What matters most....

is not that everyone is smiling perfectly, or looking in the same direction at the same time, or wearing jeans and white shirts, or at least matching clothes, but just that they are there. All together. In one place. At the same time. No shoes, only socks, funny hair, missing teeth.

Our newest grandchild - Miss Sarah Grace - is not quite one month old in the photo, and this was the first time all the grandkids were together since she joined us. Seems like every time I try to shoot a photo someone is home with an ear infection, or 1200 miles away, or wherever and we miss the moment.

When I realized all seven were actually in the same house, at the same time, I told Sarah - my 'seven' photo! She told me I had five minutes to capture it since they were running an hour behind and had to drive  home in 5 o'clock traffic with a baby who was bound to want to be fed about halfway there.

So we just smushed them all onto the sofa, in any order they chose to gather together, and this is what we got. Nine of our fifteen. Perfect would have been to have Janae so we had all the kids and all the mommas, or to have Dan so we would have all our kids and their kids, or to have all fifteen. But we'll take what we can get.

Regardless of the smushy, non-matchy, leaning, not smiling, looking the wrong direction thing about this photo it is priceless to me, and likely to become our Christmas card.

We'll photoshop in Janae. Or Dan. Or the other six of us. Or not.

In order, from left to right, Caiden (Chris and Sarah), Jae Beth (Dan and Janae), Grayson (Chris and Sarah), Sarah, Sarah Grace (Chris and Sarah), Leslie, Daniel (Dan and Janae), Landon (Jeremy and Leslie), and last but certainly not least, Miss Addie (Chris and Sarah).

I am always, always going to be in love with this photo because it holds so many of the gifts God has given us.