the picture up above

As I'm considering what might be fun for Christmas, as in what on earth shall I give anyone, I've been arguing with Matt over whether or not we should get another family picture taken. The answer that we have for ourselves, of course, is a resounding NO. Why subject ourselves to the trauma and unhappiness of even one hour of trying to appear to be a pleasant and loving family when I could just knit another pile of dubious scarves and hats. In my mind there is no contest.

But others, i.e. Grandparents and so on and so forth, like the fancy picture in a frame, as indeed I probably shall when I don't have to be in it. And, truth be told, I protest too loudly and too much because I am always trying to get clever blog headliner pictures. Which leads me to the picture above. So many of you have complimented me so much on it, both here and randomly on the street, and I've been meaning for sometime to give credit where credit is due. 

While at the wedding of our beloved youth minister and his gorgeously stunning wife, I manipulated a clever, talented and long suffering friend to point my tablet at us and shoot. 
She, I could tell, was wounded in her soul to use such a device because she has a real camera and takes real pictures and earns real money and yet she deigned to use what was there, arranging us and knowing all about angles and light and everything. 
AND, more also, she magically captured our soul. Go check her out!
It's hard for me to consider getting another picture taken ever. I'd sort of like to get this one blown up and pasted on the wall at church except that that would be weird and wrong.