The Story of the Carney Family Christmas Cards
In Winter 2008, we had been married for a few months and decided that now as a married couple we were required by law to create a Christmas card. We looked through previous photos for a good one to share, but were struggling as we just didn't like anything we had (sad considering we had spent a lot of money for wedding photography).
We don't recall exactly how we came to the point where we decided to do a goofy Christmas card, but once we started brainstorming possibilities we quickly realized we were way more into this idea. At the time we had no idea that this would end up becoming an annual tradition and one of the things we most looked forward to doing every year. Ultimately we just hoped to send our friends and family something quirky and (hopefully) funny for the Holidays.
This website was created not to highlight our comedic and artistic talents (though we think it does that quite nicely), but instead give people who have only started receiving cards in the past few years a chance to see the previous cards and get some context as to why they just received a really weird card in the mail. Plus you can see the evolution of Kevin's tremendous Photoshopping skills (we suggest you look at the "Maeve skiing" year as an example where he could have used a class or two).
We love you all very much and look forward to sharing more weird cards with you!
Merry Christmas!
Kevin, Julie, Maeve, Fiona & Nolan
2024 - Nolan Alone
In 2024 we realized that despite being 8 years old, Nolan had never been featured as the star of the family Christmas card. It was also the year we accepted the reality that he's a little hellion with similarities to many of your favorite troublemakers from pop culture history. Dennis the Menace, Bart Simpson, and of course, Kevin McAllister from Home Alone. Recognizing how quickly he's growing and suspecting by next year he'll probably have a mustache; we wanted to take advantage of this time of life.
Nolan was a superstar throughout the photo shoot. It was actually a bit disconcerting how well he knew how to pump gas. "Dad, I usually prefer filling up with high-octane ga- I mean never mind I'm 8 I don't know how to drive haha. Anyways..."
We're really pleased with how the card turned out. And of course, we need to clarify that if we ever discover we'd accidentally left one of our kids home on a trip, we would NEVER wait three days before flying home. Two days tops.
2023 - European Vacation
We were fortunate in 2023 to have the opportunity for our entire family to travel with Julie's parents, Steve and Josie, back to their respective home countries of Hungary and Ireland. It was a dream-come-true for Julie to take her parents back to their hometowns and show our kids where their grandparents grew up. It was also a dream-come-true for Kevin who'd always wished for the experience of renting a station wagon and driving seven people across Europe for three weeks. Magnificent.
The trip was absolutely amazing for all the reasons we hoped it would be. Sure, there were the requisite challenges (e.g. losing our luggage in Budapest for three days, Steve getting bitten by a bat in Austria, etc.). You know, the typical things.
Nonetheless we survived and are so grateful we were able to complete this once-in-a-lifetime trip. And we're happy to say that (so far) Steve hasn't shown any signs of rabies.
2022 - Christmas Zoltar
This card was inspired by our summer road trip to Las Vegas. Yes, you read that correctly - we took our family on a summer road trip to Las Vegas in our minivan. Parents-of-the-year we're not.
While in Vegas we spotted a replica of the famous Zoltar machine from the movie, "Big" and felt we couldn't pass up the opportunity to take pictures with it. As always, the kids were great sports and were willing to stare into the Nevada summer sun for an hour while we got it just right. Sure, they still aren't able to use their retinas but, hey, we got some good pics!
On a side note, Julie and Fiona are still extremely frustrated with Kevin because when it was time to take Fiona's "J. Lo" picture he forgot to have her put on the massive hoop earrings we bought for the outfit. So if you can, when you look at Fiona please envision 8-inch gold hoop earrings dangling from her ears. It'll make the card that much better...
2021 - The COVID Vaccine!
Having been part of the healthcare response to COVID and seeing the devastation caused to so many families by this pandemic, we were so grateful when our kids were finally eligible to receive the COVID vaccine. It was truly an emotional moment finally watching those sharp, painful needles jabbing into their arms. I'm sure they'd agree.
It was equally dismaying, however, to see the pushback against the vaccine, and so we decided to do our own little part in advocating for kids to get vaccinated. Sure, a silly Christmas card with a photoshopped Fauci-on-the-Shelf isn't going to end the pandemic, but as you can see the card was approved by science, so we've got that going for us...which is nice.
2020 - The Year of COVID
Not gonna lie, it took us a while to figure out what to do for the 2020 card. On one hand we wanted to continue our tradition of making an amusing card that people might enjoy, while on the other hand our world was in the midst of the worst pandemic in a century. We felt a bit like Saturday Night Live when they returned two weeks after 9/11 and Lorne Michaels asked a then-still-somewhat-sane Rudy Guiliani, "Can we be funny?" and Guiliani replied, "why start now?"
With that as our inspiration, we decided there was only one thing we could do...make a poop joke. And not only that, we inferred that it was Grandma who made the poop joke. Classy.
2019 - The Penta-Tandem Cycle
We have two goals in life: 1) raise happy, kind children and 2) own a tandem bicycle. This card is a step in the right direction, and we hope it gets the kids used to the idea that one day in the future they'll be riding one of these around the neighborhood with us while we ring the bell to say hi to their school friends.
2018 - The Sears Family Portrait
2017 - The Carney Family Christmas LP
One of the consistent themes in our house is music. Someone is always playing it, listening to it, or dancing to it. So, it was only a matter of time before we released our own old-timey Christmas album of holiday hits. This card came together rather quickly as everyone was super fired up for the idea...except for Nolan. He seems to be staring straight into the card-recipient's soul and asking, "what the hell have I gotten myself into?" Don't worry, son - it'll be just a matter of time until you're enthusiastically dressing up like an elf, a travel gnome, yeti, or God-knows-what...not even realizing how brain-washed you've become.
2016 - Our 3 Little Monkeys
2015 - Elf Job Applicants
We (or more specifically, Julie, as she's likely to tell you) came up with the concept of the girls trying to sneak into Santa's workshop to use their personality traits to apply for elf jobs. Maeve plays the more calm, studious, managerial type while Fiona is the rough-and-tumble, terrorizing toy tester. In very appropriate fashion, two days after we did the photo shoot Fiona promptly ran herself into a wall and split her forehead open requiring 5 stitches. I think we perfectly hit the nail (or wall) on the head with this one.
2014 - Welcome to the Card, Fiona!
We welcomed another beautiful daughter into our lives in 2014. In addition to providing us endless pleasure, love, and laughter, Fiona also provided us another person to use as a prop in the annual Christmas card.
We learned quickly, however, that Fiona isn't as interested in posing and goofing around in front of the camera as Maeve, so the photo shoot took much longer than expected. OK, to be fair she was only 8 months old, but come on, it's our annual Christmas card! Pull yourself together, gurl!
2013 - The European Traveling Lawn Gnome
Of all the cards we're probably most proud of the time and effort that went into this one. We essentially traveled to Europe for 4 weeks and put a 3-year-old on 11 different flights to create this card. We skipped going to world famous museums in Paris to go back to the Eiffel Tower for a re-shoot because the lighting wasn't right the first day. Seriously.
A little "Behind-the-Scenes" story: We took the pic of Maeve overlooking the Old Town of Dubrovnik, Croatia on a beautiful morning in June 2013. While preparing the camera, a car drove by and at the exact same moment Kevin felt a "splat" on his forehead. His first instinct was that a group of Croatian teenagers had driven by and thrown an egg at the American dork whose kid was in a gnome outfit. Instead, what Kevin quickly realized was that a bird the size of a pterodactyl had flown by and released his breakfast on him. Instead of handing Kevin a tissue that he asked for, Julie chose instead to grab the camera and document the moment. That's love.
2012 - The Santa Theme Begins
This was the year that Maeve became a full participant in creating the card...and she passed with flying colors. At 2 1/2 years old she was willing to take pics in many different poses and in lots of different lighting to get it just right. We fell in love with her a little bit more this year.
In addition, this was also the first year where there was significant disagreement about the wording of the talk bubble. To this day, Julie still thinks it should read, "Santa, all clear for landing!", while Kevin holds that "All clear for landing, Santa!" reads so much better. It's obvious, isn't it?
2011 - It's A Wonderful Life
This card still makes us happy for so many reasons. It took hours to Photoshop it and get just right, but we think it paid off. Sure, Maeve's arms and head don't quite match, nor can we explain who the random extra children would be, but that's not the point - it's indeed a wonderful life.
2010 - First Xmas in Colorado
We thought this was a cute way to introduce everyone to our new lives in Colorado as well as our new member of the family. Looking at this now, however, the discrepancy of the skin tone in Maeve's photoshopped face compared to the body makes me twitch.
2009 - Expectant Parents
2008 - The First Christmas Card
To this day, we still don't know how we came up with this particular idea. We've had more questions about this card than any other. Questions like, "what is this?", "Why did you do this?" "What does it mean?" We don't have answers to those questions. Nonetheless, this card still makes us giggle.
P.S. For you punctuation sticklers out there, please note there was an error on both this card and the 2009 card. First prize goes to the person who texts Kevin with the error. You should note, however, there is no actual prize.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)