【Philippines Archives】

One family Christmas card went to some pretty great lengths to get everyone in the shot.

Ashley Sistrunk wanted to include her entire family in her Christmas card this year,Philippines Archives her four children and her husband, Brandon - even though he is currently deployed over 7,000 miles away in Iraq.

"I would see my friends posting their cute family Christmas photos and while I thought they were precious, my heart would get sad," Sistrunk told Mashablein an email, "I would think, 'I wish we could have a family Christmas card photo!'"

Determined to make her family card a reality, Sistrunk decided to get creative and dig around the internet for ideas.

"I went to Pinterest and typed in 'Christmas card ideas for military' and saw a couple of different versions of photoshopped photos of military members and their families," she said. "I wanted to put my own twist on it!"

She took a photo with the couple's four children, and had Brandon pose by himself in Iraq. Then, she put her photoshop skills to use.

"We did a 'normal' Christmas photo and then a more quirky version since we're a pretty silly family," she said, explaining the adorably unique second card.

"We married in 2006 at the age of 18, and found out five weeks later that we were expecting our first child," Sistrunk divulged, "We quickly realized that the real world was hard and wasn't free, so Brandon joined the military when I was six months pregnant."

"My husband, Brandon, is one of the most kindhearted people on the planet," the wife proudly explained, "He will do anything for anyone, including taking silly photos for a Christmas card."

She posted a hilarious compilation of Brandon's side of the Christmas photo on her Facebook page to show just how selfless Brandon really is.

"I can't even believe the coverage this is getting," Sistrunk revealed of their greeting card, "Brandon and I have always talked about wanting to be a voice for military families."

"Deployments are hard and you can feel so alone," she continued, "You'd be amazed at how strong military families are, but how sad you can get at the same time. We want other deployed families to know that the emotions they feel are normal."

"[Brandon] can't believe this little card has impacted so many lives," she added.

We can't say we're surprised. The joy of families reuniting are what the holidays are all about.

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