Meet Adrienne Encinias of Newport Beach: Created a Tradition for Parents Working Christmas Day

Today we’d like to introduce you to Adrienne Encinias.

Hi Adrienne , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m Adrienne Encinias, a photographer, mom of two little girls, and the founder of Santa Stops Twice™.
Santa Stops Twice™ began with something deeply personal. My husband is a firefighter-paramedic, and his job doesn’t stop for the holidays. When he was scheduled to work on Christmas Day for three years in a row, I wondered how we could preserve the excitement for our girls while making sure we could enjoy our full celebration together. They were old enough to know December 25 was Christmas, but still young enough to believe in Santa.
I didn’t want them to feel like Christmas was being postponed. I also didn’t want to move everything to another day and leave December 25 feeling empty or wake everyone at 4 a.m. to rush through presents before their dad’s shift.
I loved the idea of Santa being the one to explain the plan, rather than Mom or Dad explaining why things would be different. That sparked a thought: What if Santa could stop twice?
In 2024, I created a handmade storybook for our daughters and had it arrive as a special delivery from Santa, complete with a letter they could fill out and mail back to him. The story explained that Santa would still visit on December 25, wherever they were celebrating, with a filled stocking and one special gift. Then he would return on our Family Christmas Day™ for the full celebration together.
Our girls got to help choose their Family Christmas Day—a day when Dad would be home—and send that date back to Santa. They became part of his special plan.
Choosing a storybook mattered to me. Rather than relying on one long letter from Santa, I wanted to unfold the explanation page by page, with illustrations eventually helping younger children visualize his plan. It gave us something to read together and made the idea easier for our girls to understand and get excited about.
Their reaction was everything. They weren’t disappointed that Christmas would look different. They were thrilled that Santa was coming twice!
Seeing their joy made me think about other parents working on Christmas Day: first responders, nurses, doctors, military service members, hospitality workers, and so many others. I wanted to share something that could ease the worry for parents while keeping the wonder alive for their children.
Turning our family tradition into a published children’s Christmas book meant learning so many new things about publishing, building a brand, and launching a new business. My background as a photographer gave me experience with creative work, but bringing this story to other families was a whole new journey.
Today, Santa Stops Twice™ is a Christmas storybook and tradition for families with a parent working on Christmas Day. I’m also developing a second book for children who celebrate Christmas between two homes, which I look forward to sharing soon.
My hope is that families return to this tradition whenever they need it, knowing their Christmas is just as special even when their full celebration falls on a different day. It all started with one mom wanting her two little girls and their dad to share the magic together.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. Creating something for my own daughters was one thing; turning it into a published book and a business that could reach other families was a completely different challenge.
There have been countless hours of research, revisions, and problem-solving as I’ve learned about publishing and building a brand, all while working and raising two little girls, often parenting on my own while my husband is on shift. Many nights, after a full day of work and getting the girls to bed, I’ve stayed up until 1 or 2 a.m. working on this project. Finding the time and energy hasn’t always been easy and the burnout is real.
One of the biggest challenges has been explaining the idea clearly. Santa Stops Twice™ keeps December 25 special while giving families a way to enjoy their full Christmas celebration together on a different day. Finding the words and illustrations to make that feel simple and magical for children, and reassuring for parents, has taken time and care.
What keeps me going is knowing what this tradition meant to our family. I remember our daughter’s excitement that Santa was stopping twice and the relief of knowing their dad could share in those memories. I feel a strong responsibility to share it with other families because I want them to experience that same joy, reassurance, and togetherness, even when a parent has to work on Christmas Day, because every family deserves a Christmas together.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a photographer and the founder of Santa Stops Twice™, a Christmas storybook and tradition for families with a parent working on Christmas Day. My work brings together creativity, storytelling, and a desire to help families preserve meaningful memories.
As a firefighter-paramedic’s wife and mom of two little girls, I understand how emotional it can be when work keeps a parent away for the holidays. I created Santa Stops Twice™ to give families a simple, magical way to celebrate together without leaving December 25 feeling empty.
What makes this tradition different is that Santa delivers the plan himself through an illustrated storybook. He still visits on December 25 with a filled stocking and one special gift, then returns for the family’s full celebration on their chosen Family Christmas Day™. Children help choose the date and mail their letter back to Santa, making them part of the plan and excitement.
It was important to me that parents wouldn’t have to carry the entire explanation. The story unfolds page by page, with illustrations helping younger children visualize what will happen. Instead of focusing on a parent’s absence, children have something exciting to look forward to.
I’m most proud of taking a handmade book I created for my daughters and turning it into something other families can make their own. Seeing my girls feel excited rather than disappointed showed me how meaningful this idea could be. That remains the heart of my work: helping families make room for Christmas magic and shared memories, even when their schedules look different.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Over the next five to ten years, my vision is for Santa Stops Twice™ to become the go-to Christmas tradition for families who can’t be together on December 25. I hope it becomes something children recognize naturally: when a parent has to be away on Christmas Day, Santa Stops Twice™. That’s simply what he does for their family.
In that sense, I’d love to see it become a new normal, a familiar tradition that takes the pressure off parents and gives children something magical to look forward to. Whether a parent is working or a child is celebrating between two homes, being together on a different day shouldn’t make their Christmas feel any less special.
I also believe that as technology becomes a bigger part of everyday life, simple, hands-on experiences will remain meaningful: reading a story together, writing a letter to Santa, and choosing a Family Christmas Day™. My hope is that these moments become memories children grow up with and eventually pass on to their own families.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.santastopstwice.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/santastopstwice/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583425307366
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/santa-stops-twice-7b30ab428/
• Twitter: https://x.com/SantaStopsTwice
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SantaStopsTwice
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/santastopstwice/

Image Credits
Kaelin Davis Photography- My headshot