Cheese, Please!

Today we attempted (and most importantly, succeeded!)what seemed to be the impossible. We had the Connelly Family Picture taken. 20 people, 7 of them being age 3 and younger. Besides a big group session, we also split into 4 families for separate pictures also. The whole session lasted 1-1/2 hours. What was really impressive was how generally well everyone did! Here it was, at 10 am, in the middle of nap time for the babies and snack time for the other kids, and everyone held it together so well! Except Laura, of course. She was very stubborn because she was being directed what to do: where to stand, how to smile, what to do with her hands, etc. This did not fly well with her. She became just more obstinate and ended up having a huge tantrum. She hasn't had one of those in about a year! It was a hideous thing with her screaming like a crazy person at the top of her lungs, and looking like a kid way out of control. Daddy did great with her and didn't cave in to her in the least. So the episode eventually passed, but I am not certain she learned anything from it....she did it again later that afternoon at our house. She is just so dang stubborn!

We had a great day visiting with our whole family together. We ate lunch at Pizza Ranch (thank you Grandma & Grandpa!), then came back to our house to just hang out, play , go sledding(my brothers and I each taking our fair share of tumbles down the hill...that hurts a lot more than I remember as a child!), and sip hot cocoa with Christmas marshmallows. It seems so odd that it has been a whole year since we have seen the Miami family...it feels like we have just blinked and a year has gone by already. Thanks to the wonderful world of internet and all the pictures we have been able to share back and forth over the course of the year, the miles separating us do not seem as long and severe.

All the girls looked especially cute together...5 in all, roughly the same age, with Melissa as big sister. It is so much fun to watch them giggling and doing girlie things. Outside, they looked like pretty little pink and purple puff balls against the white snow. Lucas took an instant liking to Crispy, and followed him everywhere...I think Crispy was thrilled to feel so important! Thomas copied everything that Lucas said(and most was in Spanish)...he said sounds we have never heard before. The older boys learned to play a Grecian game with Uncle Cally, and taught Grandpa some cribbage. Grandma enjoyed sitting in the rocking chair holding sweet babies. With the twins and Abi, Laura & Melissa were simply thrilled. What a great day!