For those of you who are recipients of our annual Christmas pictures and letters, you know that every year I include a professional family photo. We started taking these annual pictures with the kids when we first arrived home from Colombia beginning in Summer 2011 and it just became tradition, like so many other things. I don't really know why I started the tradition of dressing everyone up every Fall for a traditional family photo because neither Dainis or I grew up in a family that did that every year. I think I wanted the kids to have that sense of family and belonging, and I was always trying to make up for lost time. By this point in time, the kids know when it is family photo time, they just have to smile and cooperate, and they did a good job! We use to treat them to lunch or dinner out if they cooperated and now they just know it is an expectation. What it really boils down to though is a lot of work and stress for Mom to buy and coordinate outfits and schedules, make the appointment, make sure everyone has a haircut, and wakes up in time. We all smile and for that moment everyone looks happy, although with teens you aren't ever quite sure what their true feelings are. I purposely scheduled this year's photo shoot on Labor Day because everyone was off school and work. By the time Labor Day rolled around, both kids were scheduled for work after the pictures! I am thankful for the cooperation to continue the tradition and have another successful Christmas picture complete.
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