Portraits, The BEST Christmas Presents EVER!!!

Christmas shopping.

Just the thought of it has me spinning this year. Four children, four grandchildren—and let me tell you, this season could absolutely stress me out... if I let it.

Between empty store shelves, rising prices, and shipping delays, checking everything off the list feels more impossible than ever. So I did what many of us do—I asked my grown kids and teenagers what they (or the little ones) wanted this Christmas. The responses?

"I dunno." (from my teen, of course)
"We’re trying to downsize Christmas this year."
And my favorite: "No more toys—she has plenty."

Well, bless their hearts, but I’m pretty sure that last one won’t stick. Babies need gifts from GiGi and Papa to tear open on Christmas morning—it’s the law.

Still, I’ve learned over the years that I can go overboard with gifts. (Shocking, right?) I have to remind myself—maybe you do too—to pull back, take a breath, and return to what really matters. Because in the middle of all the wrapping, cooking, decorating, shopping, and scheduling, it’s easy to get caught up in the season and forget the reason.

And that brings me to a story.

When I was around 10, I first heard the tale of The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry. Della and Jim—so in love—each give up their most treasured possession to buy a gift for the other: she sells her hair to buy him a watch chain, he sells his watch to buy her combs. In the end, their gifts are rendered unusable—but their love? Immeasurable.

Isn’t that beautiful? It reminds me of all the ways we try—really try—to show the people we love how much they mean to us. We want that perfect gift. And when we can’t find it, we panic-buy something random, promising ourselves we’ll be more thoughtful next year... and earlier, too.

This past weekend, I was taking fall portraits of my own family—just casual, candid moments—and one of my daughters said, “Mom, we really love getting these from you. Especially when we’ve forgotten we even took them.”

I laughed, but it hit me. The portraits I’ve given them are the gifts they remember—and keep. The ones that hang on their walls. The ones that only grow more meaningful as the kids grow up and life moves on.

I think about a dear friend of mine—a photographer—who once gifted me portraits of my children when they were small. Those images are among my most cherished possessions. Not sitting on a hard drive. Not buried in a drawer or lost in a social media feed.

They’re framed. Hung with care. Loved.
I see them every single day.

And every single day, they make me smile.

This year, I'll give something that won’t get tossed aside, won’t go out of stock, and will never be forgotten.