I spent a good bit of the month of July taking pictures: pictures of my kiddos, pictures of our time on the road, the places we went, the people we saw. But secretly, I longed to get a family picture, a really good family picture, to represent our summer together.
It didn’t happen.
But I did get a picture I am happy with. I mean, we’re all there. And smiling, even! The weather at the beach was perfect, every stinkin’ day I’m tellin’ ya. But the day that we went out to take pictures, there were gale force winds. Seriously. And yet there we were: dressed, hair fixed, with a willing photographer… we were gonna take the dadgum pictures.
That’s why my head is cocked to the side like I’m a 41 year old aspiring Mouseketeer. I was trying, in vain, to keep my flying hair out of everyone else’s face.
But, did you notice, we’re all smiling? 🙂
I did, however, get this one. I absolutely love it, it’s already framed and on my dresser.
Evidently, gale force winds work for Zach and Tori.
Great Family picture ! The same thing happened to us last year. We got all dressed and fixed up, went to the beach, and the wind was blowing too hard. Your pictures look way better than ours!!
You have a beautiful family and you take the most amazing photos.
I've been logged in to China since 9/4/2006 and just love reading about your family. You are truly blessed. :o)
WOW! Looks like Christmas Card material! What great family photos!
Love & Blessings from Hong Kong,
Kim
Of course everyone is smiling…you're at the beach! 😉 And I think the head cock is quite endearing, Stefanie! 😉 Yall are a beautiful family formed by God…it puts a smile on my face!
Beautiful! A picture to treasure for years to come but soon there will be a new little person to add to that photo so a new family picture will be in your future. lol…..
Beautiful photos! Way better than anything we've ever achieved. Family photos are the hardest to take. Too many personalities/attitudes to deal with!
What wonderful photos! To get that many people all looking the same way and smiling – well, that's a feat in itself. I know – I'm one of 7 siblings LOL!
I love reading about your family. Makes me feel all warm inside. Thank you for sharing!
I'm so impressed that you managed to catch all of the smiles. My family is much smaller but I almost always have to resort to photoshopping heads around between photos to get ONE with everyone looking good. Did you crack an especially funny joke? C'mon, spill it!
🙂
Donna
Our blog: Double Happiness!
What beautiful pictures…and yes, I did notice that everyone is smiling very nicely!
love the pics!
tara
I think they are fantastic! That is quite a feat!!! I can barely get 2 looking and smiling at the camera at the same time!
Can you believe it is August 19th already?
Blessings,
Diana
Hey, the only time we're not smiling at the beach is when it's time to go back to the house or go home! (We go to the beach in North Carolina every fall.) Maybe next time you can do braids like Tori's! I think the picture looks great. Hope all the settling in at your new place is going well.
STUNNING family photos!!!
The happiness just SHOUTS from these photos!! Beautiful!!
Oh! We just got "Chosen" – Kiara's wearing it now…she LOVES it!! And so do I! 😉
This is just a fabulous family picture, and I do love your necklace! 🙂
Jill
Those are wonderful pictures! It's so hard to get them all looking and smiling at the same time and you got both. Love the picture…beautiful family! I can't wait to see Miss Vivi right in the big middle.
Kim
Stefanie, I love it! And thinking that Tori was definitely brilliant for braiding her hair.
I think your family picture is fantastic! At this point I only have two kiddos to coax into smiling and it is no easy task ~ can't imagine what it is like with eight! I was lucky to have my cousin (a photographer) with us at the beach this year to capture my kids, but somehow I forgot to get my dear hubby in the shot. Oh well, we're waiting for a good family shot until Darcy is home anyway…
Beautiful family! I hope you get your paper down and the paint up so you can frame it and hang it on the wall soon. And then you can take another when Vivi comes home! (You really should win some kind of award for getting every single person smiling, looking at the camera, and looking so natural!)
All the best,
Nicole A. in OH
Beautiful photos. You have a beautiful family!
Very nice:)
Love your family pics!! You are all so adorable!! What a wonderful family you have!
Sarah was baptized last Saturday- I was more nervous for the family pic than the baptism! The bigger the family grows the more challenging it becomes!
Absolutely beautiful! The little boys especially look like they are having a great time! And, BTW, I like the head cock. Very cute!
Picture perfectly priceless!
i just can't believe how big everyone is getting- and how fast they change!! beautiful photos, all of them, even when they don't all smile :O)
What a beautiful family!!! So happy to see all of you in there!! Now, can't wait to see Vivi in there with you!
Wonderful family photo. You are right, why is it so hard to get a group family photo…. we have not been successful since CNY 2009.
Alyzabeth's Mommy for Eleven Months
I can't imagine getting EIGHT kids to smile, much less look the same direction!! I tried to take two-year pictures of my youngest on her birthday and got so sweaty that I needed another shower.
I love reading about you all-I am new, blog-hopping. Anyway, you have a lovely family, obviously a blessing to others!
So beautiful. I had to laugh though because we had the exact same problem at the beach with the hair flying! You made me laugh (cause we were not smiling in our picture at all- we were eating hair!) Your family is just gorgeous.