Christmas Letters

Christmas Letters and Photos

Christmas letters for 2001-2011 are available, along with larger images of each of the cards shown here.

If any viewer has cards from 1979 or 1988 or complete cards where only photos appear below or letters for 1978, 1979, or 1981, I would love to see them.

Year/ Letter	Photo	Story
2011		Early on December 2, we went outdoors for a Christmas photo. "Too cold," an unsmiling Tori said. We came indoors and sat under the tree; only one take was needed. Tori still sports her outdoor coat. Mary and I are shown near a well in the center of San Gimignano, Italy, in early June. Tori and Cathy are together just prior to a Newbury Oaks preschool drama presentation in August.
2010		Photo was taken on July 22, and features the Hungarian Parliament building on the Pest bank of the Danube in Budapest. Jenny, Mary, and I spent five days in Budapest. On this, the day before we left, we asked passersby to take our photo, while standing on the Buda bank. (One took a photo with his finger over the lens.) This was the best of the photos taken.
2009		Photo was taken on March 29, in Sedona, Arizona. Mountains shown include famed Coffee Pot Rock, complete with spout, on the right.
2008		Photo was taken on the steps to our upper deck (rebuilt since similar photos in 1989 and 1998). We've added family friends Shane and Christina. The color-coded guide on the left tells part of the story. But to fully appreciate the photo, you must read the real story behind this Photoshopped picture!
2007		Photo was taken on January 13 at the Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) in the Australian outback not far from Uluru (Ayers Rock).
2006		Photo was taken on January 20 in Valle de los Huskies near Ushuaia, Argentina, at the tip of South America. The pointed mountain on the left is Cerro Bonete (el 3,668 ft).
2005		(Left to right: Kirk, Cathy, Marion, Larry, Brian, Mary, David, Jenny) Photo was taken on Thanksgiving. Mary didn't like the composition. Marion should be with Brian but was hastily moved up front so she could be seen.
2004		We've added Marion. (Clockwise from top: Cathy, Brian, Marion, Larry, David, Mary, Jenny, Kirk) Photo was taken on Memorial Day. Cathy said, "I got an idea! Let's put the camera on the grass and gather around it." The grins on our faces show how hysterical we thought the idea was.
2003		We've added Kirk. (Clockwise from top: Jenny, Kirk, Cathy, Larry, Mary, David. Brian was living in London.) When we gather for these photos, I never know what's happening behind me. We're smiling but the kids are cracking up, having tired of the traditional *stand at attention* Christmas photos. It was a gray day but software turned the sky deep blue.
2002		(Brian was traveling in Nigeria.) Photo was taken in our backyard in late November.
2001		I worked in Freiburg, Germany, in the heart of the Black Forest for five months. Mary, her sister Teresa, and brother-in-law John visited me over Easter break, when this photo was taken. Fifty miles west of Freiburg, we were standing in the snow, only a stone's throw from the Continental Divide and the source of the Danube.
2000		Cathy, Brian, and I took a three week trip to visit England, Wales, Greece, and Italy. This mid-September photo was taken from the dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral in Florence, Italy.
1999		We've added Volker, my German son, third from right. In mid-May, Jenny got her J.D. from Northwestern Law School in central Chicago. The graduation ceremony was held on the cool and windy Navy Pier, where this photo was taken.
1998		(Jenny was at Northwestern Law School.) Photo was taken on Thanksgiving Day.
1997		The whole family is together in the back yard.
1996		(Jenny was at Northwestern Law School.) Photo was taken on Thanksgiving Day at Mary's parents' home in Riverside. David was 16 and unashamedly shows off his braces.
1995		In June Brian graduated from UC San Diego with a B.S. in Computer Science. We proudly joined him at his graduation.
1994		(Jenny was still in Irving.) This Thanksgiving Day photo was taken in our family room in front of a display of Grandma Rogers' (1895-1989) cups, many of which have roses (for Rose) as decorations.
1993		(Jenny was living in Irving, Texas.) This Thanksgiving Day photo was taken in Mary's parents' back yard in Riverside.
1992		I recollect that this was our 1992 photo, but I don't have the card. I believe this was Cathy's June UCLA graduation day -- hence the flowers -- and we were at a Marina del Rey restaurant. Jenny had graduated in May from the University of Dallas.
1991		I took the easy way out this year. David was pleased to pose with Zandor. It's too bad Zandor was not equally enthusiastic.
1990		On a hot day in June Mary graduated from Cal State Northridge with an M.A. in Linguistics. Note the CSUN stone letters behind us.
1989		For the first of several Christmas photos, we gather on the steps to the upper deck in our back yard. Brian, 16, smiles through his braces.
1988	[missing]
1987		Wearing our Easter finery, we really look nice, don't we? Max, our Viszla, on the far right, does not pose for photos, he told us later.
1986		For this photo, we took a walk to nearby Peppertree Park and found a tree. Naturally the boys offered to climb and sit in the tree. Whoops -- Mary is up there too. Jenny turned 16 this year.
1985		Max joined us for a climb part way up Conejo Mountain, which overlooks our house. That's Newbury Park behind us, and our home is off to the left but not visible. Cathy turned 16 early in the year.
1984		We're sitting around the umbrella table in our back yard.
1983		We're in front of the Stagecoach Inn Museum, a local historical attraction. The museum has been known to be gaily decorated at Christmas.
1982		The flash did not pick up the three kids well, as we sat in our living room for this Christmas photo.
1981		We gathered around the living room fireplace for this picture.
1980		We've only been in our new Newbury Home home only a couple months. Cathy is wearing a cast for an arm she broke from a roller skating spill. The brick fireplace surround sports some souvenirs we brought with us from England. Kids are so-o-o young: Jenny, 10 David, 3 mo Mary Brian, 7 Larry Cathy, (almost) 12
1979	[missing]
1978		We lived just over an hour from Stonehenge. We drove out here one fall day and took this photo. At that time the monument was unguarded and not a soul was around.