Dirt: The group photo

In case you haven't noticed...

It is still November.

It is still the month in which we Americans give thanks for what we have received and for what we have in our lives. We had a lovely Thanksgiving, full of laughter and fancy dishes.

Grandmother's 20th anniversary china and mother's crystal

I am savoring the 300 plus photos I took over the Thanksgiving weekend.

I want it to last. At least longer than the turkey dinner did.

The hours and days I spent cleaning, shopping and cooking that culminated in just about 15 minutes of a meal on the actual day.  Sigh.

We had a minor speed bump in our plan to have dinner at 1pm. The original turkeys got too warm when defrosting, so we threw them out and started over.

Everyone was notified that it would be moved back 2-4 hours and it worked out great. We had snacks and lots of visiting and laughter to carry us through.  I was really happy to have most of both sides of our family together and everyone seemed to hit it off.

I am thankful for those calves

Bro-in-law and his mom

Middle sister and my mother-in-law

We had a speech given by a very eloquent speaker, who encouraged us to count our blessings before we sat down to a wonderful meal.

Amazing child

While we were waiting for the turkey to smoke, I went out on a limb and gathered everyone for a group photo. Something I wish we had been doing every year since Steve and I have been together. I had someone ask me for photos recently and I was sad to find out that even though I take the most in my family, I don't really have any good "groups". Steve and I have joined that adult group called "Adults without grandparents". The lack of photos from the holidays we celebrated with them is such a travesty as we were both extremely close to our grandparents.
So, while I can't get that back, I can create new photos for my children and my siblings children.
 

One thing to know about my family, we have a lot of women in it. 

A lot of smart and head strong women.

 So there were a lot of directions given to get everyone where they needed to be for the photo.

Negotiations began

No problem with self awarness

So, as of this year, as the official photographer of the family, I have decreed. We are taking the "damn" photo every time we get together. Mine are not as in focus as I wish they were, but they at least capture the "us" of 2012.

Including the dogs. 

Poor baby