Family Photo Time!

It's hard for my family to get a family picture, especially these days. There's quite a few of us in the Tri-State area which is great, but then there are a few who live too far to travel either north, south, east or west to come together for any holiday party or family get together. I takes tons of pictures of the family but we don't usually get a group shot. It's always such a big production, we try and then forget and it never happens.

It's rare that we're all together and I miss that. Even as kids though, there were so many of us, someone was always missing for one reason or another and my mom never had a picture of all seven of her kids together. I bet even if we were all together it was also just a big production, we tried, and it never happened.

One year we decided to give our parents that gift for their wedding anniversary, a picture of the seven of us. Well, there were more than the seven of us by that time. My brothers, Michael and Bob, were married and Michael and his wife Debbie (big sister Deb) had their daughter Irene who was about a year old at this time. So there were ten of us getting ready for a picture. At one point Michael went off and we were waiting and waiting so Jimmy or Bobby or both of them went out looking for him, Michael came back and now Bobby or Jimmy or both of them is missing. By the time we were all together, Irene was all cranky and crying. The final shot Irene's crying, but the rest of us are smiling, all together. Best of all my parents, especially my mom, loved it.

This past weekend my sister Linda and her husband Bob hosted their annual family Christmas party. It's been a tradition in our family for over ten years now and it's a time we can get as many of our family to celebrate together as close to Christmas time as we can. Some years there are more of us, sometimes less, but with a family my size even the less is a large crowd.

We had a nice crowd this past weekend and decided to take a group photo of the family that was there. We're getting ready and calling the kids to take a break from playing whatever they were playing to come and take a family photo. Jojo refused. He wouldn't come up from the basement, couldn't tear himself away from his video game for five minutes. His dad, my brother Joe brought him up, I think he had to carry him up and sat him down on the couch, telling him to smile, it will take five minutes, you can go back to your game, etc. Jojo had a grumpy look on his face. Poor kid, probably going through the hardest time in his life, leaving a video game for five minutes. Yeah right!

My camera has a "sports mode" setting. Takes like 30 pictures in just a second just while pressing down on the button longer than the usual "click". It's great for taking pictures of the kids, they constantly are moving even when it has nothing to do with sports. The pictures aren't as clear as "portrait mode" or other settings, but not bad either. And again, with the kids, I get the picture, otherwise I just get blurry photos!

So I've put together a short video of us just sitting down for a family group shot December 2011. Jojo, again, has absolutely no interest in this photo being taken and is Mr. Grumpers and it shows. My sister-in-law Janet is turning her head watching him, cracking up at his attitude and his pouty lips, beautiful pouty lips I have to say. Jojo's dad, my brother Joey, is trying to force him to smile. Having no luck, Joey gets the smile the only way he could figure out. I didn't know any of this was going on until I downloaded the pictures. I had a good laugh!

Also, one of my sister's dogs, Scout, sweet dog, she is trying to find room to sit down with all of us and everyone is screaming at her to sit or move, she's trying to sit but can't find room!

So much going on in just a few seconds.

I will print the final photo for my family and for myself, but when I look at it, feelings about Jojo will overpower all the rest. I will think about my poor Jojo being pulled away from a video game to take a family picture. My poor Jojo having to smile. How rotten we were to him that day, making him sit with the family, making him smile.

You might want to report us!!!

Ho ho ho!!! Merry Christmas! Especially from Jojo!!!

FYI: JOJO IS SITTING ON THE RIGHT CORNER OF THE COUCH