I had every intention of rallying the troops to get a great staff photo at our Christmas party. I said it would be for social media and our blog for the holidays. I even asked people to make sure they were dressed nicely. But we never took the photo.

The only photo that resulted from our party was the one at the top of this post. Chris snapped it after dinner and texted it to us later. Upon actually looking at it, I realized that I liked it better than a posed portrait. It’s a snapshot. It’s a little grainy, not everyone has a perfect expression on their face and a couple people didn’t make it in the photo. It’s candid. I like it because we don’t look like we’re at an office holiday party. We look like a family.

As the newest member of MotionMobs, feeling like we’re a family is really important to me. Of our team, only five of us work out of our downtown office on a daily basis, which means we get to know each other really well. We work in an open space, too, so there’s no hiding behind a closed office door if someone is having a bad day. We’re in this together.

In the past few years, this team has done building renovations and moved. We’ve worked around the dining room table, we’ve welcomed three babies into the world and, in all honesty, our dogs think they run the show. Certainly sounds like a family, doesn’t it?

As the holidays arrive this year, take time to be grateful for your families. Maybe it’s family by blood, maybe the in-laws, maybe a family of friends or maybe your coworkers. So give a hug, raise a glass and Merry Christmas to all!