3 Brothers Recreate Childhood Photos as Gift to Mom

It was part of a big surprise gift for mom.

ByABC News
January 30, 2015, 4:44 PM
Matt MacMillan and his brothers recreated photos from their childhood to surprise their mom.
Matt MacMillan and his brothers recreated photos from their childhood to surprise their mom.
Matt MacMillan

— -- Three Pennsylvania brothers recreated photos from their childhood as adults to create a sentimental calendar for their mother as a gift.

The photos show the grown men doing silly things like squeezing into a bathtub, toy chest and cooler together.

The eldest brother, Matt MacMillan, posted the photos to Imgur and Reddit, where they went viral.

"We think it's odd that 2 million people have seen the three of us in a bathtub as fully grown men," MacMillan told ABC News today via email.

PHOTO: Matt MacMillan and his two brothers recreated photos from their childhood to surprise their mom with a photo calendar.
Matt MacMillan and his two brothers recreated photos from their childhood to surprise their mom with a photo calendar.

They decided to do the photo project after seeing other people do recreations and because his mother had asked for calendars for Christmas in the past, he said.

PHOTO: Matt MacMillan and his two brothers recreated photos from their childhood to surprise their mom with a photo calendar.
Matt MacMillan and his two brothers recreated photos from their childhood to surprise their mom with a photo calendar.

Their parents took "tons of pictures" of them as kids, so they had a lot to work with, Macmillan added.

PHOTO: Matt MacMillan and his two brothers recreated photos from their childhood to surprise their mom with a photo calendar.
Matt MacMillan and his two brothers recreated photos from their childhood to surprise their mom with a photo calendar.

"We took off work and school for a day, so we could take the pictures without our mom knowing," MacMillan said. "We must have taken about 20 pictures of each scene trying to get the perfect facial expressions and poses."

They also searched through half a dozen thrift stores to try to find the best clothes to match what they wore as kids, he said.

PHOTO: Matt MacMillan and his two brothers recreated photos from their childhood to surprise their mom with a photo calendar.
Matt MacMillan and his two brothers recreated photos from their childhood to surprise their mom with a photo calendar.

And it all paid off.

Mom "loved it," MacMillan said. "She couldn't stop laughing, and then the laughing turned to laugh-crying."

PHOTO: Matt MacMillan and his two brothers recreated photos from their childhood to surprise their mom with a photo calendar.
Matt MacMillan and his two brothers recreated photos from their childhood to surprise their mom with a photo calendar.

She still texts him every week to tell him she's found something new in the pictures she didn't notice before, he said.

"I suppose I'd say we are momma's boys," MacMillan said. "The youngest is definitely a momma's boy. We have a very close family."

PHOTO: Matt MacMillan and his two brothers recreated photos from their childhood to surprise their mom with a photo calendar.
Matt MacMillan and his two brothers recreated photos from their childhood to surprise their mom with a photo calendar.