by Caitlin W. on January 31, 2012
My family loves getting the onslaught of photo holiday cards every year from all of our friends and family from near and far. It has become a tradition that we all look forward to. I have never thrown out one of these treasured photo cards.
Each year, when I open up all the containers of holiday trimmings, there is the one that holds those treasured holiday photo cards. Within the next few days, our entire family gathers around; the kids with their hot chocolates, my hubby and I with our wine and we pour over the pictures and look at how everyone has changed from year to year. There are always lots of laughs and “oh my gosh, look how big they are now” and “that’s a scary one!” I even include my own children’s holiday photo cards that we have sent through the years. It has become a ritual we all look forward to each season.
We keep all the old photo cards in a basket on a table and as we get the new holiday photo cards, we ooh and ahh over them and hang them around the house. At the end of the season, when it is time to take down all the holiday decorations, we add the current year’s photo Christmas cards to the basket to await the next year’s opening.
by Molly T. on January 24, 2012
Have you ever gone on vacation, come home, downloaded all your photos onto the computer, and then promptly forgot about them? Then comes the holidays and you run around like a chicken without a head trying to set everyone up for a family photo for the annual photo Christmas cards.
Why not take out those photos from family vacations for a second look. Some of the most natural and candid pictures are taken during a fun filled vacation. Whether it’s everyone covered in sand lounging on a beach, or with backpacks hiking up a trail. The fact remains, your family photo portrays the family doing what they love most. Who cares if they’re not all dressed up in their holiday best with a Santa hat? Your photo card, using your vacation shot, will portray the family in the best possible light.
I recently went on a vacation to Ireland. While I have been there before, it had been a very long time between trips. Besides touring some of the most photogenic places on earth, I also visited my Grannie’s cottage where my mother grew up and where I took my first steps as a baby. Grannie and Mom are long gone, but the cottage has been restored and two artists are now living there. They were very gracious and invited us in to see what had been done. I took a photo of the outside of the cottage to remember it when I returned home. It came out so well that I’m going to use that vacation photo shot for my holiday photo card order.
by Heather R. on January 17, 2012
Promises, promises, promises. This is what I get from my family when I ask for recent digital family photos. My son, daughter in law and two grandchildren moved to North Carolina several years ago, and, although we exchange visits yearly, usually during the summer months when the grandchildren have vacation from school, and chat regularly, I miss not seeing them frequently. Patrick and Grace play in the school band, he the trumpet and she the clarinet, and they often participate at special events. Although Mom and/or Dad take photos during these events, they are not really good at sending a simple email with the images for “Grandma”. Of course, when I remind them, what do you think I get? Promises, promises, promises.
Fortunately, my family follows up on their “promises”, that is to say, they follow up on their promises once a year. I do indeed look forward to the very beautiful photo Christmas cards they send with pictures of the kids. I finally get to see what they have been doing throughout the year in the presence of the photos. It was worth waiting for them to see how attractive they look in their dress uniforms while performing in a special band event; it was worth waiting for the photos to see them clearing the colorful leaves in the yard during the fall season as well as sitting in a tree they just climbed; it was worth waiting for the photos to see them holding their pups, Nellie the poodle and Lily the maltese. I can’t wait for next year!