Our Family’s Tradition Is Doing These Christmas Cards, And It’s The 13th Year

by Patrick Penrose Published Nov 14, 2025

Here are 13 years of Christmas Cards featuring Sherman Shart, Sheryl Shart, Shoney and Shoney Shart, and Little Baby Sherkin Shart. Our Christmas Card Tradition began with the birth of our twin daughters in 2002. One of the pictures seemed like it deserved a caption and so a tradition was born… well, sort of. We didn’t really up our game until 2007 when we were discussing how Christmas might have been celebrated differently in 1957. That 2007 card was so much fun to shoot, it became something we wanted to do every year.

Another tradition that began in 2007 was the strategic placement of Black Baby in each of our Christmas Cards. Black Baby is a baby doll that was given to all of our daughters by our “official” photographer and family best friend, Shannon “Dodo” Reed. Black Baby’s first appearance was in 2004, but she didn’t become a permanent fixture until 2007. She has not missed a Christmas card since.

In 2011, we learned that the best ideas are not always the ones we should do. The preparation and photo shoot for Merry Kissmas took over 13 hours. Although it’s one of our favorite cards, it was definitely not one of our best shoots. The long hours, makeup, and tension took a lot of fun out of the day. Since this shoot, budget and production value are always considered when we are having our family brainstorming sessions in late October and November.

Merry Christmas and thanks for checking out our Christmas Card collection!

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