Round two of Meet the Fam

Last month during our get-together in Montpelier we arranged to have a family picture taken, since we all happened to be there. However, we had a few hiccups come up that weren't exactly conducive to a family photo op.

1. Photographer backed out 3 days beforehand. (I know, right?)
2. Snow storm.
3. Napless baby. (That'd be Clara.)

So a few Plan B's had to quickly be instituted. And then a few Plan C's and D's. Anyway. Here we are in all our snowed-in glory.

We look friendly enough, right? We are friendly, I assure you. Meet Tom's sibs.

Shelly's a regular around this blog of mine. She leaves lovely comments. Plus, don't you just love her scarf? And this just in: she's having a little lady come Mayish-Junish. Clara's about beside herself with excitement at the thought of another girl cousin. Anyway, Shelly lives much farther away than I'd prefer, but what can you do? And meet Taggart. He once started a blog, got us all hooked, and then retired after the first post. He and Thomas are a downright hoot and a holler when they get together. 

Meet Tracy and Dave.

(Turns out my brothers aren't the only ones who like to take engagement photos...)

Tracy married Tag and Dave married Shelly. Oh, and I married Tom. So now you know. Tracy is a fantastic photographer so next time we have one of these shin-digs I nominate her to be the President of the Family Photo Op committee. Also, she and I both had an instant connection when we found out that we both tend to only get one hair cut a year AND we were both editors of our high school newspapers. (It was like fireworks went off!)  Dave recently went to Alaska specifically to climb a mountain, and he also happens to do a near-perfect impersonation of a goat. One of the best I've seen. You can really tell a lot about the quality of a person just with those two facts alone.

Meet Marilyn and Jerry and the young ones. (Sounds like an over-the-top cheesy band name, no? And this picture could be used in their "about the band" blurb.)

Technically, you met Marilyn yesterday (except you'd probably met her even before that). But it's also worthy to note that she owns one of the most entertaining blogs out there and she knits gnomes and gorgeous Christmas stockings like nobody's business. And, speaking of impersonations, Jerry does a fantastic impersonation of Julia Child and he also makes a mean breakfast burrito, and any other sort of meal for that matter. (And by mean, I mean tasty. Because I don't know that many breakfast burritos that are capable of bullying.) And see that little fellow on the left trying to escape? That's Pete. I think—out of all of her 18 cousins—Clara looks the most like Pete. Isn't he a looker? Aren't they all little lookers?

I'd also like to note that Clara IS half-smiling in the above picture. I like to think that she put a lot of effort into that half-smile. It's a lot to ask of a cranky, napless babe. And it's all we got.

And that, friends, is a wrap. Toodle-oo. Or for short, toods.