Mothers Day (or is it Mothers' Day?) just passed last Sunday, so I thought I'd share one of the ways our family observes it each year.
When Sly was a baby, Tom told me about a nice tradition from his family. His paternal grandparents had fourteen children (!). Every year, the family all gathered out on the front porch, and had a photo taken. Tom remembers visiting his grandparents' home as a young child, and seeing years' worth of those yearly family photos, all framed and lined up on the wall chronologically. He talked about how neat it was to see the family grow and change each year. We immediately decided that we should start up the same tradition ourselves.
We put our camera on the tripod, set the timer, and snapped our first photo right then.
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| 2011 |
We realized that we'd have a better chance of remembering to take the picture each year if we associated it with a specific date. Since Mother's Day had occurred a few days earlier, that became our official family photo day.
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| 2012 |
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| 2013 |
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| 2014 |
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| 2015 |
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| 2016 |
(These might look familiar to the five or so people who have been following this little blog since its inception, since these are all my past header images.)
Side note: I think it's funny that you can tell what the weather was like that day based on whether I have bare feet or tights!
I love that we're taking these pictures each year. And I think there's something appealing to the "homemade" aspect of them - we don't have to worry about dressing up or hiring a professional photographer each year. We just set up the tripod and go - come-as-you-are. And having my family indulge me once a year and sit down for this photo (okay, I won't lie, we take about ten shots, and I choose the one I like best!) is truly one of the greatest Mothers Day gifts I can think of.
My only wish is that we had thought to start it our first year together, when it was just Tom and I. That would really kick off the photo series well. So instead, I put one of our wedding photos on the wall above my growing line of photos.
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| Lined up in our hallway |
If anyone likes this idea, feel free to steal it and start the tradition in your own families. It's never too late! And I'd love to see how your picture turns out :-)
I remember them all...guess I've known you a long time!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful tradition :0) (you can have the you-and-Tom pic when the last moves out.
the old and gray empty-nesters
DeleteOkay but the big question is... What happened to the creeping phlox in the bottom left corner this year??? Where did it go???
ReplyDeleteOkay but the big question is... What happened to the creeping phlox in the bottom left corner this year??? Where did it go???
ReplyDeleteI know, that's what I want to know too! Last summer, we patched the concrete on the stairs and repainted them. We ended up shifted some of the slabs of slate that make up our meager hillside landscaping, and I think we must have covered some of the phlox over :-(
DeleteYou guys are looking great; very cute series. I love the ones with you in bare feet and Tom all properly shod. That is just like us. My husband hates bare feet and I can't stand shoes. Your photo wall looks nice, too. I ought to start one, but I never get around to it.
ReplyDeleteheh, thanks! I would go barefoot all the time if temperature and propriety allowed :-)
DeleteBeautiful mother's day tradition. I love that this way you get the house. There are a few places we lived in for only a year and we don't have any pictures of our family with our house. Because at the time I never thought I even cared about our rentals, a couple were just military housing. So we would take family pictures at our favorite picnic or hiking spot. But looking back I do care and wish I had a family picture of all of us with the homes as well.
ReplyDelete