The family photo.

I, like many other moms out there, had the desire to get the perfect candid family picture this holiday season. I tried my best to plan it and make it perfect. In the end, it wasn't planned, and it was perfectly imperfect.

I first thought of getting a picture of all the grandkids for Erik's parents. I thought that Erik's mom would love that. We tried and that was not easy. 4 kids ages 8, 4, 3 and 22 months. That is a pretty tough crew to corral and to keep happy. We tried with Lollipops and got a few but the real success came a few days later.

My friend, Kellie Hatcher, agreed to meet us at the park right after nap time to try and capture a few with just our kids and then possibly Erik and myself. I hadn't showered in a few days(TMI) and Erik had no idea we were going to be a part of the act. We were both wearing hats, Skye was wearing a ballet outfit and very, very reluctantly decided to put on her jeans and Spider had just woken up from his nap. He was wearing sweats. I am telling you all of this because we did not prepare at all. Not a bit. I literally rushed them out the door and into the last 15 minutes of sunlight to snap a few pictures. The kids were fantastic. They were having fun, despite the chilly weather (hello, it is Park City in Nov!)

What we got back were some absolutely wonderful shots. They were candid and real and they showed the life and happiness of our kids and our family. I am so glad we did it and Kellie did and amazing job. The perfect part of these pictures is that we aren't perfect. I didn't comb anyone's hair, I didn't wipe off anyone's face. I didn't make anyone wear anything special. We were all outside, having fun and it showed. I am writing this to encourage every family to be their true selves in their family photos and to encourage moms not to stress about getting everyone "ready". Like most everything in life, if you try too hard, it's never gonna turn out the way you want it. Just let it happen and I bet you will be pleasantly surprised!

Thank you Kellie Hatcher Photography!