Fall Family Photos & Our 2016 Christmas Card

Hello friends! I'm so excited to share our fall family photos with you and give you a sneak peek of our 2016 Christmas card! I went a little bit out of my normal comfort zone with our card this year and used multiple photos on the front, instead of just one photo - mainly because I just couldn't decide which adorable photo to use, I love them all so much! My ultra-talented friend (and BFF's sister-in-law) Becca of Little Fox Photography took these photos of us in Ryan's parents' backyard. We were planning on hitting a local park with a lakeside beach, but it was an overly warm day in October and the park was so crowded that afternoon that we couldn't even find a parking spot! Luckily, we were able to take advantage of the gorgeous yard and creek behind Ryan's parents' house, just down the highway. The kids loved playing in the creek a bit and we even brought along stuff to roast s'mores at the end of the session as a reward. 

This session was a bit atypical for us because all of a sudden, Mac seemed to love the camera (or at least the Smarties I was bribing him with) and Mim wanted nothing to do with us, photos or Smarties. She played along for a while, but mainly only participated when she could get Becca's full attention to herself. Otherwise, she mainly just wanted to go back in the house and play kitchen with grandma. Mac, on the other hand, was all smiles and cheesing it up! This is so unlike both of them, we were thrown for a loop. Becca was great with the kids (having 3 of her own) and got some really great shots of me with them, which was my number 1 request. I'm thrilled to finally have a few (even if they're fake) smiling photos of Mac, but certainly wish Mim would have played along too. Oh well...one of these days we're all going to nail pictures. Until then, this session was pretty awesome and turned out better than I anticipated (I tend to keep my expectations very very low these days). Thank you so much, Becca! 

Also, I owe a big GIANT thank you to my lovely friend (and personal stylist) Dacy of Mindful Closet for coming over to the house, picking out our outfits and styling the entire family. I gave her some general directions on what colors I was leaning towards and Dacy picked out every piece of clothing, shopping exclusively from our closets! Everything we're wearing we already owned, which I think is fantastic. It is also so incredibly awesome to not have to think/stress/worry about what we're going to wear in our photos for the days/weeks/months leading up to them. I'm terrible at putting everything together with coordinating colors, patterns, layers and textures, but she's amazing at it. She had all four of us styled (in clothing we felt confident and comfortable in) in less than an hour. Plus, the money she saved me from buying us all new stuff was way more than she charges for a consult, so GO HIRE HER RIGHT NOW. 

 

(all photos taken by Becca Fox of Little Fox Photography)

Like I said, there were just too many cute photos to pick from! I had the hardest time narrowing it down to just one photo...so I didn't! Once again, I used Minted for our Christmas cards because their quality and selection is just outstanding. I love their beautiful, classic, simple designs and really love the fact that you can see your own photos in the sample cards, to help you choose the right layout and colors. I love that they have options for foil printing, envelope liners, return address labels and let you add images/text to the back of the card. Plus, they will print and address your envelopes FOR FREE! 

It took me about 5 hours and an entire bottle of wine, but I finally narrowed down my 600 card choices to one final winner. And here it is! (it's the Merry Glow style, in case you care) (and if you haven't yet received our card, act surprised when you get it...)

Have you ordered your holiday cards yet?

*A huge thank you to Minted for inspiring this post. I received this product in exchange for my honest review and feedback. I couldn't be happier! All opinions and adorable kids belong to me!