Family Photos 2004 & 2019

There was a time, not so long ago, where it was common for us to get together with my sister’s family and my parents for holidays and vacations. I have many fond memories of cousins playing together on the beach while we adults read, played cards, and caught up on life. With many of the kids now adults, and with work schedules no longer allowing the school vacations of yesteryear, our extended family get togethers have dwindled in recent years. In fact, the last time we were all together in one place was for about four days during the holidays at the end of 2016.

So, it was with a lot of planning and effort (as well as several plane tickets for kids who are out of state), we managed to gather the entire gang together last weekend in Southern California to celebrate Easter at my sister’s house.

Realizing that we were all going to be in one place, I knew it would be amazing to get a family photo taken. I put in a call to Ron Goodger, a photographer who had taken family photos in the early 2000s. Miraculously, he was available to come by Saturday afternoon following a morning wedding. Ron showed up at my sister’s house on Saturday afternoon, and we had an epic family photo shoot, complete with a couch moved onto my sister’s front lawn. Ron brought along a family photo from 15 years ago, and later shared on Instagram the photo from 2004 juxtaposed with a photo from Saturday. I remember the day we took the 2004 photo well. My youngest daughter Charlotte wanted to run around, and so I had to run out of the photo and quickly pose with her trying to jump out of my arms.

Although no one was jumping out of the photo on Saturday, a few family members were not happy about taking the photos. I’m not sure if this photo aversion is a universal issue or just in my family. I’m sure, despite the hassle factor, 15 years from now we will look back on this picture from 2019 and be thankful that we took it.

Here’s a family photo from 2004

And one from 2019