The Making Of The Christmas Letter

As Emily and Veronica worked on the Christmas letter, Olivia posed for this photo
while Lauren tried to show me a video on her phone. And there's no sign of Julia.

The YD Christmas letter is out and it's likely the earliest it has hit mailboxes. And, for the first time, it does not include personalized messages. For that, I apologize. The letter's production timetable had to be moved up considerably since I'm headed off to Europe for a few weeks. The girls and I set up an assembly line Saturday (in the van, no less, on the way to Lincoln) to fold, stuff, address, seal and stamp the letters for mailing.

As for the content of the letter itself, Olivia and Julia noticed a few typos (can you find them in your copy?), so some of the letters were re-printed. Julia took advantage of the situation and changed her favorite movie from "Hotel Transylvania" to "Wreck-It Ralph." Veronica also changed up her favorite place from "Bounce U" to "Aksarben Cinema." And even with all the re-writes, there were still wasn't room for Lauren's entire letter to be included. So here's her prose that wasn't included:

I went down to see the ruins of the Titanic quite a few times this year. They have a new attraction where you try to save Jack. The soundtrack of the movie goes on all the time. It's quite soothing. I've learned to hold my breath for about 27 minutes straight! Cal tries to beat you up, but you have to joust and fight him off. It's all underwater, so it's really challenging. Then Rose comes over and she's all like, "When you win this game, I'm getting off with you!!!" But I punch her in the face and say "Gosh Rose! I'm trying to save a person here! Move out of my way! I'm saving your man for you! But since I'm saving him … he's mine now! Ta Ta!" *Rose cries and dies*

If you aren't on our mailing list, you can download the Christmas letter as a full color PDF here.

Those of you who are new to our Christmas letter might be wondering about the title. It's always a nautical theme. Here are the titles from past editions:

• 1993: Staying Afloat
• 1994: Treading Water
• 1995: Learning To Swim
• 1996: Making Waves
• 1997: Plunging Into Parenthood
• 1998: Diving In Deeper
• 1999: Waterlogged
• 2000: Another Splas
• 2001: Underwater Views
• 2002: Rockin' The Boat!
• 2003: Weathering The Storm
• 2004: Docked At A New Port
• 2005: The Score: Gulls 6, Buoys 1
• 2006: (No Christmas letter)
• 2007: Missing The Boat, But Still Afloat
• 2008: Torpedoed
• 2009: Up In The Air
• 2010: Smooth Sailing
• 2011: Casting A Wider Net
• 2012: Full Steam Ahead

The Christmas letters, moments before they hit the mailbox at the main post office.