Family Pictures 2015

Taking family pictures is sort of a love/hate kind of deal.

I love thinking of a location. I love trying to figure out what to wear (especially if I get to go shopping). I love getting our whole little family all dressed up, hair all done, meanwhile issuing threats/promises of treats for good behavior. But most of all, I love, love, love looking back at the pictures.

However, I hate thinking of a location. I hate trying to figure out what to wear (because I want everyone to be happy with what I pick out, and most importantly getting the outfits on sale is a must because you know I am shopping!) I hate getting our whole little family all dressed up (staying clean/stain free), hair all done (staying curled, styled, and in place), meanwhile issuing threats/promises of treats for good behavior (Who am I kidding, there is never good behavior when taking pictures!) But it's worth it because I will never and could never hate looking back at the pictures.

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Back in my Sugar's first year (2012) of dental school, our location for pictures was all but decided for me. He could not break away for a second from his studies in order to take family pictures. If we were going to do it, we had to come to him and we only had an hour. So, at UNLV Dental School campus, we took our family pictures. At that time, we were a family of 4. 



This year, his last year (2016) of dental school, was not much different. My Sugar was in panic/crazy-eyed/scratchy skin/short tempered mode. He had BOARDS coming up and this test was a pretty freaking (expensive) big deal. So of course, he could not break away for a second from his studies in order to take family pictures. If we were going to do it, we had to come to him and we only had an hour. So, at UNLV Dental School campus, we took our family pictures, again. This time, we were a family of 5. 

Did I mention how much I love looking back through old pictures?

Mommy and Daddy

Afton & Jack

Afton, Jack, & Jocelyn

The Girl

The Boy

The Baby Girl 

She is pretty much perfect!

Our girls

Westra Family of 4

Westra Family of 5

Crazy how much we have grown, in so many ways, and that we still have a smile on our face. It has been a rough/memorable/exciting few years, but worth every minute of it. 

Also - Crazy that I am wearing the same pants in both years - See Sugar, I'm not always buying new clothes.

"It's just the worst."

Most of us enjoyed this. Most of us were willing to endure the cold. Most of us would do this again. Most of us had fun overall. But, there's always that one. 

Jack started out being on board with this ice skating idea, but he turned into a grumpy young man quite quickly.

He hated the way the skates felt. He hated not feeling balanced. He hated that he had to hold the side. He hated that he couldn't do it on his own. He hated all the people who were zooming past him. He hated how cold his hands were. He hated the way the gloves felt on his hands. He hated that Afton was doing better than him. He hated how his nose "was freezing right off of his face." He hated that there was no place to stand off the ice to get warm. He hated that he fell on his butt. He hated "ice skating. It's just the worst."

But, the rest of us had a good time.

"Gingerbread Pirates"

Jack read a book in kindergarten a few weeks ago. He's been talking about this book, this activity, this "amazing thing" everyday since.

It's called "Gingerbread Pirates." His teacher let me borrow it so I could see for myself why he loves it so much. And, it's adorable. It's every bit as awesome as he made it out to be.

Today, this book, this activity, this "amazing thing" happened. My boy loved it. (He did get very frustrated though every time he tried to decorate a pirate because his left hand would accidentally rub across his frosting and mess up his design. Being left handed is hard.)

Our cookies, pirate cookies, for Santa won't just be left over ones that we've been given as treats from family and friends this year. We actually did the hard work ourselves. 

Turns out this activity was an "amazing thing."