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Merry Christmas/ Hanukkah/ Kwanza/ Festivus/ Solstice/ Commercial-overload Holiday Season from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

2012 was a very kind year to us with lots of exciting developments and adventures. From time with Gamilee (Geoff's grandmother) in Marco Island, to scouting-related adventures in Philmont, NM and the National Order of the Arrow Conference, to various Jeeping/backpacking adventures throughout the White Mountains.

The highlight of our adventures, of course, has been our move to Texas!

This summer Dianna was offered a position as the Program Director for the Bay Area Council of the Boy Scouts in Galveston, TX. The changeover from the district side of things to program is an exciting opportunity that we had both been hoping for for quite some time.

So after a whirlwind few weeks of logistics, Labor Day weekend we drove Dianna down in a 26-hour straight shot. Geoff then flew back and spent the next three months living the bachelor life (as the "stuff" made it's way down to Texas shorly after!)

After 3 months of living apart Geoff and Letzty finally loaded up his almost-two decades old Jeep and set off on the 3,000 mile roadtrip towards the home they'd never known!

Most recently, Geoff has accepted a Web Developer position for Rice University in Houston. So with the family reunited and things getting back to normal, we are settling in nicely to our new life in Texas!

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For those of you who may it not have been clear (which was a suprisingly large number for such a cultural pillar of entertainment), that is our family (human and fuzzy) dressed as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Why the Ninja Turtles, you ask? They don't have anything to do with Christmas, do they? No, but TMNT is awesome, as is Christmas.

There. There's your connection.

Someone recently asked why I would put so much effort into just a silly Christmas card. I merely kicked him in the chest and Russle Crowe'd a "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?". But seriously, Dianna and I have a blast doing these and giggling over various ideas and stages of progress.

I think my favorite part about these is the making something out of the most low-budget cheesiness that I can. I don't have a real studio or anything, just lamps and workshop lights highlighting sheets, towels and matresses. I don't have a high-end camera, just my busted old point-and-shoot. But with a little planning, a bit of effort and a bit of post-production you can do a lot.

The costumes were made mostly of items from Goodwill. Some shirts, a couple hard-hats for the "Turtles", a dyed construction suit and an old camera dug out of a work closet for April, and some borrowed sports equipment for Casey Jones.

For the animal-sized weapons we had to get a bit more creative, though. The Nunchucks? A Nyla-bone sawed in half and connected with a part of a screen door chain. The Sai? Chopsticks, a coat hanger, electrical tape, and a good coating of Anti-seize for the silver look. I'll admit, I cheated a bit with the swords. They were bought, shot, and immediately returned to Target in true photo-shoot form. But, hey, they were already blue!

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Geoff as Casey Jones

Running back and forth with a self-timer yeilds some extremely awkward photos.

Dianna as April O'Neil

Being serious is a difficult business.

Letzty as the leader, Leonardo

I have the only dog in the world who didn't want to put pizza in her mouth.

Bean as the party animal, Michaelangelo

The typically photogenic corgi was yielding some very awkward photos.

Bun-bun as the angry one, Raphael

She kept trying to run away and tripping over her mask.

Opie (a rabbit) as the nerd, Donatello

Surprisingly, she just kind of sat there and was fuzzy.

As we all know, the nice thing about digital is you can take as many shots as you want. And especially working with impatient fuzzies, it's nice to be able to just shoot away and check later to see if you got something. Of course, that same process means you end up with some ridiculous shots as well.

However, with a large enough selection to choose from (and quite a bit of post-production) you'll generally find something you can work with! Enjoy the comparison of the awkward discards to the final products on the right!

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Oh, and just because...here's more pictures of a corgi dressed as Michaelangelo.

.....you're welcome, Internet.

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