Holiday Traditions

You don't have to be famous to have a stable of paparazzi clicking away trying to capture the perfect shot. 

My mom's birthday and our family's Christmas Eve gathering have a good share of "Smile!" "Look this way!" and "Wait! Just one more!"

This was the first year since 2019 that all 32 of us were together. Covid canceled the whole affair in 2020. My family was absent last year, also due to Covid. So it was even sweeter to be together this year. 

My mom celebrated her 87th birthday on December 24.  Ever since the grandchildren were little, we've been taking a photo of the birthday girl with the troops.The first one with all seven of the grandchildren was in 1994.

From left: Abby, Brian, Blake, Mom holding Madison, Jill, Brent & Paige

The grandchildren shot is easier these days. They can even look the same direction. 

Now, my parents' 10 great-grandchildren are the little kids in the Christmas/birthday photos. But that gets easier every year, too.

December 24, 2022: Front row: Pratt, Mom, Dad, Clara and Cole. Back row: Benson, Holte, Braden, Neelly, Beau, Brooke & Kinley

 

Here was the 2017 version of the great-grandchild shot. See? I told you it was easier these days.

A few years ago, someone suggested an "outlaw" photo. So they got in on the photos this year, too. 

This was the entire gathering - minus my niece, Madison, who took the photo. 

Several years ago, we moved the evening meal to the shed to accommodate the crowd. I'm thankful to my brother and his wife, Kent & Suzanne, for the work they do to make it possible. 

It was good to be together.

We had our immediate family Christmas on Friday. The Ladds came a day earlier than expected to avoid the worst of the weather. While Jill and Eric worked remotely on Thursday, we still found some things to do. 

The girls also helped me make our traditional Oreo Cheesecake for our Christmas dessert, but I missed getting photos of that. 

It was a very Merry Christmas! 

 

Tidings of Great Joy: Christmas Traditions

You don't have to be famous to have a stable of paparazzi clicking away trying to capture the perfect shot. My mom's birthday and our family's Christmas Eve gathering have a good share of "Smile!" "Look this way!" and "Wait! Just one more!"

My mom celebrated her 84th birthday on December 24.  Ever since the grandchildren were little, we've been taking a photo of the birthday girl with the troops.The first one with all seven of them was in 1994.

From left: Abby, Brian, Blake, Mom holding Madison, Jill, Brent & Paige

The grandchildren shot is easier these days.Wow! They're all looking the same direction.

From left: Abby, Mom, Brent, Madison, Paige, Brian, Jill and Blake

Grandpa gets in on the action in some of the photos, too.

 

These days, my parents' great-grandchildren are the little kids in the Christmas/birthday photos.

This year, we were missing one of the 10 great-grands. He was a sad little boy to miss the shenanigans with all the cousins, but the other mommies and daddies were glad he kept his stomach virus at home.

With the great-grands getting a little older, the yearly shot is getting somewhat easier.

 

Cake time! The troops disbursed. No more holding the pose.

Someone suggested an "outlaw" photo. So they got in on the photos this year, too.

We were missing one grandson-in-law who was home with the sick boy.

This was the entire gathering - minus my brother, Kent - who took the photo.

We've moved the evening meal to the shed to accommodate the crowd. 

The Moore "kids" have been the stars of Christmas photos for quite some time. Though my brother, Kent, was born in December 1966, he didn't make the Christmas card until 1967. This is the first photo card with all my siblings. I would have been 10, Lisa, 9, Darci, 6 and Kent was 1.

We haven't changed a bit.

***

We were glad to have some extra chore helpers around here last weekend. Kinley and Brooke helped Grandpa water the cows ...

 ... and feed hay and grain.

The cattle aren't the only ones growing this year. Kinley's 8th birthday is coming up soon, so it was time to add her height to the family growth chart.

Since Brooke's 5-year-old height hadn't yet been recorded, Grandpa measured her, too. Kinley is a bit shorter than her mommy was at the same age. Brooke is taller, but not as tall as Uncle Brent.

The girls helped light the Advent candle at their church in Topeka early in December. Then, on December 22, Kinley and I read the Advent devotional and Grandpa lit the candles at the Stafford United Methodist Church. It gave this Grandma a bit of deja vu, since it was something that their mommy and Brent did as children. They also got the candy bags that our church has been giving out at Christmas for 90 years now. This year, Randy and I got the candy and stuffed the bags, carrying on a tradition for one of our church's patriarchs who died this year.

And, of course, it wouldn't be Christmas without some presents. They might have gotten one or two.

A Christmas Miracle

It was like a Christmas miracle. We added another person to the annual Christmas Eve photo ... and it was actually easier. Maybe it's the fact that the other ones were another year older.

Whatever it was, we'll take the victory. It's not easy getting 10 kids ages 8 and younger to look in the same direction at the same time.

Here's proof from last year:

2017

My parents now have 10 great-grandchildren after another was added in February 2018.

All but the very youngest enthusiastically sang "Happy Birthday" to my Mom, who is a Christmas Eve baby.

Since the grandchildren were little, we've been taking a photo of the birthday girl with the troops.The first one with all seven of them was in 1994.

From left: Abby, Brian, Blake, Mom holding Madison, Jill, Brent & Paige

The grandchildren shot is easier these days.

They ought to be experts by now. My dad got in on the picture this year, too.

We four kids also had a photo taken with them. But I'm my family's photographer, and none of my family took photos. There were plenty of paparazzi at this family photo shoot, so I'm sure I could ask for one.

That's OK. I'd rather be behind the view finder anyway.

And, speaking of traditions, photo Christmas cards are another one for this family. Here's this year's version of the Fritzemeier Christmas card.

We had family photos shot in November. And it's a good thing .. because of that aforementioned aversion to having my photo taken. (Below are the other photos I used on the back of the card.)

Photo credit - Jill Grogg, Manhattan

Demiurge Photography, Manhattan (From Jill & Eric's family session.)

Photo by Jill Grogg, Manhattan

I've been involved in Christmas photo cards for my whole life. It's a family tradition. I starred in my very first one in 1957, as a 6-month-old baby.

The first one with both Jill and Brent was in 1988. Brent would have been about 7 months and Jill was 3.

Christmas Card Photo - 1988

Back when Jill and Brent were little, this annual attempt was captured on film. And you weren't sure what you'd gotten until the film was developed. I have rolls and rolls of film chronicling the misadventures of getting two little kids to look their best in the same frame. The move to digital photography makes the storage problem easier - though it can't help everyone look great in every frame.

My brother took this photo of the whole crew (minus himself) as we gathered for the birthday/Christmas Eve meal. There were 31 of us.

Tradition is a good thing. 

Reboot: Christmas Photo Imperfection

Photo by Lisa Bauer

Tradition dictates that we attempt to take my Mom's Christmas Eve birthday photo with all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Taking photos of nine children - ages 7 and younger - is not for amateurs, though we tried it anyway. We're just lucky everyone was looking relatively acceptable in a frame or two.

My sister, Lisa, got the best version (the photo at the top of this post).

 In reality, it was more like this ....

... or this ...

 ... or this.

Next year, we'll add another face to the great-grandchild photo - a great-grandson who is to be born in February 2018. I'm guessing the photo results aren't going to get too much better for the foreseeable future.

The grandchildren shot is easier these days. It hasn't always been that way though. The grandchildren have been taking the annual photo for years, 

From left: Abby, Brian, Blake, Mom holding Madison, Jill, Brent & Paige

They've improved since the first version with all seven of them back in 1994. They ought to be experts by now.

 

If I'm honest, photographing just two of them isn't a piece of cake either.

Maybe just one at a time is the way to go!

Or maybe I should stick to cat photography. Target didn't even move when he got crowned by Brooke.

But Christmas isn't about perfection (though this Type A first-born can't ever quite figure that out during all the preparation).

It's about genuine smiles ...

... family,. love ...

... and a whole lot of moving parts AND moving kids.

Our annual Christmas Eve birthday photo shoot isn't going to make it onto a photo website, showing the "how-to" to create the perfect holiday image. It's not about photography's Rule of 1/3s or perfect lighting. It's about family - all the imperfections and all the chaos.

There was definitely chaos. But, boy, did they have fun!

And so did the birthday girl.