Family at Christmas

My family doesn't really like to get their picture taken. Nor do they really like to take photos. I like both so I don't know what happened with me. I tried to get some photos this Christmas because I realized both my apartment and cubicle at work was bare of anything but Gretchen photos and Kristen and I looking sweaty. 

I messed up from the start by forgetting my nice camera in DC. I was left with my iPhone. I decided to play with one of my apps with a photo timer. Gretchen, Travis, and I tested it out with balloons. From this exercise I realized that my brother is fairly photogenic and people think a yellow balloon looks like a crown.

toss it Gretchen!

On Christmas Eve on a whim I convinced Gretchen to sit in this tub for a photo. The light is terrible, but she was really on board with the idea.

I also caught this one with my Dad, his arms block his face, which is perfect because he usually closes his eyes in photos.

On Christmas morning the cows are just as much a part of the family as the rest of us as they get  Christmas first. Growing up we always had to wait for our Dad to feed the cows before he would come back home and we could open gifts. Back then it felt like an eternity (and it felt like he was going slow on purpose). These days my brother helps and I can easily still be in bed when they get back to the house at 9 am.

We went over to my aunt's house for Christmas Brunch. While my sisters were cuddling in the big chair I snuck in for a sisters shot.

Further brother photogenic evidence

We played the game Heads Up for awhile, which allowed me to capture my uncle blocking his face.

After we got back home and opened the rest of our presents I tried to get a group shot of all of us. My niece posed the first shot, saying that we all needed to hold hands (yes we do most of what she tells us to). She really has great ideas, if only my Dad had more than just his hand in this picture… Christmas card quality I think.