it's that time of year. the time when all of a sudden i wish i had a really great picture of the four of us. you know, one the grandmas would want to hang on their fridges and one that really shows what we all look like to the friends and relatives we haven't seen in a while. a picture for the people who aren't on facebook or instagram. (yes, there are those people!)
this year, one of our friends said she would take some pictures for us. and i am so grateful! yesterday we went across the street and we got some pretty great pictures - but why is it that my favorites are always the silly ones and the outtakes? i would just send those - but i know my mom and ben's mom will want pictures where they can see all of our faces . . . so i will go with one where we are all looking at the camera. but! i will also add two of the silly ones to our card. and i will post a little variety on social media.
as i was choosing the pictures and making the card, i was struck by the fact that this will be the seventeenth christmas letter i have written as mrs. patten. this feels like some sort of milestone. i wonder if this is the last christmas picture where i will be taller than isaac? maddie is already quite a bit taller than me. maybe i will pull together a post of our christmas pictures through the years - that would be a fun trip down memory lane. for today - i am so very grateful for all these decembers, for all these years, and for the three wonderful people i get to call my own.