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Cathy: That's fine. Hey, Jacob, would you grab out John's shirt out of the closet?
Peter: We're going to be taking our family photo today,
and I'm getting ready.
Rick: You look pretty.
Cathy: Working on it.
Rick: I suddenly feel very self-conscious.
Cathy: Well, with red and green, I think maybe you should.
Rick: Now, my memo said that we were dressing in a Christmas outfit.
I don't know.
Cathy: You're not supposed to look like a Christmas tree.
Well, today is our annual Christmas photo.
And every year, it seems like we -- by the time we do it,
it's freezing cold outside.
And so we're so happy.
Here it is, early December, but it's 74 degrees out there.
And so we want to take advantage of this day if at all possible.
But the problem is, John and Mark have quite a few depositions today,
and we're trying to fit between appointments.
Jude: Our family actually runs a few businesses out of our home.
The one we've had for the longest time is court reporting.
What we'll do is, a lawyer will ask us to
come to a proceeding that
is called a deposition.
And our job is to type down what's being said.
Aside from Dad, John has been involved in
the business probably the most out of any of us.
And one of his assignments actually happened to
coincide with the taking of our family photo.
Cathy: John hasn't gotten home yet, but everyone else is.
I'm hoping we can just get the whole shot all totally ready,
and leave a spot for John, then John can just run right into the photo.
Rick: Counting the photo that we're about to shoot
within about 10 minutes, we've done 24 of these in a row.
They've changed a lot, of course, in numbers.
Gone from a family of eight in 1989 -- six kids,
Mom and Dad -- to a family of 16.
So that's doubled.
And the kids don't wear suspenders anymore and
stand up like little toy soldiers.
Other than that, it's basically the same.
[playing "Jingle Bells"]
Rick: Good.
There's the mailing that's yet to go out.
We hope Monday it does -- Monday the 5th or 6th.
On the wall, I hung up all the mailings from our Arndt Reporting Service.
The first official Arndt family portrait came in
the fall of 1989 -- I think November -- October
or November -- when I opened the doors of our business.
There's the first one with all of us on the steps.
And then this next year, we all went in front of the fireplace.
Cathy: We did kind of stand out from the crowd,
because of the picture.
Each year, of course, people would check and
count how many heads were in there.
And there usually was another head, another head,
or another big, fat belly getting ready for another head.
And it was actually a good way to keep everybody
abreast of what was going on.
Rick: In the old days, when we had little ones,
it would be hard to get a good picture.
[crying]
Rick: Because this one would be wiggling.
Every year, we had one wiggler.
[crying]
Rick: You want to hold that thing?
We might have to take literally 50 or 70 pictures.
And you would hope for that moment when
everything would line up perfectly.
>> Cheese!
>> Pizza!
Rick: Wow. We've never had a happier two-year-old.
Hey, that one looks good just right there, just a little bit.
Cathy: Yeah, except look how big my head is in it.
Jude: It's just a little zoomed in, Mom.
Rick: I kind of miss those days, the bedlam.
And we look back at some of those videos that we had,
and it's funny.
I would have to tie everybody's ties.
This is a different era.
But I liked that era, too.
Mark: For the past maybe six or seven family photos,
I've been very involved, because that's about the
same era that I had been shooting weddings professionally.
Mom is always very active.
I handle more the technical side of it.
Mom is better at coordinating the colors and arranging everyone.
Plus, Mom has the clout to boss everyone around.
I don't quite feel comfortable doing that.
So we're a good pair.
Luke: John's depo just ended, but he's about 15 minutes away.
He says he doesn't know if he'll have time to come home
between now and the doctor's appointment.
Mark: Well, he has to leave here in about 15 minutes, right?
Luke: Yeah.
Mark: John just finished his deposition,
but he's about 15 minutes away from here.
And then I think he needs to leave from here in
about 20 minutes to go to a doctor's appointment.
So I don't know if it's realistic that he'll even
get here today and be able to be in the photo.
Rick: You can't put him out here someday when we're not here, can you?
Cathy: Well, yeah. Let's say if John was sitting here,
and you got him sitting here anyway.
And then can you put it together?
Mark: Well, I've actually done that a few times,
and I usually get away with it.
I don't always.
Rick: Well, let's give it a whirl.
I mean, technology has come a long way
since we started these in the early Stone Age.
Luke: Turns out John isn't going to be able to make it here,
so we came up with a Plan B.
Cathy: John's going to be the farthest thing out on this side.
Luke: What we're going to do is we're going to keep
this setup and digitally add John later.
So we'll leave a spot for him now as we take the picture,
and then when he comes back in an hour or two,
he'll stand alone out here.
And then we'll combine the two pictures,
and hopefully it'll look believable.
Cathy: Okay. Now, go ahead and sit down.
All right. Would we focus, please?
Peter, turn this way.
But if you can kind of put more bottom --
Mark: I think this is going to look really nice, though.
We have real good light behind you.
Cathy: Well, everybody knows we're
going to keep taking the pictures until we succeed.
So now that we've got everybody pretty sensible,
everyone cooperates.
They're not fighting it, or complaining, or acting like
a two-year-old, wanting to get out of the picture.
I'm going to take a picture.
If you guys get your shoulders really up -- yeah.
Yeah, that's much more flattering.
We usually had little ones who were wiggly and fighting it,
and so we tried to make it into something fun,
something that they'd enjoy,
because you got to do it anyway.
If you can make it fun, it's not so bad.
One year, Luke set up a video camera
while we were taking the picture and videotaped
putting the photo together,
and that was funny, 'cause he played it real fast.
He fast-forwarded it. We sounded like chipmunks.
And every time we'd get to the point of saying "cheese,"
it would sound, "cheese" -- real high pitch.
[saying "cheese"]
Cathy: And we all laughed so much.
And of course, you see everybody moving
real fast and funny.
And it looked kind of like a silent movie,
but it just was real funny-looking.
So the boys kind of elaborated on that and got
real silly with it different years.
[high-speed audio]
Mark: Okay.
Cathy: You think that's it?
You want to do one with Paul the only one looking friendly,
and everybody else stiff?
Mark: Sure.
Cathy: Well, one of the things that I
think is funny is -- Rick had thought,
well, we could try kind of like a Civil War picture,
where everybody looks real somber and no teeth are showing.
Everybody's just kind of looking off in the
distance with no smile -- just a real straight face.
Rick: One or two can look off to the side,
kind of like a military commander.
Cathy: And so we tried that a couple times.
And I don't know where -- I guess Paul got the idea
-- but just one of us being super-friendly.
So he's in the background going like this.
He's way up there, real friendly,
totally out of place with the rest of us.
It's just a real funny effect,
because everybody else just looks so serious.
He looks so out of touch with what's going on.
Rick: Maybe Philip and I can look off to the side.
Peter: You should make it black and white.
Mark: Sounds good.
Cathy: During that wait, while we're all trying to look
real serious, Peter just busted out laughing
-- a real hard laugh.
[laughing]
Cathy: Peter, you're not doing it.
Caleb: Everybody did it.
Luke: Okay, Peter missed the memo.
Cathy: He was laughing so hard his mouth was flying open.
Now, how are we supposed to --
Mark: That's the opposite.
Cathy: And I think Wizzy actually started it.
She -- Mary-Elizabeth started kind of a little giggle,
and that was just too much for him.
And it was almost like a hee-haw laugh,
a real big laugh.
Well, everybody lost it then.
[laughing]
Rick: We'll try it again.
Cathy: Once Peter had gotten that really funny laugh going,
then Mary-Elizabeth and David, and just all of them --
everybody was real like ticklish.
And they were just -- any second, something more is going to happen.
Rick: Look stern.
[laughing]
Caleb: Why did you say that?
Mary-Elizabeth: Come on.
[laughing]
Cathy: The rest of us in the background,
we're all trying to hold still, but we're half looking down, like,
"Is he just about to do it again?"
There's nothing you can do to stop it.
I mean, you don't want to yell at him.
You're glad they're happy.
And I mean, they could be crying,
so happy's good.
But it's like, how do you get them to stop giggling?
I think the last picture --
he said when we finally succeeded,
he was biting his upper lip.
If you look really close, you can see he's kind of
trying to hold it down, 'cause he just had gotten
so tickled by it all.
Mary-Elizabeth: There.
Peter: [laughing]
Cathy: You did it? Okay.
>> How'd it all go?
Cathy: I don't know.
We'll have to see if it turned out.
If it turned out, I think it went well.
John wasn't able to be here in time for --
in between one appointment and another that he had
for work and for a doctor's appointment,
and so we left a spot for him.
We marked it, where he's supposed to stand.
And we're leaving everything else there.
We're hoping to be able to Photoshop him into the
picture when he gets back.
Mark: Once John's there, that'll balance it out.
Cathy: That'll put a dark color there, too.
Mark: I mean, we actually didn't get that many.
We might have gotten only like 15 to choose from.
But of course, nowadays, you don't have people crying
or anything like that.
Rick: We're getting better at the craft anyway.
Mark: Right.
Rick: And like you said, everybody's growing up.
That'll be easy for John.
He'll be able to just stand here and get some pictures taken.
Mark: Right. I know. He doesn't have to go through all this.
While we have everyone dressed nicely,
I thought I'd get a nice studio shot of each person.
My secret goal is to make
this a Christmas present for Mom.
She's for a while wanted
good photos of each person.
I was going to get a photo of each person,
then put them all together on
one little accordion book and give it to her at Christmas.
Luke: Hello, John.
John finally has returned from his deposition,
and Mark actually is gone himself,
so I have the camera, and I'm going to go back there.
John: I didn't think I'd even be able to do it today,
but Mark and Luke said we can do this,
and they're apparently going to Photoshop me in.
Luke: Unfortunately, it's not super simple to
add somebody like this.
There are a few different things you have to be aware of.
One big thing is the lighting, the time of day.
John: I wonder if you'll have to
just sort of do some effect, sort of airbrush me.
Luke: I bet we can cheat enough.
One, two, three.
I think that's probably pretty good.
You want to just smile and say "cheese"?
John: Sure.
Luke: He didn't say "cheese."
John: If I could get it just right.
Where's Jude?
I hope it came out okay.
Of course, I didn't know where anyone else was,
so I hope it doesn't --
I hope I'm too far away and
in a different hue or something,
or maybe looking at the wrong camera.
So I just trust that it came out.
But I bet it did.
Luke and I -- I mean, we probably snapped about
30 or 40 photos just now, so something had to come out.
It only takes one.
Cathy: Aww.
Mark: So we took a lot, and then I just roughly plopped him in.
Mom looked through all the photos and chose what she
thought was the best expression on everyone's faces.
Cathy: Seth looks adorable there, doesn't he?
Mark: Yes, I think he does look adorable.
Cathy: That's just what you were thinking, was "adorable"?
Mark: She gave me a list of adjustments to make --
maybe a dozen little things.
Cathy: What would you think?
Of course, the white shoes and socks.
Mark: Yeah, I could darken those.
I might be able to change
the colors of a few shirts, if need be.
Mom and Dad looked at the original photo,
and in hindsight, we probably shouldn't have
had so many guys wear blue and gray shirts,
especially sitting right next to each other.
So they asked, "Is it possible to change their shirt colors?"
We gave Peter -- instead of his blue shirt,
we gave him a yellow.
Caleb -- instead of a dark gray shirt,
we gave him kind of a bluish-green.
And then Jude went from a light yellow to kind of a light orange.
Cathy: My goodness, that looks so natural.
Mark, you are good at this. My goodness.
Mark: The most major change was adding John in, definitely.
That was the biggest challenge, the biggest unknown.
Cathy: Oh, man, it looks so much better.
Without John, it just makes me want to cry.
Oh, it's so sad.
Oh, I almost can't stand it.
Doesn't he look so lonesome?
Mark: Well, we'll put him in with the rest.
So here's the original photo,
and then here is the final version that we got printed.
I like the changes in the shirt colors to make it a
little more vivid,
and I think everyone just looks to be the best
version of themselves.
Mary-Elizabeth [on video]: Today we go park with you?
We go park with you today?
[laughing]
Philip: Wizzy, we're going to play this video of you.
You want to see it?
Mary-Elizabeth: Sure.
Philip: Well, earlier this morning,
I just asked Mom if she wanted to watch this cute
video of Wizzy that I found last night,
and so she came down and I showed it to her.
Then it caught a few of the other guys' attention,
and they came down.
And then pretty soon it grew into this big group
-- about half of the family all down here
watching home videos.
Cathy: I can't see anymore.
Philip: So now we've watched maybe six different tapes,
and we're finding all sorts of new stuff that
none of us have ever seen since it was filmed.
[laughing]
Cathy: I can't speak for everyone else,
but when one of the videos is on with any of the guys
being little, it's just so irresistible to watch.
[laughing]
Cathy: It's funny to see everyone interacting, and being little people,
and being squeaky -- their little voice all squeaky -- and stuff.
And the logic and how they're struggling to put
words to their thoughts -- it's just -- it's very
hard not to watch.
Listen to this.
Seth: This so cute.
Mary-Elizabeth [on video]: I'm just going to throw it on the grass.
Cathy [on video]: Why don't you throw it at Paul or Luke?
They will get so very mad.
Mary-Elizabeth [on video]: It's going to make a water.
Cathy [on video]: I know. It will splash you.
Mary-Elizabeth [on video]: It not going to pop.
Cathy [on video]: Yeah, it will pop.
Mary-Elizabeth [on video]: Nuh-uh!
Cathy [on video]: Yeah, it will.
If you throw it at them, it will pop.
Mary-Elizabeth [on video]: Nuh-uh!
Cathy [on video]: Well, don't throw it then.
Mary-Elizabeth [on video]: I just going to throw it
on the grass and not make it pop.
Cathy [on video]: No, that will make it pop, honey.
Mary-Elizabeth [on video]: Nuh-uh!
Cathy [on video]: Uh-huh.
Mary-Elizabeth [on video]: Nuh-uh!
Cathy [on video]: Okay, go check.
Go try to throw it on the grass.
Luke: We'll see about this.
Cathy: She'll prove it. Mommy sure is dumb.
Rick: That was so simple.
Mary-Elizabeth [on video]: It just popped.
Seth: "It just popped."
Paul: She was genuinely surprised.
Mark: Just a few hours ago, we got the cards back from the printer,
and Jude saw the card. He looked, and he said,
"What? I wasn't wearing a pink shirt."
Jacob: Is it some kind of prank or something?
Jude: No, it's not a prank. This is going out in the morning.
Mark: I think it turned out very well.
Cathy: I like it.
Mark: I don't know if you'd ever know that John wasn't there.
Just a few hours ago, we got the cards back from the printer.
Mom, and a few of the little guys, and in fact, cousin Michael,
are in there stuffing the mailing, labeling the envelopes.
I think tonight or very shortly,
they're going to land in the mailbox and be out to
all of our clients, and friends, and family.
Cathy: Whose shirts did you all change?
Mark: Peter's, Caleb, and then Jude was a yellow.
Cathy: I know he was a little concerned,
'cause I thought we put him in a pale orange,
and he seems to think we put him in pink.
And I don't know if that's maybe a little bit of a problem.
Jacob: Wait -- they changed your color?
Jude: Yeah, they changed my color.
I was wearing a Peter yellow,
and they changed it to --
Jacob: Without your knowledge?
Jude: Yeah, without my knowledge.
I didn't know.
Jacob: Is it some kind of prank or something?
Jude: No, it's not a prank.
This is going out in the morning.
Mark had asked me if I wanted to see the photo
while he was working on it, while he was doing all his
touchup and everything, and I kept putting it off.
Jacob: Wow, you stand out.
Jude: Yeah, don't I?
The bravest I get is wearing yellow or something.
I've never been able to wear pink,
but I guess this is being mailed out tomorrow morning,
and I guess I'm wearing pink.
Mark: This is one of the few times where I got busted
for my photo-editing.
Now, I think anyone else who wasn't at the photo session
wouldn't know that Jude wasn't wearing that
color of a shirt, but Jude certainly knew,
and he let me know about it.
It did print a little more pinkish than I would have thought.
Jude: Yeah, just a touch.
Mark: We could compromise -- call it peach.
Jude: I don't think I like that any better
-- peaches and cream.
Mark: Jude controlled himself. I don't think he was mad.
I think he was just stunned.
And he, I think, mainly just couldn't
believe that it was on the final card without him
even knowing about it.
Jacob: One good thing is that it won't be that long
until the next family photo.
Jude: Yeah. And maybe I'll take that one.
Jacob: You might edit it, too?
Jude: You'd better bet if I take it I'm going to edit it,
especially -- let's see.
What could we -- we give Mark a goatee.
That wouldn't be embarrassing enough, though.
Jacob: You could have him wearing no shirt.
Jude: Now, that's a good idea.
Mark: Now, in my defense, when you look on the computer,
it looks orange.
I still think it's orange, kind of a pinkish orange.
Jude: I have orange shirts,
I've worn orange shirts,
and this is no orange shirt.
Mark: I think the red kind of brings out the pink.
Jude: I think it does. I think it kind of --
for whatever reason.
Mark: The red border.
Jude: Oh, well.
What can you do?
Mark: Being able to touch up a photo like this
enabled us to do the photo.
It enabled us to put John into the frame.
But then also the ability to change anything had
something like this happen,
where Jude winds up with a
color of shirt he was not wearing.
And the card is going out that way without his consent.
And I guess you live by the sword, you die by the sword.
But as for me, I look great, because I kept my shirt color.
Cathy: Yes, yes, yes!
Rick: Oh, really well done.
Cathy: Oh, I love it.
Except what side do I look at?
You guys see this?
Oh, now I can pull this out. I can have it in my pocket.
Oh, I love it.
Jude: On Christmas Day, Mom received the photo book
that Mark had given her, and she loved it.
Now, looking at that photo book,
I have to say that I think I got the last laugh on Mark
on the whole photo-editing thing.
He changed my shirt color from yellow to pink.
Or he calls it orange.
Whatever -- he changed it.
But in the photo book, the shirt is still yellow,
just as I intended.
So he's busted, and there's a record on Mom's desk to prove it.