The Annual Family Photo

Yes, it's that time of year - the days are shorter, the corn fields have been reduced to stubble and all the stores are showcasing Christmas Trees.

Christmas? Already?

Yes, it seems that preparations for the upcoming Holiday season are encroaching upon the Fall season.

While I ignore all that Holiday "stuff", it does remind me that it is time for our annual family photo shoot, something we've been doing ever since we had baby number two, back in 1999.

Last year, we "expanded" things a bit and included our cats. Here's a reminder:


Ah, good times, lots of scratches and hisses.

This year, no cats. Instead, we decided to go "bigger". Literally. We took our family picture with the newest family member, Caesar, our Appaloosa.

The backdrop - the pasture where Caesar spends his time doing what horses do best - eating grass. And if you look carefully, you can see his mouth full of grass:

It was just a test shot, so it didn't matter......

After a few more rejects, this one came close to being chosen:

Oops, hubby's face is covered by one of Caesar's ears.

More rejects and then this one:


Then things went downhill quickly..... Caesar just couldn't keep from eating and became a bit hard to handle.


Yup, the photo shoot is over:


We'll end up using the third photo, even though my hair is a mess, swirling around my head because of the wind. And my daughter really isn't taller than me. Really. Oh well, I don't care, I'm just grateful we were able to get the photo done.

Next task - pulling together the annual Holiday Card. I think I'll wait until after Thanksgiving to get that done.....