On Mother’s Day, I had a small role in the service at our church. Because of that, they requested I send in a photo of our family.
Sue: Would you mind sending a photo of your family so we can show it during the service?
Me: Uhh…the whole family?
Sue: Yes, the whole family.
Me: You mean like, the kids and The Man and me?
Sue: Yes.
Me: So like, a photo with everyone in it? And me too? And The Man? And me?
Sue: *pause* *giggle* Yes. Everyone.
Me: slight panic. Sure. I’ll get right on that.
Because y’all? I have no recent family photos. As you know. So I had to grab a friend who was visiting to take a quick photo of the fam.
photo by Alisa
There we are. The whole family. And me. So what am I unwrapping? Well, the fact that I have taken a small step toward following my own advice. I got in front of the camera rather than hide behind it. Because even though it was sort of required that I do it this time, next time I’ll do it for fun.
What moments are you unwrapping on this Tuesday? Link up below so we can celebrate with you and maybe gain a little perspective in the midst of this busy time of year.
1. Include a story or a photo documenting your messy, lovely, unexpected gifts of the small and ordinary nature.
2. Link up below to the permalink of your Unwrapped post. To find out what yours is, simply click on the title of your post and grab the permalink from the address bar. If you do not use the permalink, your link will be deleted.
3. Link back here in your post so your peeps will know what it’s all about. Grab the pink button if you feel so inclined.
4. If you don’t have a blog, please feel free to unwrap your daily gift in the comments section!
It’s a beautiful picture of a beautiful family. Get out from behind the camera more often!
If it is any consolation, I need to do the same thing. My husband is willing to take pictures…as long as I set the camera settings for him. I love my fancy camera, but I noticed the number of pictures of me with the children decreased dramatically once I upgraded my camera.
And as I said on Sunday, it’s a beautiful picture and you did an amazing job. So thrilled and blessed to call you my friend.
P.S. If you want to get out from behind your camera, come model for my Frugal Fashionista posts. I’m tired of feeling foolish having Abby take pics of me…so silly…I want you in them :0
That is a beautiful family photo! You definitely need to get out from behind the camera more often!
Oh, you are all so adorable! Even you. The boy is cracking me up. I love that it’s not a formal portrait. You guys are just being yourselves and THAT is worth unwrapping.
I just recently got a remote for my D60 so I can be in the photos without having to rush around waiting for the timer. It’s super slim and doesn’t have to be pointed directly at the camera. I can conceal it in my hand and just push the button. How cool is that?
What a beautiful family & photo! Please tell me this took more than one small and ordinary moment to capture each family member smiling at the same time!
The last time we tried this, I think it was 20 long minutes before we gave up on getting everyone to look and smile. 
But your photo is just perfect!!
What a lovely photo and a gorgeous family! The last family photo I have was taken in 2004! I really need to follow your lead….
Mom in High Heels – I have the same remote for my D80! See, I should be ashamed! I still haven’t figured out how to not have my big ole hand in the photo, though. I always have to point mine directly at the camera and look like a fool. I think I just need practice.
And Jo, we were lucky this time. She took about 6 shots in less than 30 seconds and this was the best. A rare photo shoot for us, for sure!
Wonderful picture.
sandy toe
What a beautiful family, Emily! And you look totally gorgeous! I’m guessing that your twins aren’t identical since one looks more like the Man and one more like you.
What a beautiful family photo!!
That’s right, Bonita. Very UN-identical, those two.
An adorable photo!
Hi Emily–I love your picture! Good for you for just taking it! I am feeling really bad, because I didn’t take any Easter pictures–my Hannah was sick and we were lucky just to get her to church! We also didn’t get any Mothers Day pics because the oldest two had a Mothers Day choir performance/play and when it was over the baby was too fussy. Anyway–I am loving Tuesday Unwrapped and your blog! I need to just snap away and put myself in more pics–today’s post mentions that!
Take care!
jenn
Love that shot, Em. That really shows you all off nicely! I still can’t believe the girls are that big…I remember them when they were so teeny tiny and it was hard to tell them apart. They sure have become big beautiful girls.
Happy Late Mother’s Day.
Love that photo – so sweet to have the whole family in one place! As a photographer, I know how rare that can be!!! Thanks for your comment and invite to drop my post over here today – I’ve been so out of touch recently! I’m glad to know some people are still reading!
Y’all are such a CUTE family! You are blessed
Love the photo! I linked up for the first time today. And I have to admit that we failed to get one photo on Mother’s Day. Blessings!
We have no recent family photos, either.
We need to get on top of that, or at least set up the camera w/ timer on the tripod.
Not to mention the fact that it’s nearly impossible to get 3+ children to all look and smile at the same time!!
very cute family photo! I have to admit we don’t have a recent one either! The kids would all growl and grimace at the thought of a “family photo” with me in the picture! But they proudly pose with just their dad. How sad this sounds. Okay, I think it’s time for me to go sing a happy song now! =)
Love you guys!! What a great picture. Your hair looks great – it was the first thing I noticed
LOVE that photo! I have nothing funny or clever or important to add to the conversation.
I wrote my post before I remembered that today was going to Tuesday Unwrapped so it has no reference to your blog but it fits. My messy life of no naps led to a very sweet moment for our family that we happened to catch on video. I love that you do these Emily because they remind us to try and capture those moments, whether in film, video, or words. I love it.
I feel the same way about family photos! I was determined on Mother’s Day to take one, it wasn’t that hard to set up the tripod and use the remote clicker–so why don’t we do that more often?!?!
Yours turned out LOVELY! Good for you for making sure you will be in the photos, not just behind the camera.
Emily, you’re so beautiful inside and out! YAY for getting in front of the camera… your family is gorgeous!
Gorgeous family photo! I am absolutely LOVING this weekly opportunity to cherish the small details through my camera. Being a photographer has its curses – often times I’ll overlook the simplest thing because my mind is trained in one way. Thank you for giving us a great place to hang out and share in our own little gifts.
Hugs Emily!
A beautiful picture, Emily! The only reason we have (2) family photos is we’ve gone to Portrait Innovations for the past two Christmases and had our pictures done, lol! Hopefully, when my hubby returns from his deployment, we’ll get a nice family photo then
)
Beautiful family picture! I planned to take on one on Mother’s Day (because the last one of all of us was oh… 3 years ago?!) and I forgot to take my camera to our family cookout! Now I know I should have asked for a remote for Mother’s Day!
You have a beautiful family!
What a lovely family photo!!! I have been letting my kids take pictures of me and Hubby lately on our vacations, so we’ll actually be in some of them together
and they actually do a pretty good job!
That photo is awesome. I need to get better about family photos for sure. I love that you didn’t select special outfits for this … your son’s in a camo t-shirt & it’s perfect. This is great!!!!! {Plus there’s always the *magic* of black & white or sepia to help turn around mis-matched color schemes if you want to}
Thanks again, Emily. Tuesday’s my favorite day of the week!
Good for you! I think family pictures are important. Years later, the children won’t care if it’s professional or not.
This is such a sweet photo of you all.
Love the picture!! I had put up my post about my roses, then went to read my Reader and saw your Tuesdays Unwrapped post, and decided that my roses post would be perfect. I’ve wanted to join the fun, but I could never remember to simply do it!
I’m bummed that I’m missing She Speaks this year. I’m going to miss seeing all of you bloggy ladies!
Emily, you did an awesome job on Sunday. I know getting up in front of SO many people is very nerve-wracking, but you were graceful and sincere. Thank you for representing the highschoolers and mommies so well. Don’t let your “invisible mom” get to you, you are doing a fantastic job raising your sweet, cute kiddos. You have given so much of yourself in the past two years, and I am so grateful. You and John have made a BIG impact in SO MANY lives and I don’t think you guys get thanked enough. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Your family photo is absolutely beautiful!!
Aw, look at how cute you all are!
you are such a beautiful family! glad you had an excuse to get that “documented!”
Great family photo!!
love your hair curly! my tuesdays has a picture of me too. i’m taking your advice.
What a nice polo that your Man has on there.
What a beautiful family!!! Get out from behind that camera more often!!!!!!
This is so fun to see your beautiful family! Love your little guy and his “smile.”
You and your family are just gorgeous! And, you really need to get yourself into more photos, Emily. Not to be too much of a downer, but tomorrow is promised to none of us. My sweet SIL passed away from breast cancer at 32. I wish we (her girls especially) had more photos of Noreen.
-Michelle
Great family photo and the points you make in this post and the one about Loretta are so right. We all need to live more in the moment and be sure we capture these memories including those of ourselves for our family.
Thank you Emily for your lovely comment. God is so good in what He does in our lives. Thank you again for Tuesdays Unwrapped–it has MADE me blog. Thank you thank you.
I think I am falling in love with this blog =)
Well done you for following your own advice. It’s a lovely family photograph, too!
Finally got around to posting mine. What. a . Tuesday. I hope I don’t have to repeat that one. “Lord, grant me the serenity…” ; )
What a beautiful family you have! You must be proud!
Thanks for sharing!
Melissa
I would so love to remember to do this on a TUESDAY….tis Wednesday…and the unwrapped day had passed. I shall make a note for next week.
Your family is beautiful, and I love it because it is both beautiful and real! I have also found that black and white photography (it is my favorite style btw) can eliminate the need to “chose” clothing for photos. My Christmas cards are all have a black and while photo…so I don’t have to add one more thing to the list
Just a gorgeous family you have!
Emily, what a sweet photo of your family. Glad you were requested to get one made, you’ll be glad you did.