Thanksgiving 2013

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We went to A-Town for Thanksgiving this year and had a fantastic weekend with our extended family at my parent’s house. We didn’t count-off at dinner, but I suspect there were about 30 people there. I also didn’t take many pictures of the actual Thanksgiving feast (thanks, Mom!!), but it was an enjoyable time. We arrived shortly before everybody else and I got my brothers, sister-in-law and parents to step outside for a quick family picture. For whatever reason, we didn’t have our group taken a few weeks ago during the Elvrum family pictures. I think we’re a hodge-podge group, but I love it. It’d be weird if we were all matchy-matchy. 

The day after Thanksgiving, Barry and I took the girls to the beach and we spent some time outside before it started to rain. Aside from that, I feel like I hardly saw Little Miss Maggie Mae. She spent most of the weekend, it seemed, playing with one of my brothers or with my dad’s cousin’s wife. Izak and Mags have a sweet routine worked out where Izak plays the piano and Maggie dances around. If Izak stops playing, Maggie kindly convinces him to keep it up…she’ll dance forever and is very dramatic about it. Maggie also helped Phil carve the turkey and I happened to only catch the tail end of it, Maggie watching, and eating hunks of turkey, while Phil carved and talked at length about it. Gross. (There’s probably a reason that job has never been offered to me…) Audrey has discovered the wonders of climbing and putting things into her mouth. She was pretty content to eat tons of different foods and ‘work’ on climbing the stairs. She’s such a happy baby and content to observe everybody from the comfort of a familiar person’s embrace. 

Barry and I were lucky enough to go on a proper date in town….dinner and a movie. We decided that we probably hadn’t been to a movie in over a year, and it might be another year before we decided to do it again. Time to talk uninterrupted is way nicer than a movie, but I’m glad we went. (Umm, Team Gale over here, people!) Saturday morning, before we headed back home, our friends, Adam and Alyssa, came to visit us. We hadn’t seen them in nearly a year and decided that, unlike the movie, we’ll make more of an effort to see them. They live next to Barry’s parents, which makes it an easy place to miss. It seems like some of our A-Town people and Alger friends get lost when we visit our folks, so we appreciate it when the effort is made to make a connection. Thanks, guys! 

Tomorrow we’re back to reality, we’re in charge of snack this week at school, our windshield on our car needs to be replaced and I’d like to finish Christmas presents…..so much for our epic visiting sessions that we had this weekend. Back to business…..

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Richmond Beach

 

 

 

 

It is rare that we take an afternoon or evening trip out of the house these days, with bed time closer to 7pm than it probably ever has been, the hours between 5-7pm are a whirlwind of dinner, baths, special time and bed time routine. But Little Miss Maggie took a nap the other day and so we ventured out for an evening stroll at the beach. We’ve got some great beaches just a few miles from our home that  we don’t use nearly enogugh. Not all of the are dog-fiendly and so when we go, we tend to choose the ones that Syd can come along. She’s happier for it, too. It was cold, and thankfully not wet, so we kept things moving along and stopped a few times to explore some driftwood forts that had been left behind. Audrey was beyond thrilled to chew on the log for a bit and Maggie liked throwing rocks into the water. Barry and I were happy to be outside….
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The Tip of the Iceberg

If you were to go visit my grandparents, and you needed to use the restroom, you’d have to walk by three large pictures hanging on the wall of our family that have been taken over the years. The first of the series is great. I’m wearing white jorts (jorts = jean shorts) and a floral blouse and am about 12 – in that real awkward stage in my life. I own it like a boss. My older brother is in his ‘I’m only ever going wear shorts’ stage and my younger brother and cousins are too young to look anything but cute. The adults, my parents, aunt, uncle and grandparents just look young. 

The other two massive photos aren’t as damming, but are still fun to look at and poke fun at all our changing faces and bodies. We’re family, and as a photographer, I love to see the evolution. My grandma has been hinting that she’d like an updated photo and this afternoon we all descended upon their houses to try to get at least ONE image of our group with eyes open and NOT talking. I knew it was going to be tough, as the person taking the pictures (except for the ones I’m in, obviously…thanks to Cora’s dude, Forrest, for taking the camera!), but I think the right word that I should have been looking for was MIRACLE. 

We’ve got some slow blinkers (SUE) in our family and talkers (Grandpa) and dancers (Maggie) and people that are tall (Barry) so they’re in light….etc. 

But you know what? 

I got some images of my family all in one place and I love them. These are just a few of the many that I took, but I’m pleased with their outcome. After we took pictures, we all went inside and ate. Some poeple lingered around the dining room, others watched the Seahawks game finish, and the conversation filled the air. As we drove home afterwards, Barry asked me if our family ever reminded me of the family from Parenthood, the TV show, and I laughed because there are definite aspects to their gatherings that resonate with ours. 

The most important thing about family photos, isn’t that we all look good or perfect, but that we’re all together…..as a family. Here’s the first batch that I went through. 

*Check out Audrey in the last image.

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