By Kelly Burke
November 20 ,2008
If there was a motto for the Burke family...go big or go home would fit the bill pretty good. That's because the Burke's don't do anything small and that includes family Christmas pictures. Now, most people take the traditional holiday picture, but my Mom makes an event out of our annual December fit for five gathering.
We've been doing it since I was a baby, and it's only gotten more and more outrageous as the years have gone on. I'm talking themes...at times it's hard to decipher if we're dressing up for Halloween or our holiday greeting card. Now, if you would have asked me ten years ago, I would rightfully have complained about this tortuous one day a year. However, I've come to appreciate it, and I know that all my parents Christmas card recipients do!
What started as coordinating colors turned into integrating our hometown (hence the cactus picture) and of course there were the years of the sports teams. One year we dressed up in Phoenix Suns paraphernalia- probably the year they went to the finals. We've had Western themes, and one year my Mom even made us dress in our sports uniforms. I'm embarrassed to admit that during that whole phase when flourescent and neon colors were in, snap bracelets, the whole nine yards...yeah, us kids were sporting those crazy colors one Christmas too.
I have to say my all time favorite was our Millenium photo. Honestly, to this day, people think the picture was professionally taken. We got all dressed up, hung a red sheet on the side of our house, and there you have it! By the way, none of our photos ever were. That was part of the fun or should I say fury of the whole thing. If we weren't waiting on a timer to take the whole family, we were waiting on my Mom, who is the world's slowest photographer, although a darn good one.
So, why have I completely changed my stance on this whole thing? As I've gotten wiser with age, I realized that not only has this helped bond our family over the years into a tight-knit group, but these picture taking sessions are harder to recreate now that we're scattered all across the West Coast. I'm obviously in Oregon, and my brother just moved to Montana for the Air Force, so this may actually be the first year we are not all together at the same time. So, my Mom may have to resort to a first- photoshopping me into this year's Christmas picture. I guess I'll have to coordinate the theme from across the miles!!
Enjoy the pics,
Kelly
