The best gift for someone who has it all? Photos. Hands down.

Trekking across-town through the insane three day blizzard, we made it safely to my parents' house and quietly snuck my gear inside, hoping mom wouldn't notice the nine-ft. long tube and random cables, etc... strewn across the corner of the living room. Of course, within minutes she asked, 'What is this thing? It looks like a photo backdrop.' She was onto me!

I caved and told her my gift to her & dad this year was a post-party family ShootShack session. She loved it.

My apologies in advance for what is very much a marathon blog post.... but... it *is* mom & dad's xmas gift after all.... :)

The Cole Train. We now refer to him as 'Col-e' (based on Austin Powers 2 and Fred Savage's character with the mole. 'Mol-e, mol-e, mol-e')

The Denominator (wha? see an explanation here) Love that smile almost as much as I love the shot of him pulling Gina's hair! Ha!

Yours truly!

So..... mom!

Brother Nick (Col-e's papa). I'm so proud of this guy! He's kicking some serious booty in his pre-med program at UNL and is nearly impossible to spot without a book or a laptop in tow. Pretty much any conversation you have with him winds up in a discussion of organic chemistry or quantum physics. He is one passionate dude. He almost makes me excited about physics and chemistry. Almost.

Male parental unit (aka: 'Doad'). He has spent the last couple of years building his version of the Taj Mahal (our up and coming family lake-house in Ashland) with his own two hands. Having recently introduced his hammer to his thumb, he sports the evidence here. Ouch. (I love that he's wearing his UPS sweatshirt in this photo. He retired from UPS after 25-ish+ years of service and is still loyal to the core.)

Sister Gina (Denominator's mama). Typical! She was always the kid who couldn't wait for Christmas morning to open gifts (and routinely snuck peeks of them in advance!)

The boys.

Brother Tony. Quite possibly the sweetest guy on the planet. If you know Tony (everyone knows Tony) you know that teddy bears really do exist!

Sister-in-Law Jamie. Col-e's mama and power-house extraordinaire! Her strength goes far beyond her power-lifting record.... she's kickin' butt in her nursing program while managing to keep an eye on Cole and an ear on Nick's bio chem lectures. :)

Too fun!

Brother-in-Law Roy (Denominator's papa). Roy dresses in character as a writer sporting a corduroy jacket complete with elbow patches!

Emir looks so cute in his vest! :)

This shot makes me laugh. Out loud. I think it represents a good chunk of our childhood. Ha ha ha ha!

Tera-dactyls?

The girls. :)

What fun! Love you!