a feeling I will scroll through this series and read it in the coming years and be grateful that I did it.  I hope it inspires you to take more photos of your family as a whole and to jot down some memories too.