Indecision is a Curse

We were all together for three hours this summer so tried to take our 2009 Christmas card picture then. Someone suggested we all traipse across the busy street to sit on a concrete retaining wall. Not my first choice of location but it was convenient.

Everyone jumped up on the wall, but since my wall jumping days are behind me I went up the steps and walked to the wall. When I tried to sit down I fell over, so Andrew was the dutiful son and helped me up.

I didn't like how this one turned out. Background is too busy and Keith looks like he's holding up the wall.



We included Andrew's girlfriend, Rachel and Kiah's boyfriend, Mark in this picture.

Which wasn't a good idea because Kiah and Mark broke up six weeks later. Ever resourceful, I just cropped Mark out of the picture. But Keith said the stray hand on Kiah's shoulder looks creepy so nix on this picture.


We borrowed without asking Grandma's neighbor's lawn chair and posed in front of the neighbor's landscaping. You can do this in Iowa without getting in trouble. I thought this one was okay but someone didn't like how they looked. They wanted to try one more pose.

One of the kids suggested we take a picture on the spot where Keith proposed to me. Since we celebrated our 25th anniversary this summer, that sounded like a great idea. However he asked me underneath the kitchen window of his parent's house which isn't the most scenic background.

Someone complained again that they didn't like how they looked. I explained about the Law of Family Pictures. That the moon and stars have to align just right before we get a perfect picture. And in every shot, someone will look like a doofus. Too bad it happened to be their turn this year.

Keith and I weren't smart enough to just make an executive decision. Being democratic only led to a stalemate. There wasn't one picture that everyone liked.

So Erica suggested a picture we took when everyone was home at Easter, when it was my turn to be the doofus. I'm the one paying for these pictures so for sure I don't want to be the doofus. Erica then came up with this collage and finally everyone agreed.

Except that we didn't have Rachel in the picture. So I tried one more time and came up with:

I really liked how this turned out. But Keith said we should save a collage like that for a year when we can't all get together. That since we have an actual family picture we should use it.

So I did what any indecisive person would do. I ordered both collages and the picture of where Keith proposed. Some people will get one picture, others will get a different one. That keeps people guessing.

Hopefully next year we can take a decent family picture at Andrew's wedding and be done with it. Just think how much housework I could get done if I didn't obsess over the annual family picture.

So for kicks and giggles, which one do you like best?