It all started in 2009 when we dressed up for a children’s event as Santa and Mrs. Claus. We took a fun picture on the front stoop with our dogs and sent it out as our Christmas card for a laugh. People loved it so much, we made it a yearly tradition. We look forward to our Christmas Card Day all year long, as do the photographers! 

We have also made a Halloween card. We made it at the house featured in the American Gothic painting in Eldon, IA (USA). We took the “standard” tourist picture, which we used as the front of the card. And then we took our own rendition, which is what you’d see when you opened the card.

This is a family endeavor, although, most importantly, we feed off my wife’s (Louise) eye rolls and head shakes when deciding on what to do each year. We usually get our ideas from classic Christmas movies, the news and current trends. When we did The Elfie Visit, the Elf on the Shelf was at its peak in popularity. When we did Black Friday at Walmart, there were lots of crazy Black Friday stories in the news. We obviously have capitalized on the rising popularity of Christmas sweaters, and have several bins of those in our basement.

The reactions of our family and friends are the reason we do this. It’s a great way to let them know we’re always thinking of them, and we make sure to take the opportunity to personalize each card with a short, handwritten note. 

Many of our family and friends use our cards as Christmas decorations. We have seen family and friends line their fireplace hearths with them, stick them on their refrigerators, and display them at their work desks. But, for me personally, it boils down to one of my best friends. He has the most contagious laugh, and getting that laugh has been a goal of mine for 47 years. These cards work every time. 

The Elfie Visit seems to be the most popular card with our family and friends, although our two cards based on “A Christmas Story” seem to be genuinely loved by everyone. The Photoshoot in Bear Country was a bit polarizing because of what happens to Santa. People either love it or do not like it one bit. Either way, it’s definitely our favorite!

One of our sons came up with the Gingerbread Cookie idea after finding one of his gingerbread cookies mysteriously missing an arm. He blamed our dog, who was standing nearby with cookie crumbs on his snout. Our son thought it would be funny to reenact the scene with me as the Gingerbread Cookie. By the way, I was the person who ate the cookie arm, and I have no idea where the dog’s crumbs came from!

Some of these pictures have been difficult to make, most notably the Christmas Photobomb on the beach. The winds were reaching 45 mph that day, and the temperature was well below freezing. We could hardly keep our eyes open because the beach was one big sandstorm. The kids kept losing their oversized boots and hats in the sand. And I had to jump into the ocean to retrieve my surfboard after it blew into the water. It was the coldest any of us can remember being. Fortunately, we get to relive the mishaps and abundant colorful language every year because our photographer captured everything - and her uncontrollable laughter - on video!