Merry Christmas!! 

This year's Christmas card provided some unique challenges.  As usual, we started with the cats, who are usually good for spreading joy, one way or another.  After last year's great showing, this year they just didn't seem to be in the holiday spirit.  We tried a couple new hats, one with a Santa beard that was universally despised - we got this shot of Jackson and failed completely with the other two cats.  

Then we tried this hat that is supposed to be a Christmas tree with the skirt around the cat's neck - yeah, right.  Here's what it looks like in action:  

So we moved on to some old favorites from past years.  Overall, there's obviously some adorable shots, but it kind of felt like they were phoning it in - nothing inspired here. 

We tried to post Mitten with Mickey, and that got ugly real fast:

Mickey is okay, but it was touch and go for a bit there.  So we gave up and worked with Rowdy.  Have you ever seen a dog less interested in posing?  

Okay, maybe you have, but when we had to actually prop his head up to keep him awake, we gave up.  

This is when it got fun.  Many of you already know the background, but for those who don't, we had a baby pony born this Summer!  
His name is Bennett, and he had a pretty rough start but is doing better now.  Have you ever taken a 5 month old colt that hasn't been out of his stall for a couple days because of the rain and tried to photograph him in a Santa hat and antlers?  No?  Well here's a hint:  it's an adventure.  All things considered, I'm pretty happy with the pictures that we did get, and he had a great time chewing on the crop, and chewing on the hat, and chewing on Dan's arm, and chewing on my hair...  you get the idea.  

It's been a crazy year, and we are very grateful for all the support that we have received from family, friends, and also complete strangers this year.  Happy holidays to all of you!  

Dan & Robyn Beagle