Bad Lighting, Good Kids

Before I got this fancy new camera of mine, I used to think: "If only I had one of those huge, awesome cameras, then I would take remarkable pictures!  Everything would be right in the world!  Disease and famine would cease to exist!  Wars would stop!  I would be so happy!"

As it turns out, I was a bit wrong. 

These things are hard work.

I am learning this the hard way.  Meaning: crappy pictures.  A lot of crappy pictures.

Luckily, I'm not getting too down about it, seeing as how I have a million other things going on right now.  Sometimes being highly overwhelmed pays off. :)

So, with that very long appetizer, here is the meat and taters of this post:

Christmas Pictures.

Ah, the annual tradition of spending hours trying to dress everyone in coordinated outfits, debating whether this will be the year Orrin and I finally join our children in the pics (yeah, like that's gonna happen), scouting locations (and finally deciding on the desert right across the street), trying to align everyone's schedules (again: an impossibility)...

So much work goes into getting those darn Christmas cards out.

This year, I had a slight opening in the schedule on a Monday night when it seemed like everything would work out.  Cooler weather, Orrin was actually home, no after-school clubs, no friends, nada.  So I proclaimed on Sunday that tomorrow would be the day.

As it turns out, Adi has dance on Monday nights.  Yep, I forgot.

So we rushed home from school, rushed through homework, rushed doing hair and getting dressed, rushed, rushed, RUSHED.

And... we got out there too early.  The sun was blinding everyone and everything.

But, again, I'm not letting it get me too down, seeing as how I'm moving into my beautiful new home in just a few weeks.

For your viewing pleasure:

Merrill Kiddos, 2012

Can I please begin by showing you just how difficult it is to get a decent pic of my four little rascals?

I even brought Orrin along to help.

I had this vision.  I wanted it to look like my four loving children were holding hands, walking down a desert road.  Instead, I got this:

I seriously couldn't get them to face the right way.  Or get Wyatt to walk away from Orrin and I.

Then came a stroke of genius.  "OP, walk Wyatt all the way back there with the other kids, sit him down, and run out of the picture fast so I can get them walking this way."

And...

That didn't work.

So we moved to the awesome old rusty gate.

And then we tried individual pictures.

*Piper is shadow dancing here*

I seriously feel like I'm herding cats with these kids.

But, hey- they're worth it.