No VBK Christmas Cards

Yes, you read that right, you will not be receiving a Christmas card from the VBK's this year.  It's not because we aren't joyful this Christmas season or because we don't want to show off pictures of our Tater.  In fact, we are more joyful this year than previous years and you should know by now that we have a TON of pictures of our little man. 

About a month ago, I started to think about Christmas cards.  I love the fact that finally, after years of trying to have children, we have a reason for Christmas cards: Tater.  Seriously, who wants to see yet another picture of Dave or I?  We know who you really want to see is our little guy. 

For us, though, money is super tight this Christmas season.  I almost vetoed the cards simply because we just didn't have the money.  Between the money to purchase the cards and the stamps to mail them, it can get expensive.  However, I got a deal in my email and since I could get them for 40% off and get free shipping, I thought we'd go ahead and take the plunge.  I mean, come on, is it really Christmas without the annual Christmas card, or so we've come to believe?  I planned and designed, spending way too much time going through pictures, even designing a card which contained a picture from each month of 2011.  Hours went into planning out this thing.  Shameful, I know.

So, I'm sure you're thinking, if you spent all of this time and found a good deal, why no VBK cards this year?

Two days before I went to order the cards, I heard about the Tyson family, a family of 10, the youngest being the same age at Tater, who just lost their home and all of their belongings due to a house fire.  This weekend, a 8k is being run to raise funds for this family.  I started to think about the money that we were going to spend on Christmas cards and realized that I would much rather give that money to this family, knowing full well what it's like to lose your home to a fire, than to send out cards that will most likely get thrown away or forgotten. 

I may not know the Tyson family and they may never know us, but this Christmas, I'd like to think that the money that we were going to spend on Christmas cards is actually going to do more than just fill a mailbox or a refrigerator with pictures of the Tater.