The story behind our Christmas Card - 2016

Merry Christmas!

As the Christmas season approached, I was scrambling to find a picture to use.    We didn't do family pictures this year. So that left me searching iphoto.  Thankfully, I came across one from my cousin's wedding this summer that I thought would do just fine. Not my favorite picture, but good enough.

I found a card company I'd never used before. And I found a design that worked with our picture.   Wanting to get our Christmas cards ordered and done early, I placed the order.

When the package arrived in the mail, I was so excited...until I opened it up.

 I wasn't happy with the print quality. And I wasn't happy with the quality of the image {It was too dark.}  So I emailed them, requesting a full refund.  Much to my surprise, they quickly responded. They apologized. And they refunded me in full.  I sent the package back in the mail {but I did keep one for myself - pictured above!}.

So that put me back at square one. No picture. No Christmas cards.

The day after Thanksgiving, we went to get our Christmas tree.  I packed the tripod to go with us, in hopes that we could snap a good picture.

Thanks to a cold snap that we were experiencing here in the northwest, there was tons of frost that morning.  When we pulled into the Christmas tree farm, we found a spot that hadn't yet seen the sun.

I bribed the kids with the promise of a can of pop and treats in the car after our cold photo shoot. And for the most part, they cooperated.  Even despite frozen toes.

Dan has an app that allows his iphone to be used as a remote to the camera.  And while I would occasionally run back to the camera to readjust the settings, the pictures could be taken with the phone/remote behind our backs.

So while Dan fiddled with the camera, the kids and I could look at pictures on the phone!

Thankfully, we got some great pictures!

I had a few people ask me if the frost was photoshopped into the picture. Or if it was real.  But as you can see, it's indeed real!  {Though I do wish I knew how to create frost with photoshop!} While we were darn cold, the frosty morning provided us with some festive pictures though.

We took a few variations of pictures to give us flexibility with designs.

 I found this one on minted.com and it worked perfectly with our picture!

Hard to believe Christmas is just a few days away.  I think this holiday season has flown by faster than any other.  I'm hoping we can sit back and soak up these last few days a bit.

Wishing you a very joyful Christmas!

jen