backyard photo shoot.

I had several ideas for Christmas cards and Christmas card photos, but I never had time for any of them. In the end, I just attempted to take a quick photo of the kids in the backyard. Unfortunately, on the day I needed to do it in order to meet a deadline for ordering cards, it was already getting dark by the time the girls got home from school. The lighting was pretty terrible and most photos ended up blurry. Simon was constantly on the move. But I captured a few fun moments of the girls being silly. (Amelia doesn't have her glasses on because Simon had broken them the previous week and her new glasses hadn't arrived yet.)

family photos.

We managed to squeeze in a family photo session right before we moved. My friend (and talented photographer) Danelle (MP Photography) did an amazing job with the photos and capturing the kids' personalities. I had considered a different location this year, possibly some iconic D.C. spot before we moved, but we ended up at Fort Washington again. I just love all the possibilities and the gorgeous textures and backgrounds. Lots of fun memories there. It was so nice to have someone else take the photos this year instead of attempting to do it myself again. Thanks for the great shots Danelle!

The girls were cooperative. Elsa had an endless supply of poses and Amelia got away from her fake smile a bit. Oliver was Oliver and gave us some great grumpy shots. Simon, who normally smiles all the time, was not acting very happy. Then he threw up towards the end of the shoot and we realized the poor guy was not feeling well. But he still managed a few smiles for us.

Our "farewell Virginia" shot. Sniff sniff.