My family is a mess. A wonderful fantastic tornado of a mess. Every one of us has an eclipsing personality that fights to overtake the others. We each look at the world through very different eyes. Which creates havoc of the most exciting kind. Jaylee wants order, Greyson wants destruction, Lily wants relaxation, Mom wants adventures, Hunter wants excitement, and Dad just wants a little quiet.

When we headed off to take our family photos I knew there was going to need to be some bribery and coercing for all of our personalities to work as a team. So first things first, we found new outfits. I made sure each kiddo was involved in the decision as much as possible and that the clothes fit perfectly so they felt comfortable and in control of their “photo destiny” (that’s a thing right?). Next was THE TALK. No not that talk! I’ll save that for Dad. I’m talking about the talk were I explain to each little how important these pictures are to me, how I only allow the most skilled and talented children to look fabulous in front of my camera, and that I know they have what it takes to take beautiful pictures! Finally came the bribery. Tic-tac’s, fast food, movie night, you name it, and I probably offered it! And after multiple days of prep, I knew we were ready to tackle this mole hill!

When the moment came and we arrived at Crimson Dawn, I was in shock and awe of my well behaved cooperating family. Hardly any complaining, they followed most directions they were given, and even my dear husband got into it by the end! Now no it was not a Disney movie with us dancing a singing among woodland critters. Yes there were plenty of photos with my youngest attacking the rest of us and screaming bloody murder to put him down. Yes there were moments where we just needed to take a small break and just enjoy the scenery. But all of the prepping made a monumental difference.

By the time sunset arrived 5/6 family members were model citizens (I’ll give you a hint who the 16 is, he is the smallest and tearing the insides from a pillow as I type). So I would say that is a HUGE win for this family, and while I don’t think I will be up to taking on this challenge until next year, it was 1000% worth the memories I now have.