“Once you go through something like that it just makes you go, ‘Let’s live life big,'” she said. “Once that happened, I think our family perspective just changed, we wanted to create experiences for our family instead of worrying about just things.”

Simmons said she starts planning for the Christmas photoshoot about a year in advance and the theme is always a tightly-held secret.

“No one knows except our photographer,” and her friend Christine Eberle, who does the cards each year as part of her Eberle Invitations company.

“I think about them a year in advance,” she added of the Christmas cards. “My husband and I joke that we always have to file an extension on our taxes, but we always know what our yearly Christmas card is going to be.”

In 2018, the family went for a “Mary Poppins” theme, tied to the release of the film “Mary Poppins Returns,” and immediately started scouting locations in their community “that looks like 17 Cherry Tree Lane.”

Simmons said she tries to find elements for the costumes on the cheap or even make them herself when she can, noting, “This is supposed to be about an experience, not spending.”

“I get on eBay, I use Amazon points, I try to DIY,” she said. “I’m not crafty but … you can really do anything by watching a YouTube video.”

In 2015, Simmons and her Disney-obsessed family recreated beloved “Star Wars” characters.

Her young daughters “love it,” Simmons said of the family tradition.

“They’re going to get to an age where they might be like, ‘Ugh,'” she added. “But we know that when they have grandchildren this might be a good tradition they can carry on.”

The response from friends and family to their over-the-top cards each year makes it worth it, said Simmons.

“We just want to spread joy, that’s it,” she said. “That’s our sole goal in our family.”

*Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

**Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on Dec. 12, 2018.