Our Christmas 'Card'

I usually start taking pictures of the boys in the fall, keeping an eye out for the 'perfect Christmas card picture' to enclose with the Christmas cards I mail out. Most of these cards are sent to family...especially my elderly Aunts. Well, life has been such a whirlwind, the right picture of either the boys or all 4 of us just never happened. I had planned to attempt to take a picture of the boys this weekend as we (FINALLY) decorated our tree. But honestly, trying to get a decent picture of them together is like working with rabid neanderthal monkeys hyped up on mega doses of mountain dew. They just won't, don't, and can't cooperate with me on a posed picture. One or the other is always making a face...COLE!, or about to slug the other one...Ian! Or Riley tries to get into the picture at the wrong moment,(although, in Riley's defense, he usually IS the most cooperative one in the bunch!) or someone sneezes - COLE!, or someone poots & everyone flees the room. Anyway....I woke up this morning with an inspired idea. We just had our portraits taken by Olan Mills for the new Church Directory. Why not use these photos!!?? Not the expensive little wallet sized ones you can order from them, but instead insert the photos into Photoshop from the cd Olan Mills gave us! Wahoo! Thank you, Lord, for the inspired ideas!
Soooo, here's our 'official' Christmas card for this year....


Speaking of our new Church Directory...here it is, and guess who did the cover photo!?! Yup...I'm a 'published photographer!' WAHOO! I also had the great privilege of taking most of the candid photos within the directory.


The significance of this photo is that is was taken IN Lithia Springs about a week or so after the horrible flood in 2009. I was at a LSHS football game (which was playing on a Monday night to make up for the game canceled by the flood), and I looked up and there is was... across the sky looking towards the Church, this beautiful rainbow! It was so moving to see it after the week before's tragic flooding. Even after all the terrible things that had happened - everyone just stood there in awe of it. God was sending us a simple message...He's still in control and there's always Hope.
For the directory I photoshopped a picture I took of our steeple onto the back of the cover photo. It's in the right place...but you can't really see FBCLS from the high school stadium, but I thought it needed to be there. I'm tickled silly with the results, and feel so blessed to have been trusted with the job.