Each summer we take a family picture at Bear Lake.

But since Max wasn’t going to be at Bear Lake with us this year (sadness), we opted for family pictures in South Carolina.

It goes without saying that I’m sentimental and a little bit crazy, but every time I clean out closets and find the clothes we wore in these pictures back forever ago I can’t quite throw them away:

That picture has been hanging in our living room for years so it has kind of become enveloped in who we are.

I can’t resist putting in this one too, because look at Lucy:  

Dagger in the heart that she has grown up so much!

I think one of my girls gave me the idea that we should rein-act that photo one summer at the lake to show how much everyone has grown over the years.

So I brought all those clothes last summer with the best of intentions to do it, just for kicks.

But it was windy as all get-out that day and I could see there was no way in Heaven I was going to talk my kids into an outfit-change.  (Those pictures are in this post back HERE).  So everyone dutifully promised they would be great sports about it next year (which is this year now).  They thought they were off the hook since Max wasn’t going to be at Bear Lake.

Until I pulled out those old clothes in South Carolina.  (I’m telling you, I’m a piece of work.:)

But despite my ideas to switch around the outfits and improvise different similar colored outfits for some of the kids, it just wasn’t going to happen.

So we just did normal old pictures with whatever blue motif we could pull out of our luggage.

Just for me, everyone posed in the same poses as we did in that old picture.  Here’s the new, blue variety:

(Lucy took her job of looking at Claire very seriously.)

And just for comparison, here’s the old one again:

New one again:
Ok, and one more old one:
And that, my friends, is a testament as to how much kids can grow in a measly five years.
Here are the rest of the ones from this year:
We didn’t have anyone to take them, so I just handed the camera to Max’s friend (on the right below) who gave me a deer-in-the-headlights look but was sweet as could be to snap away for a little while for us.

And to end on a sentimental note, we had to also rein-act the photo we took last time we were at the beach on the East coast, one of my all-time favorite pictures.
Here they are back then:
…and now:

Oh man, I sure love this family of mine.

10 Comments

  1. This actually made me cry, my littles are growing up so fast now, it just seems like yesterday we were in the throws of babies and all the crazy that goes with that, now we are preparing for our first school camp! I'm so excited for them and know how wonderful it is that they are growing up and venturing into the world, but man, sometimes I just want those beautiful little babes back x

  2. Great pix:)

    I've seen quite a few people on Facebook re-enact their pix & it's a great idea. On Facebook it's called Throw Back Thursday. (TBT)

    I especially like the pix of Elle, Max & Dave in the earlier one & then the recent one. Max & Elle were so cute when they were little:)

  3. I've been following your blog for a bunch of years now and I cannot believe how much your kids have changed in the pictures. Especially how tall Max and Elle are getting. And I thought my boys were tall.

    These are beautiful pictures.

  4. Oh I just LOVE these pictures! I always think of you and your family when our SMALL family of twenty go to the beach and I wonder how in the world y'all make Bear Lake work. We had ten kids and the oldest was seven. It was constant chaos! HELP! con oil@yahoo.com

  5. I love seeing those progression pictures! Cannot believe how much your kids have grown in the past few years. It really does go by way too fast! Love your cute family!

  6. That picture of your "five year ago" family on that bench is how I found your blog a few years ago. It was pinned as a photography idea on Pinterest! I am so happy I found your sweet inspirational family!
    Also, I love the close up picture of your family in the driveway this year–so good of everyone! And…Lucy's hair, love!

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