We took our annual Christmas card pictures today. I wanted to have all 4 newfs in one picture, but Russell pointed out that there was no way that that was going to happen. And, I knew that he was right. So, we divided the dogs into pairs. After breakfast this morning, I gathered together the requisite decorative bows, and camera. Russell gathered the leashes. I tied the bows on to Cora & Ben; both of which were incredibly dubious. And finally, out we went! We started out in the back yard. However, after a few "shots" I realized that the lighting was all wrong. Photographing black dogs is always a challenge. And the fact that it was horribly overcast this morning didn't make things any easier. The house was actually blocking the good light, so I insisted that we move to the front yard. 
Of course, Russell pointed out that this was asking for trouble. He felt that the dogs would be more interested in who and what were walking down the road. And, if the kids across the street happened to be sledding, then we were doomed. I understood that, but was on a mission and nothing was going to thwart me. We got the dogs "in place" and I frantically snapped away. When I thought we had a keeper, we took Ben and Cora back inside. At this point, both Kira & Yelda were going crazy. They were convinced that there was going to be some sort of "super cool" expedition, and that they were being left out! When I approached each one with their "bow" they seemed to be less than thrilled. After finally putting a bow on both Kira & Yelda, we took them outside for their "session". If we had been worried about neighborhood activity before, we were even more so with these two. Both Kira & Yelda are highly excitable. Happily, however, there was nothing going on, and we were able to get both girls "in place" fairly easily. Also, surprisingly, they were much more cooperative then Cora & Ben had been. Amazing!!!
I started snapping away, and was actually much more successful with these two. There were more pictures to choose from, and only one or two of them were of closed eyes, or moving body parts! Knowing that I had a "keeper" for both pairs, we went back inside. Russell & I were both freezingt. I gave treats to all the dogs for being "good" and hurried to the comptuer so that I could download the pictures. Seeing larger versions of each one helped to eliminate all but two of each group. I then started designing the card, and printed out a rough draft. Russell is going to print them at work. However, in order to do this, I needed to go to the office supply store and pick up cardstock and enevelopes. I did this before going over to my mother's for a visit. I was thrilled to find the cardstock and envelopes rather quickly. I had had no concerns about finding the cardstock, but I had been worried about finding the right kind of envelopes. After paying for my purchases, I hurried to my Mother's and we had a great visit. She was really upbeat today, and instead of being in bed, she was sitting up in the family room watching tv and enjoying her Christmas tree. That is a definite improvement!
Back at home, we walked the dogs and I gave them their dinners. I then came in and worked on copying the pictures and then cropping them so that I could get good pictures of each dog. And it's those "cropped pictures" that I've posted in this post. In order from top to bottom are Cora, Ben, Kira and Yelda. I then made a Christmas Webpage with each one of the pictures and then emailed the link to friends, families, and dog related forums that I participate on. Russell will print out our cards tomorrow. I will work on mailing labels and if all goes according to plan, they should be in the mail by Tuesday. WOO-HOO!!!
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