Every year my sister-n-law dresses her family in costumes for their annual family picture. Every time I think that she has come up with the funniest idea ever, she comes up with something even funnier. Her family is very patient with her because they know how important the family portrait is to her. This last year, she dressed everyone up as Elvis Presley.

Not everyone can find a good Elvis costume at a reasonable price, but my sister-in-law managed to find costumes for each one of her children. She has three boys and a girl on the way. Of course, the baby-to-be did not have an Elvis costume, but I wouldn’t be surprised if my sister-in-law has one created for her daughter as a newborn baby gift. 

My nephews range in age from two years to thirteen years old. The thirteen year old was the most patient with his mother. He spent a couple afternoons shopping for an Elvis costume that would fit him. He let her slick back his hair into a greasy fifties style that would make him the joke of his class. He even struck a great Presley pose for the camera. My oldest nephew was a real sport for this picture. 

The two-year-old was another story. Although my sister-in-law was able to find a toddler Elvis costume that fit my two-year-old nephew perfectly, he did not want to cooperate. He preferred to play with his playstations 2 than engage in the family activity. He did not have enough hair, so they tried using a wig. A few of the pictures were wonderful, except the littlest boy was pulling his wig off of his head. I don’t know how many times it took to get the picture right. 

My middle nephew was six when the pictures were taken. We were surprised to find that they couldn’t find an Elvis costume in his size. My sister-in-law doesn’t give up easily. She made one for him and she did it so well, that we could not tell that it was a home made costume. The six-year-old did his best to make a great Presley face for the camera. 

After each family member was dressed in his Elvis costume, my job was to snap the perfect family portrait. This job was much harder than making the costumes, especially with the little nephew pulling his wig off every two seconds. But after about fifteen minutes of wasting space on the digital camera, we got the perfect shot of the five Elvis Presleys. There is no way she is going to top this one.