Family Pictures . . . the nightmare!!

Tonight we went up Provo Canyon and enjoyed a barbecue with our family. It was beautiful. It was fun. It was exactly how a crisp fall evening should have been spent. I asked Amy to bring her camera so that we could possibly get a family picture for the year. Thanks to modern technology and the digital camera, we were able to see the photos and learn that there wasn't ONE that we would seriously consider framing for the living room wall. Not ONE picture had all of us looking at the camera at once. Hunter would be looking away, Katelyn would turn around and bury her head in our legs, and Jared, our sweet Jared, performed just as a nine year old boy SHOULD perform . . . he was making funny faces in ALL pictures. We could NOT get him to cooperate and finally gave up. As my Grandma Schmutz would say, "That's life at the Okay Corral." Then, as we were driving down the canyon, Katelyn was screaming at the top of her lungs (the most obnoxious sound ever, by the way) because Jared had taken her littlest pet shop and pulled the elastics off so that it would no longer stay on. Both teenagers were enthralled with either the i-pod or the cell phone and Jared was doing all he could to torment one or all of the other kids. I was frustrated. I had snapped at Tyler so he was giving me the silent treatment. It wasn't the most ideal moment in time. But that's just how life is. And I still love them all. It's funny how that works. :) Anyway, that was our evening. I will post some pictures of the event as soon as Amy sends me a few . . . but WHEW!! It's over . . . we survived another family picture and as unfortunate as they turned out, they will be the official family photo of the year, because, quite frankly, I don't think I could take another photo shoot.

(Sidenote: We had a great time!! The canyon was GORGEOUS! The company was GREAT!! and the food was absolutely DELIGHTFUL!! Those in attendance were Grandma and Grandma Hatch, Jeff, Marilou, Joshy, Amy, Addi, Megan, Ryan, Tyler, Ciara, Olivia, Me, Ty, Emily, Jenny, Jared, Katelyn, and Hunter.)