Better Five Years Late Than Never

If you walked into my house and gazed at the pictures on the wall, you'd notice there is something, or someone, missing. And I could kick myself for it.

I am the youngest of my siblings, the baby of the family. My parents did what most parents do and took tons of pictures of their oldest child, my brother Todd. There are some really great black-and-white photos of him as a little fellow in the great outdoors, usually sporting a pair of cowboy boots. But, like most parents, with each child the selection and quantity of photographs diminishes. Which leaves me with very few childhood pictures of myself.

It's not a really big deal. There are enough pictures to satisfy my nostalgia and my children's curiosity of what I looked like when I was a kid. My little munchkins were highly entertained when my brother, who was visiting from West Virginia, and I went through my mom and dad's old box of photographs. I had some seriously awesome hair in elementary school! But my stylish 80s hairdos are not what I'm rambling about. What I'm rambling about is the fact that I did the same things as my parents and took less photographs with each kid.

In all honesty, I didn't do so bad. There are still lots of photographs of my kids when they were young; there are just more of Melanie. And more tangible photos of her. When Carter was born and into his infant/toddler stage was when digital cameras really arrived on the scene. I have one photo/scrapbook album of Carter, whereas I have four of Melanie. And I think the reason for this is that most of Carter's pictures are on the computer, where they and other photos provide a slideshow for a screen saver. It's actually quite nice, and Ben and I often find ourselves just watching the screen and remembering funny times with our kiddos.

So, even though I still have photos, I've been terrible at displaying them nicely framed on my wall for all to see. Right now I have a picture of Melanie from 4th grade; she's now in 7th. Her photo isn't too bad, because she still really looks like herself. On the other hand, Carter's photo is from when he was about two years old. Seriously, the boy is eight now! And Riley? Do you remember the something, or someone, missing from the beginning of this post? Well, that'd be my youngest, who is now five, who doesn't even have a picture on our wall...until now!

My amazing friend, Teona, took pictures of my kids last week. Granted, with my kids as subjects she has some beautiful material to work with, but she also did a fantastic job with the photos.

It was really hard selecting which ones to develop. As I'm typing this I realize I should have posted a bunch and had you all who read this vote on your favorites. But I would have picked what I wanted in the end anyway. ;) That's just my mother's prerogative.

We took these just up Cedar Canyon, where the bridge is by the Canyon Park trail. Riley's we took a few days earlier, and didn't make it up in time to keep the sun out of the photo. Carter and Melanie's were done early enough that we caught the shade, and they look wonderful! The contrast between the light and dark in the pictures is something I worry about when they're all on the wall, but it's better than what's there now!

I'm pretty lucky, don't you think?