Sunday, September 05, 2010

Portraits of Love...and a Little More!

I blogged a few weeks back about getting our portraits taken at church for the new directory, so I thought I'd share them here. We have never had a family portrait done, as every time we thought about it or had a coupon it seemed we were waiting for someone to come home and we wanted to have the "whole" family in the portrait. Now that our family is truly complete, it seemed like the right time. While I still hate having my own picture taken and much prefer being behind the camera than in front of it, I realize the kids need to have a few pictures every once in awhile with mom in them.

They have a bit of a 70's feel to them, or perhaps it is my own personal preference of less staged photos, but we all did like they way they turned out so we will hang them on the wall next to our black velvet painting of Elvis and they will fit right in! Hahaha! Just kidding about Elvis...sort of... anyway, here they are:


Nice family photo, not half bad, everyone looking at the camera and smiling as if they are not being threatened with death.

Well, remember, we ARE LaJoy's and we always tend to do things a little bit outside the box...I think we had the photographer a bit stumped as to what to do with us! Here is a lovely photo of Mother and Father LaJoy, smiling demurely at the camera as if we will be hanging this in our stately manor:

And below is Ma and Pa LaJoy, the hicks from the country that we truly are! HAHAHAHA!! I loved this one, it really shows us as we are, never taking anything all that seriously!

Our darling children ready to attend the local academy, this was the photo the babe running the sales end of the evening insisted we take. We did, and we do agree it is a nice semi- representation of our children...

But THIS ONE below is really Team LaJoy, wide open grins and barely contained laughter...and my absolute favorite of the entire bunch of pictures taken that evening.

Now the menfolk, handsome bunch aren't they?? And why is it when I look at this I don't see a mismatched set? Am I that used to seeing our international family or is it that Dominick somehow has crept inside each of them and is reflected somehow in their smiles?

Funny after this weeks conversation with the kids about not caring about having kids that look liked us, etc. that this photo clearly shows me what our biological children might have looked like. So similar it is almost eerie...



So there you have it, preserved for posterity's sake, Team LaJoy in all its glory. It IS nice to have decent photos of us all together. Even nicer is that this was not put off yet another year as we waited for another "team member" to finally arrive. How blessed we are! I never, ever would have imagined 10 years ago when we embarked on our family building journey that THIS beautiful family would be the end result. It's not that any of us is overly attractive, it is that the love shines so clearly in the eyes of each one of us, gathered from hither and yon to create something wonderful and nurturing for us all that did not exist before.

Thanks God, for the pictures AND for the much, much greater gift.

16 comments:

Heather said...

Oh Cindy! Those pictures are absolutely perfect! I just love them. What a beautiful family you have. I can imagine how proud of them you are! What an amazing bunch of people, you LaJoys!!!! Thank you for sharing them

Lenore said...

Super-duper AWESOME!!! I LOVE each and every one!!!! You shine, Team LaJoy, through and through!!!

Anonymous said...

Terrific--and printing them in your blog will save you from buying 5x7's for every family in the church.

Thanks,
Lael

Barbara said...

Cindy,

Those pictures are really awesome. They really capture the true family!!

Thank you for sharing,

Barbara

Anonymous said...

Great photos of your amazing family, Cindy! Thanks for posting them so we could all enjoy them. You look great, but I do know what you mean about prefering to remain behind the camera. Every now and then, I sneak in the back of a photo, so my kids can have a few of me.

The photos really capture your family and the love God has given you for each other. Truly amazing stories of how you all came together... and truly wonderful example of what being family means.

And you're right, the girls look like they could be your biological daughters. And they're looking more alike than I've ever thought they did. I've never seen their hair down. Makes them look so grown up.

Nancy in the Midwest

Karon said...

I laughed and cried reading your post. We just attempted family pictures yesterday and we are waiting to see if any of them turned out. Granted our two boys are three and wild. I will be content with one good one of each of them to hang up.

Anonymous said...

Cindy,

I just love the photos.......So funny and beautiful. Love your sense of humor. Never got back to you regarding homeschooling....sorry. In the end, we ended up sending the girls back to the school and so far happy with it. It would have been too hard for our family sense we both have to work. Girls have great teacher though, and they are loved. Just wish the rest of their classmates were in the same mindset as the girls (there to learn).

Take care!
Robin Gillis

Jackie said...

ALL the photos are lovely and exude much happiness!!

Anonymous said...

Those photos brought back memories of having to sit for church photos with my family. I don't think I've ever smiled with tears of happiness in my eyes like this before. The LaJoy's ROCK!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

Carol said...

GREAT photos, Cindy! It is difficult to get photos with everyone looking fantastic... and you did it. Very photogenic family!

Kelly and Sne said...

What GREAT photos! All of them. I had to laugh at the goofy one - my parents have one (a church photo) of my mother strangling my father and everyone says it is the best photo of them! I guess the most realistic one anyway! Ha!

4texans said...

Wonderful! I also love the laughing one.

Christina said...

SO wonderful... glad you shared them. :)

Ivy Lee said...

Those photos are just priceless! I have been behind on reading the blogs. Thanks for sharing.

Carrie DeLille said...

What great shots!! Just PERFECT!!