One thing off of my bucket list

From the time we moved into this house until now, one item on my "bucket list" was to have a family portrait done at the beach and have a big one made to go on my fireplace above the mantel in the den.

When we reached the end of our beach vacation this year, we accomplished the first part of my dream. We had family portraits done on location.

I went with the idea to take some pictures with my camera and hope to get one good enough to enlarge to maybe an 8x10 size. Not big enough for the fireplace, but maybe the mantel. In my dream picture I wanted us all to wear white and khaki colored clothes.

On Wednesday afternoon, unknown to me, Beth and John started discussing the picture. Beth urged John to call a professional and see if we could get a "real" portrait. She just googled and found someone in Wilmington. John was skeptical, (we only had a few hours on the next day when all 6 of our kids would be here) but called anyway. Low and behold, she was available and her prices were great. So he set the appointment. It turns out she was great and very easy to work with!

I was beyond excited. I'd always envisioned boys in khaki and white and girls in white dresses. Well, we had no time to pull off the dresses, but everyone did have khaki and white, except for Daniel. A quick trip to Wal Mart remedied that problem. I thought everyone had khaki and white. With the photographer sitting in the house, I went to put on my khaki skort. The one I had worn on the way to the beach. The one I thought I had worn to the beach. The one I took off before church and laid on my bed, because I decided to wear something else to church and was going to pack the skort.  The one that was still sitting on my bed in Raleigh! UGGGGH! So there's the story why everyone is wearing khaki and white...except for the one who issued the color coordination edict!

We got some great pictures. The one disappointment is Abbey. On the way to the beach, Beth put a little lip gloss on Abster's lips. So in most of the pictures, she refuses to smile. She's afraid it will mess up her lipstick.  Only a few of them are good of her.

Below are some of the best.

The Whole Family

 

The next two are my choices for my "over the mantle" portrait. I can't decided which is best. If you want, I'd love to hear some opinions about which is the best.

 

We have lots and lots of great pics of the kids to choose from:

  

The Girls

The Boys

The littles

The whole crew

(I really wish we could have gotten our son-in-laws, but the schedules just didn't work)

A couple of good ones of me and my honey

So, one notch in my bucket list belt has been filled. I'm grateful to my kids and hubby, who care enough for me to see that my wishes are granted! Oh, what a blessed lady I am!!