The Bell Family Dentistry Christmas Card

Bell Family Dentistry Christmas Card 2016

Every year we send out Christmas/ Happy Holiday cards to our patients. If you didn’t get one please call and make sure we have your correct address. For years we would struggle trying to find a good card that represented our practice and reflected our sentiments. With Brandon joining the practice and the creative help of his wife, Kristina, during the last several years we have been designing and producing our own cards. We always try to produce a light-hearted card that features our practice and a connection to Carlsbad. Coming up with a new idea, setting up the photo and producing the card isn’t always easy. When you are ordering three thousand cards you want to get it right.

2017 Bell Family Dentistry Christmas on the Water

This year you saw us wake surfing behind a boat in Agua Hedionda Lagoon. It was a collaborative project: Brandon came up with the idea. Josh from Carlsbad Watersports helped us with the boat. Julene, our daughter, was the photographer. I came up with the props. Kristina, Brandon’s wife, handled the design, graphics, content and production. I had the easy part as we used the same battery powered Christmas lights we used the year before, I just had to waterproof the battery cases so they wouldn’t short out. Finding the elf hats was the hardest part.

Bell Family Dentistry Christmas Card 2017

Everything worked out; down to a boat they call the Rasta boat for its red and green colors, ski ropes that just happened to be red and green and a beautiful clear sunset. Unfortunately the wind picked up and several other boats on the lagoon were racing around making large wakes that added to the chop from the wind. If you have ever water skied, wake surfed or wake boarded you know this makes staying up a challenge. During one of our attempts I fell and not wanting to get my elf hat wet I held on to the rope even after I fell. . Unfortunately the rope caught under my wedding ring wrapped around my middle finger and ring finger dislocating both. see photo. As you can see my fingers swelled significantly and my wedding ring which I have never been without for 43 years was stuck on. In spite of the mishap Julene, our daughter managed to capture us both standing up as well as a beautiful picture of the sunset.  The photos came out so well that some people even thought we photo shopped them.  We didn’t

Beautiful sunset on the water in Carlsbad

Consequences of Sacrificing for the Shot

I was still able to work with my injured fingers because I just hold the mirror with my left hand not the drill. I used our dental x-ray machine to take an x-ray and I didn’t see any fractures.  As I am almost a doctor I made my own  diagnosis; a severe dislocation.  The problem was that the swelling would not go down partly because my wedding ring was now so tight it would not let the swelling out of my finger. After two months of unchanged swelling I decided I had better get my wedding ring off to try and reduce the swelling. Having made jewelry in my youth, access to tools and being a do it “myselfer” I used a dental drill to cut the ring off. After bending it open and lots of soap I was finally able too remove it. After a month the swelling did decrease but my fingers never returned to their original size so I took it to Famulare jewelers to have it resized. At first they were skeptical that they could even repair it as the needed size was so much bigger. They even suggested it would be cheaper just to buy a new band. Admittedly the ring has little monetary value, Debi and I bought her engagement ring, her wedding ring and my wedding ring for a grand total of $278.00 at the newly opened Mall in Carlsbad back in 1974 but the sentimental value is priceless to me. So they agreed to repair it. The photo shows my ring resized five full sizes larger (its still tight) back on my finger where hopefully it will stay for the next 43 years. Its obvious my career as a hand’s model is now over.

My wedding ring back on my still swollen finger.

Whats next for Bell Family Dentistry Christmas 2018?

As for next years card. the design team is still working on ideas but we are thinking of something less dangerous like sky diving. Keep your eye on your mailbox next December.