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Vitter Holiday Cards Through the Years

'Tis the Season to be jolly! Welcome to a 79-year-old tradition of annual Christmas greeting cards, augmented from time to time with cards for other occasions.

A. L. Jr. & Audrey (née St. Raymond) Vitter started the tradition in New Orleans back in December 1945 — with more recent cards from the next generation families of Jeff & Sharon Vitter, Tootie & Jim Jackoniski, and Mark & Mary Vitter. More will be added as they become available. Enjoy!

Holidays 1945 . . . Toddler Al III is wondering, "What have I started?"

Holidays 1946 . . . Martha Louise (Tootie) enters the scene.

Holidays 1947 . . . Al's lecture style hasn't changed, now 77 years later.

Holidays 1948 . . . Donna's entrée.

Holidays 1949 . . .

Holidays 1950 . . .

Holidays 1951 . . . Mark enters the scene.

Holidays 1952 . . .

Holidays 1953 . . .

Holidays 1954 . . .

Holidays 1955 . . . with baby Jeff.

Holidays 1956 . . . at the former park on Walmsley Avenue, current site of the headquarters of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Holidays 1957 . . . at the front door of our new home at 4100 Vincennes Place in uptown New Orleans.

Holidays 1958 . . .

Holidays 1959 . . . in the newly remodeled downstairs at 4100.

Holidays 1960 . . .

Holidays 1961 . . . David enters the scene.

Holidays 1962 . . . Al returns from first semester freshman year at the University of Notre Dame.

Holidays 1963 . . . with Queenie in front of 4100. (Rex took the picture.)

Holidays 1964 . . . Tootie's first year at Loyola University in New Orleans.

Holidays 1965 . . .

Holidays 1966 . . . Donna starts at Georgetown, and Al begins graduate school in mathematics at Princeton University. This period was ironically one of the rare times no one was attending Notre Dame! Al had just graduated the prior May, and Mark was going to start a year and a half later.

Holidays 1967 . . . sports (and complex variables) theme.

Holidays 1968 . . . virtual long distance to Donna doing study abroad in Paris. Mark's first year at Notre Dame.

Holidays 1969 . . .

Holidays 1970 . . . with Tootie holding newly born Jason Jackoniski. Al joins the Tulane University mathematics faculty.

Holidays 1971 . . .

Holidays 1972 . . . with Bee-Gees lookalikes.

Holidays 1973 . . . Jeff returns from his first semester at Notre Dame after a delayed late flight in the wee hours of the morning, when this picture was taken. Everyone is falling asleep in the photo! Jeff brought home over 20 Sugar Bowl tix, with the help of the lottery applications of the entire ND mathematics faculty. Ara Parseghian and the Irish went undefeated and won the national championship 24–23 against Bear Bryant and a great 'Bama team in what is often considered the all-time best college bowl game.

Holidays 1974 . . . Donna and Bill visit from Boston.

Holidays 1975 . . . with newlyweds Al & Alison.

Holidays 1976 . . .

Holidays 1977 . . . Meg's first holiday picture; she's frightened stiff. Speaking of stiffs, is Mark really there? Photoshop has nothing on Père! (In fact, Jeff still prefers Père's techniques and resurrected them for his family's Christmas card 36 years later.) Jeff is standing on the right and is in his first year of computer science graduate school at Stanford.

Holidays 1978 . . . at Mark & Mary's wedding in Lorain, Ohio after Mark's Tulane medical school graduation and before heading off to a fellowship year in Australia. Yes, those tuxedos really are brown. Jim Jackoniski's first Vitter Christmas card. And believe it or not, this card is also Mimi & Père's inaugural appearance on their annual card. Also showing Jason J. (standing) and Joli J. and Meg V. (atop Queenie).

Holidays 1979 . . . Little Al (IV) joins the scene. David is a freshman at Harvard.

Holidays 1980 . . . showing off Père's new toy after his retirement as chief engineer at Chevron. Jeff is a new assistant professor of computer science at Brown.

Holidays 1981 . . .

Holidays 1982 . . . at Jeff & Sharon's wedding in Paola, Kansas. Mimi & Père join the holiday pictures now on a regular basis.

Holidays 1983 . . . in front of 4100 Vincennes Place.

Holidays 1984 . . . with baby Nick on Queenie.

Holidays 1985 . . . in the backyard of 4100.

Holidays 1985 . . . Our eldest arrives on the scene at 12 Benefit Street in Providence, Rhode Island.

Holidays 1986 . . .

Holidays 1986 . . . Jeff, Sharon, & and our eldest on sabbatical by the Tour Eiffel in Paris, France with Parisienne Donna.

Holidays 1986 . . .

Holidays 1987 . . . at the reunion in Destin, Florida.

Holidays 1987 . . .

Holidays 1988 . . . with baby Lisette.

Holidays 1988 . . . with our young son in Providence, Rhode Island.

Holidays 1989 . . . at Mark & Mary's home.

Holidays 1989 . . .

Holidays 1990 . . . in front of 4100 with newlyweds David & Wendy and with Mark holding baby Cameron.

Holidays 1990 . . .

Valentine's 1991 . . . Tootie gets tired of always being late in sending out Christmas cards and starts a series of annual Valentine's Day greetings.

Holidays 1991 . . . Sharon holds our youngest (named after her grandmother Mimi) on the back patio at 4100.

Holidays 1992 . . . at the New Orleans Country Club with Mary holding baby Peyton.

Holidays 1992 . . .

Valentine's 1993 . . .

Mimi & Père's 50th Anniversary, June 1993 . . . in Destin, Florida with the grandkids. Joli holds baby cousin Sophie.

Holidays 1993 . . . photo taken at Mimi & Père's 50th Anniversary in Destin, Florida with Jean Pierre Téjéro and baby Sophie.

Holidays 1993 . . . on the beach in Destin, Florida.

Holidays 1994 . . . at 4100.

Holidays 1994 . . . in Durham, North Carolina.

Holidays 1994 . . .

Valentine's 1995 . . .

Holidays 1995. . . with the grandkids at Mark & Mary's.

Holidays 1995 . . .

Holidays 1996 . . . at Al & Alison's.

Holidays 1996 . . . in front of Jeff & Sharon's new home at 3730 Foxwood Place in Croasdaile Farms in Durham, North Carolina.

Holidays 1996 . . .

Valentine's 1997 . . .

Holidays 1997 . . . at the family reunion in Biloxi on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, with babies Airey and Lise.

Holidays 1997 . . . in Biloxi on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. (Answers to the puzzle on previous year's post card: 1. Our eldest; 2. Jeff; 3. Our youngest; 4. Sharon; 5. Our middle child.)

Holidays 1997 . . .

Valentine's 1998 . . .

Holidays 1998 . . . at David & Wendy's.

Holidays 1998 . . . déjeuner chez Vitter on sabbatical in Valbonne, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.

Holidays 1998 . . .

Valentine's 1999 . . .

Holidays 1999 . . . at David's U. S. Congressional election celebration.

Holidays 1999 . . . at Foxwood Place in Durham, N. C.

Holidays 1999 . . .

Valentine's 2000 . . .

Holidays 2000 . . . at Joli & Reed's wedding on the beach in Destin, Florida. Mimi & Père's last Christmas card.

Holidays 2000 . . . also from Destin, Florida.

Valentine's 2001 . . . also from Destin, Florida.

Holidays 2001 . . . at Delphi, Greece, searching for the oracle.

Holidays 2001 . . . in Paris.

Valentine's 2002 . . .

Holidays 2002 . . . with the new pups Mario and Luigi.

Holidays 2002 . . .

Valentine's 2003 . . .

Holidays 2003 . . . on the bridge over the Wabash between West Lafayette and Lafayette, Indiana.

Valentine's 2004 . . .

Holidays 2004 . . . at Jason & Devon's wedding in Atlanta, Georgia.

Holidays 2004 . . .

Holidays 2004 . . . from newlyweds Jason & Devon (née Nobis) Jackoniski

Valentine's 2005 . . . introducing baby Ryan Martic.

Valentine's 2005 . . . Reed, Joli, & baby Ryan Martic.

Holidays 2005 . . . at home in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Valentine's 2006 . . .

Holidays 2006 . . .

Valentine's 2007 . . . the Jackoniski and Martic families recreating the Destin theme of 1993.

Holidays 2007 . . . on caravan in Egypt with cowboys Sharon, Donna, Jeff, our youngest, our eldest, and our middle child.

Valentine's 2008 . . . introducing baby Oliver Jackoniski.

Holidays 2008 . . . with Donna hiding from the jinns in Morocco.

Valentine's 2009 . . . introducing Georgia Lou Martic.

Valentine's 2009 . . .

Introducing Cheney Leighton Jackoniski.

Holidays 2009 . . . at Kate and Steve's in Kansas.

Holidays 2009 . . . Our son sends out his own card, here surrounded by his "Athlete House" housemates at E. Washington Street, South Bend, Indiana: Aron O'Connor, Cameron Compton, Bill Whitaker, Pat McHugh (hanging from the rim), Jamie Ellis, and Pat Hogan. (If you visit South Bend, a must-see is the Athlete House plaque on display on the 2nd floor of Notre Dame's new Compton Family Ice Arena.)

Holidays 2009 . . . on the beach in Destin, Florida.

Valentine's 2010 . . . introducing Cheney Jackoniski.

Holidays 2010 . . . at our new home in Lawrence, Kansas.

Valentine's 2011 . . . Introducing Sela Noel Jackoniski.

Valentine's 2011 . . .

Holidays 2011 . . . at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Holidays 2011 . . .

Holidays 2012 . . . .

Holidays 2013 . . . at Aaron & Heather Weaver's wedding on the University of Kansas campus. This photo is an homage to Père's pre-Photoshop 1977 Vitter Christmas photo from 36 years earlier. Our virtual son joined us throughout the day and had a ton of fun, dancing into the wee hours of the night with the bridesmaids. He even parked the car for us at the wedding (see below).

Holidays 2014 . . . everyone home (for real!) for Thanksgiving.

Holidays 2015 . . . in Lawrence headed to Ole Miss!

Valentine's 2016. . .

Valentine's 2016 . . .

Holidays 2016 . . . from a baseball game at Swayze Field.

Holidays 2016 . . .

Holidays 2017 . . . at Kurt and Cace's wedding reception at the East Barn on the Weaver farm in Wagstaff, Miami County, Kansas.

Valentine's 2018 . . .

Holidays 2018 . . . at the Weaver reunion 4 July 2018 in Fairhope, Alabama, introducing Lindsay Sena (soon to be Vitter!).

Holidays 2019 . . . at our middle child's wedding at the former Fleischmann estate Greenacres in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Holidays 2020 . . . at an art exposition in the Marais in Paris, France with Jeff's sister Donna, taken the previous holiday season. (We unfortunately didn't get out as much in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic!)

Valentine's 2021 . . .

Holidays 2021 . . . experimenting this year with a collage of photos taken throughout the year, since we couldn't all get together at the same time.

Holidays 2022 . . . another collage of the year, full of wonderful trips. Highlights were our first grandchild, a week on the water in Traverse City with the kids, Thanksgiving week with the kids in Denver, four weeks traveling around France, and trips to Notre Dame, the Final Four, California, Kansas, Texas, Kentucky, Nashville, and Broadway.

Holidays 2023 . . . our first all-electronic Christmas card. Our biggest news this year was two great fiancé additions to the family, with weddings to follow in March. This photo was taken right after one of the proposals on board a wonderful cruise on the Medditerranean, where we visited Rome and several cities in Italy (including Sicily), Greece, Croatia, San Marino, and Slovenia.

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