Christmas Card...

I kept dragging my feet on whether or not I wanted to mail out a Christmas card. Hemming and hawing about what picture to use (I knew I didn't want to use the fam portrait from July), and if it isn't just a bit of a waste of time and money when I can reach more friends and family for free on-line. BUT, I knew I wanted to at least put something together to send to our extended family with their Christmas presents. So first I asked Isaac & Sam to each write a message about what Christmas means to them. I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do with it (maybe it would just be a homeshool writing exercise), but it was a start.

Enter: photographic inspiration. I realized that there was a small grove of evergreen trees just across the highway from us at the back end of the Fruitland Nursery AND they were beautifully covered in fresh snow AND I had bought the boys coordinating sweaters. So with promises of hot chocolate afterwards and mom being as quick as possible, I got the boys all dressed and off we went. The lighting was perfect and beyond the atmosphere the stars must have been aligned because in only 15 minutes I was able to get some beautiful images - just what I was imagining!

 

I came home and found a link I'd saved to this fabulous card company, PaperCulture, and created this wonderful Christmas card. But then I realized that, even if I used their very handy service of letting them stamp, address, and mail the cards for me, no one was likely to receive the card before Christmas. And I still had the conundrum on whether or not it is really worth the cost in this digital age. So I didn't have them actually create it. BUT, here is the proof, if you're curious.

In the end, I scanned in the big boys' Christmas messages, merged them with a couple of my favorite photos from the shoot, and sent that as our extended-family Christmas greeting. Here's what the boys wrote, for those who didn't receive:

I am so thankful that my children already know the true meaning of Christmas. They are such a light in my (and Mark's) life. What a joy to celebrate with them!