Christmas card photo saga, part 8

I have shared the adventures of Christmas card photos 2003-2006. Why did I start this story? What would prompt me, at the end of October, to start rambling on about Christmas photos past? It was the photo session for this year's Christmas card pic that had me so annoyed, causing me to reflect on photos past, and ask myself, why not just make your own crayon drawing of the kids from now on, because, that's how bugged I was about this years experience.

It all started with receiving an evite to a "photo party".

Actually, it started before that. I was invited to a photo party in July, and I went, and had gorgeous pictures taken of my kids. And, she was digital, so she had a disc. But the prices were so high, that I could never afford the disc, and part of my heart withered and fell off when I realized that the beautiful pictures of my kids would be saved on her website for 3 weeks, and then they would be destroyed forever.

So, I set out to get this gal to hold a photo party at my house...we talked about it, and then she got so busy and it was impossible to get ahold of her after that. I was bummed, because if you "host" the party, you get the disc. And it's all about the disc.

When you take pictures for the purpose of Christmas card photos, you gotta have the disc. The only way to ever afford photos for the holidays, is to get them printed at Costco (or somewhere like that, for a few cents a print) so you need the picture on a disc. There are some great photographers who dont do digital, and so, they are of no use to me. I need to find someone who goes digital, for cheap, who doesnt make my kids get wet and naked and almost freeze.

I was all depressed about not hosting a photo party by the gal I met this summer, when lo and behold, I received an evite for a photo party with a different photographer. I checked out her website, which SEEMED professional and stuff, and it was a "one low price for all the pictures on a CD" kinda thing, which was just a great deal. So I signed up.

The original evite was for a Thursday, with 1/2 hour slots to sign up. I signed up, and the response was so popular, that they set up a 2nd day. This photographer would spend 2 days snapping her camera, and do pretty well. Win-win, I think.

THEN, came a message from the party hostess (a gal I dont know, but she lives in our neighborhood)....mentioning that we would be taking our pictures outdoors at the park.

YIKES. I had planned to put my kids in formal wear this year (I dont want to ruin the suprise for those on my Christmas card list)...but the girls would be in white tights, and while Little One walks most of the time, I dont think she would do well in the park, in the grass, in white tights. I called the hostess to see if all the photos were in the park, and told her my dilemna.

Eventually, the hostess sent out an email, saying we could choose between photos at her house, or outside at the park. I let her know my choice for the house, and thought we were all set.

My pictures were set for Thursday, and the Sunday prior, the state of California caught fire, literally. Infernos raged to the north and the south of us, with Tuesday and Wednesday being the worst, with flames visible from the two different fires. The air was thick and dark, the ground was covered with soot and ash, and all athletic organizations had cancelled sports for the week. The air quality was so bad, that the schools were closed for Thursday and Friday. It was a dark and gloomy feeling, and even a walk out to get in the car caused my sinuses to burn.

On Thursday morning, I got the kids dressed. I took extra care to make sure the clothes were pressed, the tights werent twisted, and I fixed the girls' hair to look pretty, in a natural sort of way. We hurried to the car, and drove to the neighbor's house who was hosting the photo session.

I carried Little One and hurried to the door, and Pooper and Beauty scurried ahead, as we tried to limit our exposure to the thick, brown air. We knocked, and the hostess greeted us, and after a cordial hello, led us to the back yard.
TO BE CONTINUED