our life in photos....or not

We are making a photo album to send off to Emma Kate.

It will be filled with photos of family life, our home, her room and each family member along with captions translated into Chinese so Emma Kate knows who and what she is looking at.

Ann, at Red Thread China, is doing the translating and compiling them all into a book to send to Emma.

We have a problem: good photos.

We actually have a lot of great photos, but out of context they would most likely give Emma great anxiety about her future life with us.  They are not great because of the perfect composition, or incredible photography.  They are special because they are memories.  Of us.  Our family and the life we love sharing together.

So how do you take this

and explain that it is the annual Father's Day water fight.  And that everyone is actually having a ball!  Even the neighbors lined up to watch they thought it was so fun and funny.  

The end result 

That just looks weird if you don't know what it is we are doing.

And then there is this

the annual 4th of July haircuts on the deck.  Each year one of the boys seems to decide it is time for a major hair change.  Last year Jeb chose a buzz.  This year Cooper went from a flippy hairdo to a short, tight cut.  Very handsome.  

Not a photobook picture, though.  Just a great memory.

We also have a bevy of images like this:

because what is beach play without burying one of the big kids in a giant sand hole?  

Probably not super encouraging, however, for the joys of family life if you don't already know how fun this is.  Looks more like a punishment than a treat!

And there is always the 4th of July Olympics, family style.  

Those look like this:

Oh, yeah.  Your Daddy has a lot of hot air.  He came in second to Aunt Kiki for the biggest bubble this year.  A prestigious placement.  She's a pro!

Besides bubble blowing we also have the sport of the water balloon toss.  It looks like this:

Really.  It is fun.  I promise!  We really, really do like each other! 

It is especially joyful to recall the fun of this lake sport:

See how that ends? 

Our family loves to play all together.  I don't know how unique or how common that is.  I just know it is us.  And I'm grateful for it.  The time we spend enjoying one another, celebrating life and making memories is sweet.  And makes us who we are.  

The annual picture of the really tall guy on stilts in the cabin's beloved small town 4th of July parade makes us all smile.  I don't think Emma would quite "get it".  Uncle Sam is odd enough, never mind a 14 foot tall Sam.  And why are the kids all crouched over near the ground?  One word: candy.

How to explain the joy and splendor of sitting on the dock and seeing who can spit a cherry seed the farthest?

Doesn't work in words.  Or pictures really.  And cherry pits?  That's strange.  Not really, though.  Not when you know how hard it is to find a watermelon with seeds these days!

It's context, people!  Good exegesis of our life in pictures.  Not really translatable in a photo book.

Soon, though, she'll be home.  Here.  With us.

And then, it all becomes her story, too.  Her stories.  Her experiences.  Our shared joys and laughter.  Life lived well together.

Soon, all the photos will make sense.  And a photo book will become a place for memories, not introductions.

Until then, we will omit these pictures, and include ones that need no translation.  Ones like this:

Cousin party.  Family love on a walk in matching dresses.  

Emma Kate, you belong.  You are so loved and we await the day you are home forever and part of all our silly pictures that record the fabric of our family life.  

Love,

Momma