Family Photo Frenzy

Yesterday, my good friend Julia took many, many pictures of us, and she sent us these as teasers as she works on post-processing the rest of them. I absolutely love the picture above. We're all being our natural, semi-doofy selves. Real life.

The last time we had family pictures done was in May 2009, and there were only four of us. (You can see those pictures here. One thing I love about those Germany pictures, aside from my friend Kris's mad skills, was that the pictures were taken in our backyard. It is so special to look at them and remember where we lived.)

Similarly, I love the pictures that Julia took, because they are right here in our newish hometown at J. F. Gregory Park. I love the attitude and personalities in this one, too.

If you like what you see, please consider visiting my friend Julia's Facebook page for her photography business.  She is just getting started and needs all the "likes" she can get.

I love how natural the photos look. I mean, yes, they are staged (we don't normally dress up to walk the dogs), but we were all so comfortable.

What you can't see, behind the scenes, is that our photo shoot was interrupted not only by an impromptu al fresco nursing experience (thank you for your discretion, Julia), but also by a daring dog rescue.

While we were busy mugging for the camera, Tilly broke loose from the picnic table to which she had been tied and took herself for a little swim. Right past the sign that read "Beware of snakes and alligators." I'm assuming Julia has some pixels documenting the Gutsy Dad practically climbing into the marshy water to haul Tilly out, but she hasn't shared those with us yet.

I'm sure I'll be sharing many more gems from this photo shoot as they become available.

You can see more of Julia's work here.