Elder Braden's final t-shirt

Today is my brother Quinn's 21st birthday, hooray! I've created a bit of a tradition of making him a t-shirt with a picture of the boys for Christmases and birthdays while he's gone so I started brainstorming about this t-shirt a few weeks ago. Clyde is super into Star Wars right now, as was young Quinn, so I wanted to incorporate that somehow without going the standard 'May the force be with you' route. I googled Star Wars quotes but couldn't seem to come across anything that really struck me, so I figured I'd do a photo shoot first and come up with the wording later.

(Sidenote: Chuck and I did find a funny (but way too harsh for this our purposes) quote - Han Solo as they're flying away from the about-to-explode Death Star in Episode IV: "You're all clear, kid. Now let's blow this thing and go home!")

So after we got home from helping at the orchard one night I corralled the little boys (already wearing coordinating Star Wars t-shirts!) into the living room and armed each one with a 'light saber' aka 'pool noodle cut in half' and let the magic happen.
(And by magic, I obviously mean frustration and desperation as I try to get a decent shot of both boys looking somewhat cute).

Witness Protection Jedi knights. Maybe we'll turn into one of those blogs that doesn't publicize their children's names or show their faces.

Will jumped ship (er, couch) so it's a solo shot of Clyde. . . who looks entirely too happy to be outfitted with a weapon and given free range to have a go at his younger brother.

Luckily for Will, Jedi Clyde uses the force to guide his light saber rather than eyesight. The force may or may not be strong with this one.

(Jana's thought process becomes: Maybe something posed by the wall will click . . . literally and figuratively.) Hmm, maybe we'll just hide Clyde's face. Also, does anyone else feel like Will's gunning straight for them? I did.

Will ponders General Grievous' early success and decides that multiple light sabers are ideal. Unfortunately, Clyde refuses to comply.

So Will opts to channel his inner Darth Maul and use the reddish one. I decide to channel my inner goose girl and corral him back to the wall next to his brother. . .

Who is still feeling a little camera shy. Hey, Quinn's going to see him in person in a couple of weeks, who needs the kid's face on the t-shirt too, right?

I DO!! So I gently coaxed the light saber down to Clyde's side, during which time Will seized the opportunity to flee.

So I seized the opportunity to try for another solo shot of Clyde. I asked for a smile; this is what I got. Sigh.

However, it's actually pretty great in comparison to what awaited me when I finally found Will and returned him to his spot:
Yeah, it became very apparent that these younglings were ready to be done! So off they went to bed, and off I went to the computer to attempt to utilize all of my creativity/wit/googling power.

And here is the final product, safely shipped to Quinner last week
(quote courtesy of Yoda in Episode I):

(click to enlarge)
Happy birthday, Elder Braden!