Andrea Smith admits that being married to a military man isn't always easy, especially when your partner is deployed for the holidays. But six years of marriage and an adorable 3-year-old daughter named Charlotte later, Andrea's love for her husband, Staff Sergeant Andrew Smith, is stronger than ever. And if you need proof, start by taking a look at their family Christmas card [1], which was shot by photographer Leslie Owen [2]. Andrea explained to POPSUGAR that despite being far away, she was determined to include Andrew in the holiday tradition:
"Not having him home with us in general is hard, but around the holidays, I find myself missing him so much more, but we do the best to make the most of it," she said. "I don't think you ever get used [to them being away]; we just develop a new routine to just through the deployment."
Andrea explained that she hopes her card will inspire other military families who aren't spending Christmas at home with their loved ones. "After a lot of thought, we decided to come up with something that not only brings some holiday cheer to those going through a similar situation as us but also share the awareness that there are still so many military families missing their loved ones during this holiday season. I just wanted to let them know they aren't going through this alone."
Including Andrew in the finished product required a little help from his fellow Marines in the photography department. He had a fellow soldier snap a photo and emailed it to his family back home. As far a finding a setting for Charlotte and Andrea to get their picture taken? That was the easy part. Andrea went with her daughter's favorite store of all time: Target. How sweet. And bonus points for creativity!