In our years as expats we've generally tried to get home to Alaska for Christmas.  Most years we made it, sometimes just barely.  Each year  we tried to write our Christmas letter on the First Sunday in Advent to give our friends the color of the approaching season wherever we were.  Sometimes we missed our deadline and the letter went out late.  (One went out on New Year's Eve, 1993 from Tirana, Albania.  It is one of Rich's favorites).  This page not only provides links to the last decade of letters but some pictures from Christmas markets we've encountered on our travels.  They're where we have done most of our Christmas shopping.  First, though, the links.

To find a Christmas Letter from our archive click on a year below

2006 Holiday Travel Photos

Armenia

London

2005 Holiday Travel Photos

Brussels Christmas Fair

Balkan Christmas

Dutch Christmas

2003 Holiday Travel Photos

Santa Klaus arrives in Amsterdam on November 16, 2003.

Kosova prepares for Christmas, December, 2003

Vienna Christmas Market, December 6, 2003

Sitka, Alaska Christmas Boat Parade, December 13, 2003

The Aachen, Germany Christmas Market, 2002

London, 2002

On the top Oxford Street and Harrods, on the bottom, The Norwegian Seaman's Church Christmas Bazaar.

Christmas in Sitka Alaska, 2001

The Boat Parade is the way Sitka welcomes Christmas.

Bratislava, Slovakia

Christmas Market, 1997