Was Yours Merry?

The good news is we got out the majority of our Christmas cards and newsletters on time. I felt this to be a major accomplishment, not only because this is me, queen of procrastination, we are talking about, but also considering (a) we had a baby only two weeks before, (b) we were in the midst of last minute Christmas buying, wrapping, and celebrating with family and friends, and (c) we were just beginning to learn the art of juggling a busy one-and-a-half-year-old and a newborn baby (this may seem a repeat of (a), but I think it has merit to stand alone).

The bad news is we never wished all of you a merry Christmas. Many of you are dear friends for whom I do not have current addresses and it was high on my priority list to wish you the season's best, but despite the many blog entries I began to formulate in my head, none of them made it to the screen. This was partially because of (a), (b), and (c) listed above and partially because I had more to say regarding Kate's birth that I never blogged about and I felt I had to do that first, although I never did. It seems I am forever learning the lesson that has been reiterated many times by both the Nike athletic company and President Kimball, twelfth prophet of the Restoration: Just do it. Luckily, I have a husband that understands and follows this principle and Mike got an announcement and some pictures of Kate up right after she was born, or I'm sure that wouldn't have happened until now either!

Anyway, we thought we would share with you a few pictures from our holiday greeting card photo shoot. Please kindly remember we were two amateur photographers dealing with two kids under two, one of whom was only a week old!

The story behind the scenes is that first Kate was being good and Maggie was trying to run away, then Kate started crying and Maggie was alternately goofing off and posing nicely, then Kate fell asleep, Maggie tried to lead a revolt, and finally just before I was about to give up in tears we snapped the winner...

all amid experimenting with different camera settings.

Merry Christmas!! We hope the spirit of the season, which is the spirit of service, hope, and love, even the spirit of Christ, is with you still and throughout the year! Happy New Year to you, too!!