Haser Happenings: Family Pictures

Having professional family pictures taken seems like a normal thing to do, right?

Well, in our family it is not...

I know.

It is hard to believe with my unbridled passion for photos...

Trust me. TRUST ME. I have tried...

When the kids were first born. I would INSIST on family photos.

It was never fun. It was always stressful. There was crying, gnashing of teeth, and worse!

One baby, tricky but not too bad.

2 babies, some fighting, but still winning the fight....

3rd baby- Yah, fighting, crying, pushing, maybe even a diaper blowout....

and this was the last official 'professional' pic....

I know it is hard to tell the kids looks sweet and all, but the major amount of fighting and chaos that was undertaken for this pic made it our LAST professional family picture. Todd told me under no uncertain terms would he ever do that again. I couldn't totally blame him. It was insane. After that, I did try to sneak a pic in here or there over the years, and it always ended in tears and didn't work out.... So, I figured home pics were just fine. My Dad has obliged us many times, and I am getting pretty good with the self timer. For some reason, as long as it is not a professional picture everyone is just happy as a clam. That is assuming clams are actually happy. Maybe a more appropriate phrase would be, "Happy as Indy with a marshmallow"... ???

Anyhow, I was feeling that fight burn in my chest again. That desire for a fun family picture, that has a professional feel. As well as, I was getting a bit sentimental about the fact the children are going to be leaving the nest soon.... So... I maybe begged, insisted, ok and a little bit of pleading and more begging, and finally the family relented! They agreed to ONE more professional photo shoot. Probably, just because I was wining louder than they were... Professional pictures have truly evolved since Krystin was one, and they are a lot more creative and flexible, which is good with my clan. They are not just restrained to the bounds of a photo studio, which I think is what caused the family anxiety.

There were some photographers that I had heard of and liked their work, and they happened to be doing a shoot in Hong Kong. It was MEANT to be! They were supposed to be here for just one day in March. We booked it in December, and hoped for the best.

It had been raining for weeks literally before the shoot. I mean pouring, and mostly in the afternoon. Our shoot was scheduled at 4:45pm, rain prime time. The universe was kind though, and while it was not sunny, it was dark and gray, but it did not rain!! My hair was a little more fluffy than I would like, but this is Hong Kong and it is humid, so what can you do, other than keep it real? Oh, did I mention Logan, Krystin and I had to catch a plane a few hours after the shoot to California. Yes, a bit crazy...

Why do I babble so??

After 15 years of waiting, here are a few of the Haser family pictures!

(You did notice the one above right in the title?)