Day # 17 (A Photo of my Family)

(The 30-day blog challenge continues... this is Day # 17; thirteen more to go!)

"A photo of my family."  Hmmmmm.  This proved a little more challenging than I first expected!  "My family", eh?

Well, which "arm" of my family?   My *first* family: mom and dad, sisters and me? 

Or my *own* family: me and my husband and our two kids? 

Or the "family reunion" kind of family -- you know, with ALL the rellies --aunts, uncles, cousins, halves, steps, in-laws, out-laws, ex's and friends??? 

And then that begs a further question: a recent photo or an older one ???  (Yes, I realize I am probably reeeeeally over-thinking this... I tend to do that!!!)

So basically I decided that NO ONE PHOTO can possibly meet ALL the potential criteria... so you will just have to bear with me through SEVERAL photos!

So, in (kinda, sorta) chronologic order...

1.  My "first" family:
This is my sister Lana (the blonde), and me (I was 12), and Dad and Mom.
Since my other (oldest) sister Laurel is not in this picture... I will have to find another with her in it!

Then, here's a picture of "my own" family, my husband Barry, me, and our 2 kids.  It's a LITTLE more recent than some of the other family photos I have posted during this blog challenge; Josh was 18, Kendra was 8.   Yes, I know... my hair was very dark and very short!  It was a phase.  And thankfully it didn't last toooo long!
(OH! FYI, I made my daughter's dress and hair bow... you can't really see it in this scan-of-a-picture-of-a-picture, but it was pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself!!!)















And one of my husband and me, Kendra and her husband on a cruise we took last year:

And OH, I don't wanna forget a picture of my beautiful sister Laurel:

And just because it makes me smile, here's one of the "3 Sisters", taken *cough* a FEW years ago!!!
Left to right:  Laurel, Lana, me. (Lana with her eyes closed again -- I  told you!!!)

And because it brings back such fun memories, here's a photo of SOME of us on a family vacation.
(Yeah, I know, same bad hair for me, but LOOK!  Lana's eyes are open!)

And for no reason other than I love it, a picture of Josh and Barry:























And no "family album" would be complete without a picture of Jerod, who is like a son to us:

And so NOW, to catch (almost) everyone else that hasn't yet been posted, here's a picture taken a couple of years ago at Kendra's wedding.  Presenting... The. Whole. Fam. Damily...

Ta DA...

(FYI: our side of the family on the left [can you tell who's who?!]; groom's family on the right.)
















*Whew!*  I hope this satisfies the "requirements" for a proper "Photo of My Family" post!  I gotta tell ya' -- it was touch-and-go there for awhile!!!  ;o)

**** TOMORROW:  "A Baby Photo".  OH YEAH, you GOTTA see this...

Day # 14 (An Old Photo)

Day # 14 of my September 30-day blog challenge.
 


















In this photo, I'm the 3-year old in the peach-colored dress.  Otherwise, from left to right is my sister, Lana (who ALWAYS has her eyes closed or half-closed in pictures!  It's a family joke!), my mom, my dad, and my maternal grandma, Emma.

The occasion was my oldest sister's wedding.  Too bad she isn't in the picture!  Anyway, what else you can't see in this picture is MY SHOES. 

I got new shoes for the event, and OH!  I just LOOOOOVED them.  There were two problems, though: (1) they were about a size too small (the store didn't have my size) -- AND (2) they had little heels (maybe 3/4" high??!)  that I had never had before and was not used to.  But my mother says that I LOVED those shoes from the second I saw them in the shoe store, there was NO talking me out of them, and I wasn't going to let a silly little thing like them being too small stop me from getting them!  

She warned me about the size:  "They'll hurt your feet!" 
My reply?  "No, they won't!"

She warned me about the heels: "You'll trip and fall!" 
My reply?  "No, I won't!"

So she bought them for me, and I left a VERY happy and excited little girl. I could hardly wait to wear them!  (I asked every day, "How many days till the wedding, Mom???  Huh?  Huh??  Huh???!")

FINALLY, wedding day came!  I got my pin curls taken out, and I put on my pretty new dress and ruffly socks and SQUEEEEEEZED into the shoes (*ouch, ouch, ouch* -- but I didn't tell mom!)   I felt like a million bucks, and was just about ready to waltz down the stairs to ever-so-gracefully make my glamorous grand entrance and... *CRAP*!  Wouldn't you know I TRIPPED AND FELL!!!  Yes, just like Mom said I would!!!  I didn't get hurt (well, only my pride!)... but dang, WHY IS THE MOM ALWAYS RIGHT???!!

*******
Tomorrow:  "A Celebrity Crush"!  Really??!