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My Life in Christmas Cards (and a giveaway!)

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Merry day after Christmas, everyone! In thinking about what I wanted to blog about today, I thought, “I know! I’ll share some of my Christmas cards through the years!” Then thought, “Wait. I think I blogged about that once already.” I checked, and I DID already blog about it in 2017. So instead of reinventing the wheel, I’m recycling my original post, adding this year’s Christmas card to it, and offering a new giveaway. I hope these final days of 2025 bring you plenty of chances to rest and read! Love, Becky

I love receiving Christmas cards at this time of the year.  You?

When I was growing up, my mom took a family photo each year and sent it out in Christmas card form.  I’ve made an effort to do the same.  Today, I bring you a peek into the Clem (my maiden name) and Wade Christmas card collections.

Our first family card. That’s me in the middle! My mom was expecting baby #2, so there’s a tiny “?” stocking hanging on the mantle.
One of the Christmas cards mom sent out during the 4 years when we lived in Germany. During that time, both my parents worked at the English-speaking Frankfurt International School that my sisters and I attended.  All five of us would pack into our Audi sedan each day for the trip to and from the school.
I’m the one in the middle with the huge 80’s hair. By this time, we’d returned to our home in Riverside, California. That’s my high school handwriting on the right, so I must have lent a hand signing cards that year.
This is the first Christmas card photo I sent out after His Highness and I married. We were living on the Caribbean Island of Anguilla at the time. I feel benevolently toward these two.  The way I would toward a pre-schooler or a puppy.  “Oh, little newlyweds, you. All stress-free, and relaxed, and beachy.”  <I pat them on their heads.>  “Just you wait.”

 

Since they didn’t sell Christmas trees on the island, I cut down a weed bush, stuck it in a pot, and decorated it. My hair cut here was an ill-advised attempt to mimic the style of Rachel from Friends. Huh. It looks nothing like Rachel’s.

 

I’m a fan of this one from my mom’s collection. My sisters and I were all into dark lipstick and His Highness looks like a disgruntled hit man.
This is our first Christmas card after baby #1 was born. I’m smiling here because if I didn’t smile, I was quite afraid that I’d start wailing, “I’m never,” <hiccup hiccup/tears tears> “going to get a decent night’s sleep” <hiccup/tears> “again in my life!”  Also, hose.  I haven’t worn a pair of hose in at least a decade.
This is the card we sent out the Christmas after baby #2 was born. This one’s in the running for our worst card ever. I was desperate to get a photo snapped, so we simply stood in front of a tree in our front yard and our neighbor served as photographer. Daughter is smashing son’s head. Both kids have weird expressions. We’re sun-dappled. I remember thinking at the time, “This photo stinks but it’s the best of really bad choices and — unlike the relaxed, beachy me of 10 years ago — I’m the mother of a three year old and a newborn. It’ll have to do.”
Our first card after the birth of baby #3. I wrote most of My Stubborn Heart while pregnant.  I was just a few chapters from the end of the book when #3 was born.  For the first ten months after bringing her home from the hospital, I didn’t glance at the manuscript once.  But eventually, I opened the document back up, got to work editing it, and — in time — sent it to a literary agent.
This was the “present day” card I shared back in 2017. We were in Hawaii celebrating my parents’ 50th anniversary and so benefitted from a professional photo shoot. (A great rarity when it comes to our cards.)
Here’s our 2025 card! We took this at our oldest daughter’s White Coat Ceremony–she’s in her first year of medical school. Our son is now a senior in college and your youngest daughter is a junior in high school. This is us!

Giveaway! Comment below for a chance to win signed paperbacks of the two Christmas novellas pictured above. USA only. Winner will be randomly selected on January 5th (when I’m back at my desk following vacation travel). 🙂

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Becky Wade

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Becky makes her home in Dallas, Texas with her husband and three children. She absolutely loves writing funny, heartwarming, and inspirational contemporary Christian romance.
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Comments

    • That was so much fun! I love Christmas cards and look forward to sending and receiving them! 2020’s card was delayed at the printers (of course) and my hockey playing son had a broken leg. At the time, the card seemed disappointing but now it’s one of my favorites! Funny how God always is redeeming!

  2. We haven’t ever done the Christmas card thing. We’re terrible about getting pictures taken together in general but I always get lots of candids during vacations.

    Your cards through the years commentary is priceless! 80s hair and pantyhose, lol! Thank you for the giveaway, sweet lady!

    • It’s difficult to get a picture of the whole family! First, you have to recruit a photographer. We’ve taken our Christmas card photo many years on Thanksgiving because we have family around on that day to take the picture and because we’re all at least (somewhat) dressed up. Then comes the difficulty of getting even one DECENT picture. Everyone smiling. Everyone with open eyes. Everyone looking in the same direction. LOL.

  3. Loved seeing your family through the years! I send a picture with a letter, it is always from whenever we are all together, which some years it has been just once with the kids in Chicago and California. This year it had to be from June because even though we were all in California for Thanksgiving the photos just were not good at all. But, it includes my new granddaughter!

  4. The open eyes comment really struck a chord! All your pictures were fun! I want to congratulate you on your award. Also I want to mention that I have never done this type of giveaway using Facebook, and after clicking and going through, I realized I wasn’t currently signed in to my account. So, I signed in and did the link again from the newsletter. I may have inadvertently gotten a second entry or perhaps not. I was not trying to get two entries. The Facebook first name is my nickname, Cat.

    • Thank you for sharing your Christmas cards with us. They are precious and the memories are priceless. I hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a blessed New Year

  5. Love the pictures! I send cards, but no pictures.

    Thanks for the giveaway. I will see if I am able to manage entering.

  6. I do send Christmas cards. However, due to time and expense, I don’t seem to send as many as I use to. I like to write notes to insert into the ones I send instead of just signing them. Seems like we call and wish a Merry Christmas to more and more instead of doing cards. Honestly if folks living off and send a Christmas card and I haven’t seen or talked to them in a while, I want more than it just signed. I have to laugh because it reminds me of my Dad who use to say they were “yes we are still alive” cards. When they came with just a signature, then he knew they were among the living and to keep their address in his little book. I have sent photo cards but it’s usually for special year or a year when something significant happened – like when we got our new fur-baby.

    • “I have to laugh because it reminds me of my Dad who use to say they were “yes we are still alive” cards.” That’s hilarious! So, so true. It’s always nice to know how many of my friends are still alive each Christmas. 🙂

    • I’ve bought so many packs of Christmas cards that NEVER got sent! I loved seeing yours, it adds to the magic of you as an author! Thanks for sharing!

  7. My mom always writes a Christmas letter and it has been fun looking back at those over the years. We sometimes do a picture and sometimes it is just the kids. Thanks for the giveaway, the messenger thing in FB was a cool way to enter!

    • “Thanks for the giveaway, the messenger thing in FB was a cool way to enter!” I’m glad to hear that you thought so! I love the bot’s capability to interact with users instantly.

  8. Thank you for the delightful blog this morning! You and your family are beautiful, and the best part is … your Christmas pictures are full of sun, warmth and beach! Merry, Blessed Christmas to you!

  9. Becky – I had forgotten your maiden name was Clem. My next book (More Than Meets the Eye) features a husband and wife set of secondary characters named John and Charlotte Clem who were based on actual early settlers in Pecan Gap, TX. John and Charlotte Clem came to Texas from Arkansas. In 1888, the railroad came across the Clems’ land and built a depot. The town grew from there. John started a lumber mill and became the first Baptist pastor and eventually the postmaster as well. I wonder if John and Charlotte are in your family tree somewhere? How fun would that be? 🙂

    • Wow! That would be incredibly fun. My Clem relatives definitely were Baptists from the south. My husband and I are going to try the Ancestry DNA thing — so maybe that will eventually put us in touch with relatives who’ve researched Clem family genealogy.

  10. What a sweet post. Loved all your family Christmas cards and the real life explanations of each one. Merry Christmas to you and your lovely family! 🎄

  11. I do send out cards. I bought a tin at Lifeway after Christmas for 90% off and have enough for the next decade! Just kidfing, but at least a few years. As a matter of fact, I sent one out to all the authors I influence for, including you! You are in my top five favorites.

  12. I still send out cards each h year. I don’t put in pictures though anymore. Thanks for the give away. I was unable to enter. I use a Kindle Fire and when I clicked the link to enter it would take me to some site where kindle apps where shown . Must be a thing with the Kindle fire since no one else seems to be having trouble . I will try later with my iPhone. I love your Christmas card pictures.

  13. I loved seeing your Christmas cards and all of the photos! Really fun post! It looks like His Highness is almost smiling in your latest one. 🙂

  14. THIS is so great, and what a hoot! I am impressed that you have all these cards still and super impressed that you did them after your family got so big. I couldn’t keep up after a while and quit sending cards. This makes me want to get started again. Thanks for sharing!

    • It’s so nice to have someone recognize my Christmas card efforts! My family certainly doesn’t. When I try to corral them for a family photo, I’m met with grumbling and/or whining and/or sorrowful resignation. 😉

  15. I haven’t done Christmas cards in quite a while. I loved looking at your’s! Maybe I’ll hit the store on the way home from the office tonight. Loved your list of faves in your emails. I am also a huge See’s candy fan. 🙂

  16. This is the first year I’m not sending out christmas cards! 🙁 We will be traveling and so I decided to make life a little more simple. Love your cards and seeing your sweet family!

  17. What an excellent post! I truly enjoyed that little “history” lesson. I think I especially resonated with the picture of you and your husband right after baby #1. I was the exact same. If I didn’t smile big I was going to end up a sobbing mess. How can such an amazing blessing feel so overwhelming?! Happy holidays to you and your family.

  18. My mother died 5 years ago today. It is hard still for me to get into the Christmas spirit. She would send out cards by the hundreds. So far, my husband and I have received 1 card.

    • “It is hard still for me to get into the Christmas spirit.” That’s understandable, Janet. May the Lord meet you where you are this season and surround you with His presence.

      • Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. My birthday is a double whammy. I was born on Thanksgiving Day and every so many years my Birthday & Thanksgiving are on the same day.

  19. We usually do letters in cards but I have been saving photos this year to give a photo card a try. Guess I had better really DO something soon.
    Loved this post! Thank you!

  20. Thanks for the fun post, Becky! I love your commentary and seeing your family pictures. I usually don’t send out pictures, but I often do a Christmas letter. Sometimes it’s a Valentine or Easter letter, though, depending on when I get around to it.

  21. Haven’t got myself in gear this year. Need to get those cards done. Great to see your cards . Nice keepsakes. Thanks for the post.

  22. This post cracked me up! I still have 100 of last year’s photo cards that I never sent. OOOPS. This year’s cards still have hope….but I’m sitting here reading blog posts instead of addressing envelopes.

    I entered on Facebook. Haven’t used that feature before. But I also hate Facebook, so….

  24. This was such a fun blog & cool way to do a prize entry! I always send out Crustmas cards, but never with photos. Or update letters. I spend tons of hours (and money) designing & creating handmade cards. They are my way of showing my love to others with a card that’s also a personally-made gift. And they all focus on Jesus. It’s His birthday, after all. 🙂

  25. I’ve only sent out pictured Christmas cards twice..and that was it. I prefer the traditional writing a note in a card, but haven’t done so this year yet. Need to get started for sure!

  26. Yes we took our pups after church and got them taken so now waiting for the cards to send out then people that are sending due to a Christmas card list that I got on I am sending them regular cards I like doing them.It takes me a long time to address as I am severely disabled but I take my time and do it slow so the mailman can read my husband gives back the ones that are unreadable and I do it again have to keep the fingers moving so they don’t all crimp! Thank you and Happy Holidays.

  27. We are new grandparents and this is the first year we have sent out a picture Christmas card. Loved your pictures through the years.

  28. Even though I’m single I still send a photo Christmas card of where I’ve traveled during the year. This year’s card was courtesy of Aruba. Loved seeing your family’s history and watching your children grow.

  29. I loved your cards and stories behind each one! I didn’t see them in 2017 so it was a nice to catch up. I don’t send or receive very many Christmas cards anymore, which seems to be true for many others too.

  30. We went fun with our Christmas card pictures this year and did some “serious” ones in goofy poses. Seemed to be everyone’s favorite too. Love the laughter it brings! Thanks for all the joy YOU bring as well! Merry Christmas!!

  31. We never did Christmas card pictures but I thought about trying sometime in the future for memories. We do personalized ornaments every Christmas and it holds so many fun memories. Merry Christmas 🎄

  32. Our cards too, are filled with ill-advised haircuts, forced smiles, and “grab whomever is closest to snap a picture near some foliage because the sale on printing cards ends tomorrow & I’m desperate” moments. They keep me humble, but also remind me of the goodness of God through each stage and how I truly appreciate people who are real! Thanks for the smiles & “same!” moments in this post!

  33. Our cards too, are filled with ill-advised haircuts, forced smiles, and “grab whomever is closest to snap a picture near some foliage because the sale on printing cards ends tomorrow & I’m desperate” moments. They keep me humble, but also remind me of the goodness of God through each stage and how I truly appreciate people who are real! Thanks for the smiles & “same!” moments in this post!

  36. I love your Christmas cards. They’re a little piece of Americana & show how your wonderful family has been blessed & changed over the different seasons of life.

  38. I so enjoy seeing friends photo cards. 🙃
    I tell myself every year “maybe this Christmas will do a photo card”.
    Never happens! LOL 😜

    • Oops! I didn’t see that this was posted so I created another one thinking I did it wrong, And I couldn’t delete one.

  39. I love getting friends and families photo cards.

    And I tell myself every year that maybe this will be the year that we do a photo card… It never happens! LOL

  42. In 2015, my husband and I sent our first picture Christmas card. I didn’t even know people did that until I was an adult. All of our cards were glitter coated and filled with handwritten greetings while I was growing up. Kinda miss that about cards these days- the handwritten notes. I definitely don’t miss the barrage of glitter on my shirt. Merry Christmas!

  43. I have sent out cards ever since I’ve lived on my own and since been married. Last year, time got away from me and I never mailed my cards. I was going to send them this year, and again didn’t send them out. Maybe next year I can get back in the swing of things?

  45. I love all the Christmas cards! Photo cards are some of my favorites. It’s fun seeing how everybody changes over time.

  47. I still love sending and receiving cards. It’s about the only time of year I send actual mail. And there’s something about addressing and stamping an envelope that seems so nostalgic!

  49. We never had photo Christmas cards growing up, so I never did them with my family. A little sigh of regret. But my mother hung a string along a wall where we “hung” our Christmas cards. Instead of that tradition, I tape them to the wall. Each year, though, I receive fewer cards. So sad that mailing Christmas cards is beginning to disappear.

  50. What fun to see your cards through the years. I felt like I could hear your “voice” in your comments. You know the one that I hear in my head as I read your books. Thanks for sharing. I love to receive cards and the pictures of those I don’t see often. I didn’t get cards mailed this year because I packed so many sewing projects into the season for my grandchildren. I doubt they will continue to want my homemade things as they get older and I enjoy doing it so much, but time melted away.
    Hope we get to see those future cards when you too have grandbabies in your Christmas greetings. Thanks

  51. Isn’t it fun to look back on Christmases of the past and remember what we were like or what we might have been thinking? Thanks for sharing a glimpse into your life.

  54. What a treasure of memories you have in this blog post. A legacy for your children. Merry Christmas to you. Your books are a bright spot in my day. I’ve reread and listed to them many times!!

  56. Every year, I try to send Christmas cards. In 2024, I couldn’t afford the postage, though I had the cards. This year, no one wanted a card from us, so once again, they sat in the box, looking neglected. Maybe next year, I’ll find someone who would love to receive a Christmas card from my family.

  57. I love the idea of Christmas cards, and I miss the days of the mantel being filled with warm wishes from family and friends. I am not the organized type, though, so I don’t send out Christmas cards. I have a lot of blank cards and good intentions, though! 😂

  58. I love seeing Christmas cards every year. They are such a time capsule of memories. Thanks for sharing some of yours!

  59. Thanks for sharing! I love the idea of Christmas cards. However, I rarely get professional photos done and I am too self conscious to send anything but. I sent a Christmas card once after getting a photoshoot done with my boyfriend, now husband, but we weren’t even engaged at the time so it felt weird. We are now married, but don’t have children yet, so again it still seems silly. I also have no idea when I would have time to get pictures done. Maybe next year 🙂

  60. One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is the Christmas cards. We actually keep all of them out through the year and pull 1 or 2 each time we are sitting around the dinner table and pray for that family. We will send them a quick text letting them know we drew them and it’s amazing how many times the response is wow – you had no idea but we needed those prayers!!

  61. What fun to see your family through the years! I used to send out Christmas cards, but I think I stopped when our kids were in school. We both worked full time and the kids were nearly 4 years apart. That meant that they were only in the same school together for 2 years and I was their carpool. I also don’t recall family pics for cards. Christmas is harder since my Mom and stepdad are gone, so I never picked up card writing again. However, we have a lot of sweet friends, so we did get a nice assortment of cards this year!

  62. I love this so much. I have done picture Christmas cards since I got married. It is so find to look through them and see how much we have grown and changed in the most beautiful ways! Thanks so much for sharing!

  63. This was so much fun!! You’ve got a great collection of family memories. Thanks for sharing with us.

  64. I love going back and looking at how families and friends change over years, I keep all the picture cards we get each year!

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