Christmas surprise

Way, waaay back in August, Shannon had the fantastic idea of surprising our parents with a family portrait for Christmas. The last professional shot they have of us was taken in 1994, when Ryan was 10, Shannon was wearing choker necklaces made of ribbon, Adam was shorter than me and had to stand on a box, and Jan Michael and I had only been dating for a few months.

We scheduled the shoot for a Saturday in early October, meticulously chose our outfits (including a tie for Gus) so we could achieve the perfect balance of coordination without looking too matchy-matchy (well, Shannon and I did this; the men could not have cared less, ha!), piled ourselves into one small Honda Civic and converged on the Capitol building for the best family picture session in recorded history.

I'm sure I don't need to tell you that Derek Pearson Photography is responsible for what you see below, and while I've said this before, I will say it again: You will not find a better photographer. He had the most fun and creative photo ideas, he welcomed and encouraged our own, he made us smile and laugh and feel completely at ease in front of the camera, and what we have as a result is a group of pictures that respresent who we are as a family, and a day of fun that we'll remember until we're old and gray. All family bias aside, what Derek is able to do every time he picks up his camera is amazing to me and makes me proud to be in his corner.

Poor Gussers was having some trouble with gas that day, which transalted into... POOR US!! Ryan had the good fortune to be able to leap away (and stay away!) until the smoke cleared.

We would pose, Derek would count down from 5...
We would run to another spot and pose again...
And this was the end result :)


Riverdance has nothing on us!

Each time any of us sees this one and witnesses Jan Michael's astounding pike, we fall over in gales of laughter. We've questioned him extensively as to how he managed such a position, and for the life of him, he can't remember :)
3...2...1...
Lift off!

This is the one that made the final cut. It's hanging in a beautiful frame over our parents' fireplace. And they love it.