Crying: A Christmas Tradition

Growing up in my family, it always seemed like we were never finished taking the dreaded group picture for the family Christmas card until at least one of us was crying. And the shedding of tears didn't necessarily trigger the end of the family photo session. Sometimes it was only cause for creative coaxing for one last smile for one last shot. So, when I set out to take the kids' picture last weekend, I was fully expecting the tears. And in the true spirit of family photo shoots of Christmases past, Marci did not let me down.

By this point, I had spent about 15 minutes chasing after the kids with my camera in our backyard and had been consistently unsuccessful in capturing both kids in one frame with something remotely close to smiles on their faces.

After multiple promises that we were almost finished, I snapped this one final shot as a reminder of the memory that we made that day. A deeply rooted family tradition continues. At least I'm not the one crying anymore!