Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Seasons Greetings? (Jason's November Post)

You've all seen the wonders that Jenni can create for her holiday photographs, but what you may not know is that our family has a bit of a history when it comes to Christmas cards, and as a general rule of thumb, the goal had always been to make each year's photo increasingly more bizarre than the last. Now those of you who have seen Jenni's cards in recent years are probably a bit confused, as nothing about her holiday greetings is in the least bit strange or unorthodox, so let me explain...

Growing up (like a lot of other families) our parents would line us up each Thanksgiving, snap a few crooked photos, look for one where everybodys' eyes were open, add a generic seasonal pleasantry, have it printed, and then send it to all of our friends and extended family. Unlike a lot of other families, however, the Crotty children were particularly un-photogenic. For years and years, our mother would send out pictures featuring more Nike headbands and Lloyd Christmas haircuts than genuine smiles or enthusiasm.

Determined to put an end to rather mundane routine of Christmas card normalcy, I finally convinced my parents that swift change was in order. Now I had seen funny cards before, but I wanted something that didn't quite make sense. I didn't want whoever opened the card to laugh... I wanted them to be simply confused. The photo below seemed to do the trick.

2005

The following year I came up with this arrangement...
2006

You'll notice that Jenni had been replaced by a man who would later become Jamie's husband (at the time though I'm not even sure that Jamie and Josh were dating, which helped add to the overall awkward feel I hoped to attain). Also, I'm sure there will be some inter-family backlash for claiming this as solely my own idea, but whatever, this is my post so I will take creative license as I so choose.

In my opinion, 2007's photo (not pictured here for numerous reasons--in short, my hands are tied) was the icing on the proverbial family photo cake. It also is the reason that the Crotty family stopped sending out Christmas cards, but that's a fact I like to take as confirmation that our cards were garnering the reaction I had hoped for.

Now that we are all grown up, each family has branched off and started sending out their own cards. Since Dana and I are both single (as Jamie likes to say, we "don't have families") and Jamie and Jenni have forgotten what its like to have a sense of humor, I took it upon myself carry on the family tradition.

In my mind, the fact that a 22-year-old, single male would have his own Christmas card is outlandish enough in its own right, but I also wanted to make sure it still created the "uhh...?" reaction of our old family cards. I wanted something that at first glance might seem like a relatively normal picture until you notice that something is a little out of place.. The result was something that I hope is as equally "off" as one might expect from a Crotty family Christmas card.




So, for what its worth... Seasons Greetings, everybody!

42 comments:

  1. The perfect way to start me morning....weird humor! Well done Jason!

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  2. Hysterical, on so many levels!! Would love to see the reaction of someone opening any one of those greeting cards...so funny.

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  3. Jason, it reminds me of when Isiah nailed Carrie's dress to the roof. But then you are so young you probably never watched that show! Great post!

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  4. Too funny! We now know who the clown in the family is ;). Love the pictures.

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  5. Jason, you are too flipping funny! Nice sunflare in the shot!!

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  6. Oh, I love these...very funny :)

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  7. Refreshing difference in this world of conformity.

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  8. I love that picture of Lola! She looks so excited to be up there!

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  9. Hilarious! Why do I love you guys so much in the onsies?! I would die if I opened up that card!

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  10. Oh my gosh, this has inspired me to step our family photo up a notch. Usually we just send one out with somebody looking totally horrible as a joke on them, but this is a whole new level. Well done!

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  11. wow...our Christmas card simply won't do now that I see this!

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  12. So funny, I love the Christmas cards, you are so funny!

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  13. Perfect humor for today! I love it! You all are a beautiful bunch. Great photos!

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  14. I love it! The Threat of Christmas... Perfect, and the baby perched on the roof of the truck - even better!

    Cindy

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  15. Perfect! Good for you for not missing out on the card tradition just 'cause you're single!'. Thanks for the laugh..

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  16. O my! I love this. This is so funny.

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  17. Still laughing. You need to send a letter with the card going into great detail about what you like to eat for breakfast or a few tedious boring details of your life. Awesome.

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  18. Don't leave us hanging! Post 2007's card!! And I laughed at this, love your twisted sense of humor.

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  19. I agree! I think we need to see more of these family photos, especially ones featuring you all looking like Lloyd Christmas. It's quite impressive that Lorelei is sitting up so well that she can be on top of a car. Go baby!

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  20. OH MY GOSH!!!! This is hilarious! I'm dying to know what the missing 2007 Christmas card was!!! ahahahhaahha...Still laughing!

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  21. Too funny! Thanks for the laugh. The kiddos are gorgeous!

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  22. Cool thing. A family that can bond together will be a family that is united forever.

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  23. OMGosh I'm dying of stinking laughter!!

    I look forward to his posts every month!

    Thanks for sharing

    Heather

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  24. Your brother completely cracks me up!

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  25. I'm dying about this for some reason...lol I love his sense of humor! And I love people thinking that Lola is actually up there!

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  26. Absolutely LOVED the post! Too funny!! :)

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  27. really cute post! I would love to win this wreath! love, love, your blog! You have two adorable little girls!

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  28. I absolutely love the post! I love, love, your blog! And I would love, love, love, to win this wreath! Your 2 little girls are precious! My email address is asa642@aol.com

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  29. jason's posts never fail to make me laugh. this is the best one yet!! The threat of christmas & the onesies?!! a 22 yr old male sending out Christmas cards?!! Priceless!!

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  30. You are such a Domer!! And, you need to meet a lovely fellow ND gal...my daughter of course. She graduates in May. Love your posts, Jason. You completely crack me up. You have to write more!

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  31. Could he be anymore of a crack up!

    He needs to do a mid month post once a month just isn't enough!

    Thanks for sharing your blog with him

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  32. I know this post is a year old but I stumbled upon it tonight and read it at least three times now. I have TEARS streaming down my face from deep belly laughs. Perhaps I'm just overly tired but it totally stuck me funny. I even sent it to a family member I think will appreciate the humor and get a good laugh!

    As a general note, I very much enjoy reading this blog on a regular basis.

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