cleaning up nice

I mentioned we had family pictures taken, right? Well, we did. And I need to give major props to our photographer. Stacie Smith was in Joel's photo program and he discovered she was local a couple years ago. I'm pretty sure Stacie and I were supposed to be friends in college -- we have several friends in common, including one of my first best friends there (I'm lookin' at you, Heat). You might not believe this, but I'm always a little apprehensive at meeting new people, especially when they're from "Joel's world" because I'm always a little concerned that I'm not going to be cool enough. But I haven't felt more comfortable meeting someone since I sat on Santa's lap as a kid. I mean, come on - she made Shepherd's Pie and I loved it. Loved it so much I've made it countless times since then (and she hasn't - ha!). Stacie and her super entertaining husband Zack have three kids our kids' ages, so it kind of works out brilliantly. 

When it came time to FINALLY have professional pictures taken, Stacie was the obvious choice. She was very patient with Donovan, who refuses to hold still, and Gemma, who refuses to look at the camera. Ainsleigh is a ball of awesome and just stands there grinning. Good girl.

Get ready - I'm going to post a bunch...

I'm not going to post the ones that are coming on our Christmas card just yet. And I've got some amusing (to me, at least) photos of Joel and me, which I will put up later. 

Maybe we'll even get pictures taken again before the next 10 years go by. Thanks, Stacie!