Four people twelve times

Last year I started a project. The original project was called Six People Twelve Times, and I modified it for myself, to make it Four People Twelve Times. It boils down to this: one family picture each month, no matter what. I started this in July, so for 2011 my project was actually Four People Six Times. Here are the results, which have probably been posted here before in one form or another, though not collectively.

I started the project off with a bang and actually got two family shots in July. One on Canada Day......and one when we were all dressed up for Jonah's baptism:In August we got a bunch of shots at Disney World, taking advantage of the park's Photopass photographers to get them for us. I am not in love with any of them; Mallory is generally not looking in any of them.By contrast, I LOVE this shot of us at the end of September, when I was still a hot mess with pneumonia and we made an impromptu trip to Point Pelee. That's the funny thing about this project. You can get all dressed up or have a great backdrop for a picture, and not get what you want. Or you can snap a quickie and be pleasantly surprised by how it turns out.In October we took our Christmas card shots. The Christmas card wound up being a picture of just the kids, but we did take a couple of family snaps too. I'm sure it won't surprise anyone that Mallory posed this shot herself.In November we went to the zoo and set up a self-timer on a bench before we left. Check out the 'stache on Chad. Can you believe we lived with that thing for a month??In December, we took a quick shot on Christmas Eve, figuring we'd probably be too busy to do it the following day. We were right.And that brings us to January. This is a project I would very much like to keep up, because I've loved having this particular subset album of family pictures. In some of them we are impeccably groomed and in others our hair isn't brushed and we're not wearing makeup, but they reflect our family, the seasons, and the things we do. I really like that about them. For this year I can foresee another ritzy shot at a family baptism, a street shot in Pittsburgh on a road trip, and one of us roughing it with ponytails and stubble on the rim of the Grand Canyon. With birthday cakes in April and poolside in July. Collectively they will tell our story. It's one I am excited to have unfold.

To kick it off, we took the January installment this morning after some sledding fun.Here's to making the most of the self-timer feature on the camera. Back in February with the next installment.