Look! It's us!

So you probably noticed the new picture in the sidebar. This weekend we did something we haven't done in a really long time. We got family pictures taken! I have been wanting to do this for years, but we've just kept putting it off. Here's the last family picture we took (and we did this one with our own camera and a timer while we were hiking):

Yeah, that was a while ago. I don't think Lexi was even 2 yet. Anyway, it was time. We went to Portrait Innovations, where they suck you in with a rediculously low package price (and no sitting fee) and then charge you extroardinarily high prices for any additional sheets you might want. And they take a LOT of pictures so you'll be tempted to buy more. We, of course, gave into temptation and bought the cheapest package that still got us the CD with all the pictures from our sitting. Not that it matters, because the resolution is so low we'd still have to take it back to them and pay loads for reprints, but oh, well. Now I can blog about it. Here are some of the pictures we didn't buy:
This one is really overexposed. I, in particular, have quite a glow about me.

I call this one "Thoughtful Ellie". She wasn't sure about the whole portrait experience. That, and she couldn't quite get why the photographer didn't want her to look at the camera.

In fact, this concept seemed to confuse all the girls. Lexi was trying so hard not to look at the camera that she just looks totally goofy in all the shots where they tried this.

Vicki has a hard time smiling on command and was forcing herself to giggle. I think she thought it would look more natural, but it just looks super cheesy. Which I love, but not necessarily for a picture I'd hang in the living room.

The girls wanted them to take a picture of just Mom and Dad, which they were of course more than happy to do. This one was taken right after the photographer asked how long it had been since we'd had portraits done of just the two of us, and before we could answer Vicki said, "Since like 1969!"