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Copyright Sarah Pasley
Infant Kiptyn Pasley "meets" a very special Santa Claus for the first time in December 2011. This photo of the sleeping baby boy's encounter with St. Nick has become a holiday Internet sensation this year.
Moms everywhere snap — and cherish — photos of their squishy, adorable babies. But sometimes, in the rarest of circumstances, a mother captures her own infant in an image so moving that it makes hundreds of thousands of people around the world gasp.
That’s what happened to an Idaho mom named Sarah Pasley, and for the past few days she’s been stumbling around in shock because of it.
“I can’t even believe it!” Pasley, 32, told TODAY.com. “I mean, I loved the photo, but I didn’t expect other people to be so uplifted by it.”
Pasley’s photo shows her youngest son Kiptyn meeting Santa Claus for the first time in the middle of a crowded Boise shopping mall. She took the photo last December when Kiptyn was 8 months old and very sleepy — so sleepy, in fact, that he slumbered blissfully right on the good-natured mall Santa’s chest.
Her friends and family loved the photo when they saw it last year, and that seemed to be the end of that. Then, about a week ago, Pasley saw that children’s clothing company Carter’s was seeking online photo submissions of kids meeting Santa for the first time. Pasley shared her beloved 2011 photo on Carter’s Facebook page.
And then ... KA-BOOM! The image of Kiptyn and St. Nick became an Internet sensation. In about three days’ time, the photo had more than 360,000 Facebook likes and had been shared more than 50,000 times. Media outlets around the world ran the photo and provided commentary about it. Pasley began experiencing a sensation that might affect many mothers in such a situation.
“I panicked!” she said. “I went online and actually took the picture down.”
Courtesy Sarah Pasley
Mom Sarah Pasley had this photo taken with baby Kiptyn last Christmas.
Despite that, the media attention intensified more than ever — and Pasley decided to take a deep breath and let it be. She re-posted the image herself and stopped asking Carter’s to take it down.
“I saw so many people commenting that they couldn’t find the Christmas spirit because of so many bad things happening in the world, but now they’re finding it again because of this picture,” said Pasley, a mother of three who pursues photography as a hobby. “That’s what this picture is all about to me.”
Courtesy Sarah Pasley
This family photo taken in December 2012 shows Sarah Pasley with her husband, Chance, and their three sons, Aidan, 12, Brennan, 10, and Kiptyn, who is now 20 months old.
Pasley doesn’t personally know the Santa who meets hundreds of children each year at Idaho’s Boise Towne Square mall, but she adores him nonetheless. She said she never would have gotten the photo if Santa hadn’t motioned to have Kiptyn brought over to him, even though the baby had fallen fast asleep minutes before his first Santa encounter.
“His generosity and the way he treats people has impacted my life,” Pasley said. “I get choked up just thinking about it. ... He’s Santa Claus. He truly does embody what Santa is — the magic, the wonder, the joy and the love. He’s just so special. I hope he knows that!”
Need a Coffey break? Friend TODAY.com writer Laura T. Coffey on Facebook, follow her on Twitter or read more of her stories at LauraTCoffey.com.
More on TODAY:
- Confessions of a mall Santa: Spit, snot and spreading cheer
- Video: Secret Santa pays Wal-Mart layaway bills for 53 families
- There arose such a clatter over pipe-free Santa
- Photos: Faces of Santa: See how St. Nick spreads holiday cheer around the world
Leave a Comment:
So, does anyone else wonder about where the father of her 3 children is? Now Idaho is a pretty conservative state, so one would think the residents would take fatherhood seriously, sooo...where's dad?
I don't wonder where the dad is, because he is in the picture above. Maybe you would have benefited from reading the article in it's entirety.
Looks to me like the dad is in the picture ^ above!!
What a beautiful family~Merry Christmas to you!
Apparently reading comprehension isn't really a big priority in Rural Washington State.
Great Santa photo & great Family photo - for those who bothered to read to the end! Great looking family!
Uhh...not all women are attached to their husbands 24/7 you know, or heck, she could have been a single mother, so what? If you had scrolled down though, you would have seen the husband in the family photo.
cute baby. good thing he was asleep or he probably would have cried. I have to just smirk a tiny bit whenever I see an under-3er screaming at a haggard santa at the mall.... kids even 7 and 8 years old can be intimidated by the santa thing.. it's no place for a 2 year old - I would be willing to bet that 9 out of 10 children under the age of 3 cry at being deposited on the lap of a garishly dressed, outrageously bearded stranger. I never risked it with my toddler. I might go for it IF my 5 year old asked to, but there is no way I'd go out of my way about it.
Pretty sure Dad's in the photo above...holding the baby. Hopefully his existence alleviates your concern.
Kiptyn? Really? At least they didn't name him Hashtag. I guess.
Yep My cousin named her 1st kid Chase D'leh, and her 2nd one Kiptyn just like this girl... Ugh
“I panicked!” she said. “I went online and actually took the picture down.”
That gave her time to copyright the photo.
never mind the kid - the mother's cute!
I love her hair, and she's not the only cute one, the whole family is attractive!
What's a Kiptyn?
That mom is indeed hot.
well, its a cute picture but what was Santa doing sleeping? Did he just lay down and go to sleep right then and there or was it pretend on Santas' part, for the picture?
Love it though.
The story I read elsewhere said she was going to leave the line but the santa motioned her over and posed like this
Does it really matter whether or not Santa "posed" for the photo? To me, not so much. Santa has to "pose" all day long with crying children, unhappy/happy children; the fact that he chose to "pose" with the sleeping baby, and not wake him up, says a lot about his character as Santa and, as a father himself (presuming he has children - young or grown up). This is a great photo - give credence to believing in Santa and all his goodness. The photo is just adorable. Sarah's family is good looking too; she looks too young to have a 12 and 10 year old! Great looking family!
How precious is this picture?
What a darling photo!
Cheer up people! Christmas is a time for joy, not fault-finding. This Santa must enjoy his seasonal job.
Nice photo and all, but this makes the news? Haha, what a crock.
This is an adorable picture. I came to the article to find out the backstory behind the photo. I knew I would love the story but I love it more than I could have ever imagined. I love the holidays and this picture embodies my feelings for this time of year. :) For someone who was wondering where dad was...he was probably in the mall with mom waiting for the kids to take Santa pictures like dads all over the world do every year. I wonder why the first poster would make such a comment? Was Dad supposed to be jealous and jump in the picture too? Not getting the logic behind the question.
Nevertheless, great photo, cute story....HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!!!! :D