The majority of our Christmas cards left the house today.  My six year old daughter drew the picture for the front and I finally managed to put a few lines together for the interior.  Our cards are far from fancy these days.  I believe it was the first year I sent out cards that I sent “store bought” ones.  I chose carefully as I’ve always wanted the emphasis to be on Christ.  I hand wrote every message and addressed every card.  Inside I included our little family picture Erik, our dog and myself carrying our first child (9 months pregnant).  As most of you know, our son died six days after Christmas, marking the month of December for me in a dramatic way from then on.

The next year I stenciled angels on the front of 70+ homemade Christmas cards.  I printed out my poem, The Gift, and pasted it inside.  That year we included another family photo.  I insisted that we wait until after our second son’s birth to take the picture.  It pained me to list our family by name so I signed it “The Lanes” and stamped a set of baby feet on the back in memory of Bryan.  “Bryan Erik Lane Memories Collection” became a “brand of sorts” for our homemade cards.

The next four Christmases we got into the “Christmas Letter” movement with our own “annual newsletter”.  We called it “The Lane Update”.  It was set up like a mini-newspaper.  We used it to announce all sorts of things as well as update the family on the previous year.  During those four years I made almost every card I gave for other occasions and included the tribute to Bryan on the back.  In 2002 I switched gears with Christmas “cards”.

I thought it would be incredibly adorable to have Lee draw a picture for the front of our cards.  The poem that year, The Tree, would be the inspiration.  And so, he drew an adorable Christmas tree with crayons.  I scanned it and produced a card.  2003, Kate drew a picture of a “gift” for the card front, too cute.  As you’ve probably guessed, I used my poem, The Gift, that year also.  2004 was, The Lights, and Lee drew a fantastic picture of a strand of Christmas lights.

And this year?  Well, this year, The Manger, inspired Kate’s precious drawing of….a manger.  My cards are very simple and almost every one of them (even shower invites) has a tribute to Bryan on the back.  Next year will be Ann’s turn to draw the picture.  She can’t wait lol.  We still include a family photo but it’s usually printed in the card rather than being a loose photo.

So, that’s our Christmas Greetings History :o)