Family Pictures with a Tripod

In an effort to capitalized upon Costco's Christmas greeting card special before it expired (as I'm writing this, I realized it saved me all of $5.00; what is wrong with me?) on November 27, I decided on November 22 that we needed to take our family pictures IMMEDIATELY. As a result, we drove up to the Riverwoods and resorted to a tripod, a timer, and Ryan's ability to run fast. Here are the results:

Annalise sported this scowl in over half of the pictures. Due to the fact that for an hour straight we were telling our two-year old to smile at a blinking light, it was rare to even have her looking in the right direction, let alone capture a pleasant expression. We decided this wasn't the best method. Next year, things will be different...hopefully.

Good picture, except our little sweetie again.

Ryan's effort to be creative.

Ryan wanted us to pretend we were tipping over. Annalise must have missed the memo.

This is as good as it gets folks. Yes, this is one of the pictures we used in our Christmas cards.

Now she knows where the camera is.

Precious kids. These guys were real troopers.

Annalise was whining and squirming because Preston was trying to hug her. (sigh) Two-year-olds.

You'll also see this one in Christmas card. A last-minute bridge shot. Merry Christmas everyone!!

Disney on Ice

We couldn't go to Disneyland this year, so they brought Disney to us. How nice of them. This was everyone's first experience seeing "Disney on Ice" and it sure didn't disappoint. It was truly amazing--every prop and dance perfectly choreographed. The kids were enthralled, even Annalise. We saw mini-shows of Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Snow White, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Tangled, Princess and the Frog, and of course Mickey and Minnie. It was a really special night.

My parents came too, which made it super fun.

"Prince Ali, fabulous he, Ali-abobwa"

The Lion King was fantastic!

All the princes and princesses came out at the end and skated together. It was the perfect finale.