The holidays are stressful. Halloween is fun, and I have no problem with Thanksgiving, but once that last turkey sandwich (topped with stuffing and cranberry sauce, of course) has been consumed is when my stomach really gets tied up in knots. Not because of the ungodly amount of pumpkin pie that I'm sure to have eaten, but because of all the shopping that I know needs to be done. This year, January had the great idea of getting professional pictures taken for both of our families: A great gift and almost no Christmas shopping? Genius.

So this past Saturday morning, we met up with our families at Inniswood Park in Westerville to spend an hour or so getting our pictures taken. We were cautiously optimistic about the weather all week, and on the morning of the shoot we were happy to find it nice and sunny. It was a bit on the cold side, but for a weekend in November there was very little to complain about. Around ten in the morning, we rolled into the gardens with my parents, my sister, her husband and two children, January's dad, step-mom and sister. That's a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of people to handle.

Lucy hamming it up for Mimi and Grandpa. Photography by Lisa Rice Photography

I'm admittadly a little biased when it comes to central Ohio photographers, but we were fortunate enough to be able to get Lisa Rice -- with whom January has been able to shoot several weddings over the years -- to meet up with us to take these pictures. Lisa was great and was able to quickly get through each group and combination of people quickly so we didn't have to get too cold.

Team Soell with the Newbanks family. Photography by Lisa Rice Photography

At the end of our time at Inniswoods, Lisa had taken photos of just about every combination of us imaginable. Coincidentally, just as I was beginning this article we got an email from Lisa with our final photos, and they're just so great! We're both really excited to be able to get some prints of these made and wrap them up for Christmas morning, but I couldn't resist sharing just a few of them here.

Will and Grandpa. Photography by Lisa Rice Photography

Lucy with her mama and papa. Photography by Lisa Rice Photography

It feels really good to have our holiday shopping all but done, weeks before Thanksgiving is even here. I'm definitely looking forward to less time stressing over shopping and more time decorating the tree and watching Lucy experience her first Christmas. Thanks again to Lisa for the incredible photos, they're better than we imagined they would be!