Sophia (a distant cousin from Sweden) has joined us for Christmas. After playing some of her concert pieces for Sophia, Maya has begun giving her lessons.

It did not take long for Aunt Susan to get pulled into a craft activity with the kids.

Kyle with Aunt Susan and Rose getting ready to head out on a last minute shopping excursion. Meanwhile, Maya waits patiently in the car. Susan and Rose drove down from Burlington and will be staying with us for the holidays.

A very big day for Maya. This morning, she lost her first tooth. After discussing various techniques, she opted for the “twist and wiggle” method and proceeded with her own extraction.

This is one of several gifts I received from my boss at the Christmas party he hosts for his staff. He likes to poke fun at me whenever I wear my Stanford sweatshirt and asked if I would wear it today. Everyone else received equally humorous gifts, and the party was a very welcome break from the recent intensity of the new job.

Nicolai takes a little break from drumming practice. He is really starting to sound quite good. He uses his left foot to operate the bass pedal and has positioned the hi-hat pedal underneath his chair (proper drum term is the “throne”) which he operates by leaning forward and back. I have a day trip to Madison, WI tomorrow (leave at 5am, back by midnight) and probably will not post again until later in the week.

While at the basketball game, Maya borrowed my camera and snapped this shot. Normally I wear this hat to keep warm. I have now taken to wearing it indoors at the games to muffle the sound of the referees. I think these guys must get paid by how loudly they can blow the whistle.

Kyle driving hard to the net helping his team to another win. Kyle is extremely strong defensively but has been somewhat tentative on offense. His determination to improve is something to admire, however. After missing a lay-up in yesterday’s game, he stayed after and practiced until he made 50 lay-ups at game speed. Observing that he was now thoroughly exhausted, I thought it an opportune time to challenge him to a little one-on-one. Let’s just say that I got the spanking I deserved (although for the record I was wearing my climbing boots).

Maya modeling the hat I bought for her in Munich.

Today Maya and Jeanine played “Silent Night” together in the Christmas Recital. Because I was at Kyle’s basketball game (a win by one point, scored in the final seconds) I was treated to an encore performance at home.

One of the little shops handled only percussion instruments. I came very close to buying another drum, but the thought of hauling it back to the states got the better of me.

My trip to Germany was rather exhausting. After working in Tewksbury for the day on Wednesday, I flew through the night and went straight to the Munich office for another full day, all without sleep. On the way to my hotel, I passed this Weinachtenmart (outdoor Christmas Mart featuring scores of small shops, food of all types, music, dancing, and of course beer). I am still not clear where I found the energy, but I had a great time finishing my Christmas shopping while sampling food from grilled Brats to the finest local cheese.

Maya posing with the gingerbread house she constructed. Please note the circular frozen pond on the right and the snow fort in front. I am off to Germany on business and doubt I will be able to post again until the weekend.

Tonight was my family night and I chose “food processor creations” for my theme. We started with fresh squeezed orange juice.

Next we moved on to ice cream smoothies. We prepared strawberry, raspberry, and banana puree to combine with blueberries, ice cream and coconut milk. Each family member then combined ingredients to create their own customized blend. Kyle, Maya, and I opted for a strawberry-banana blend with a hint of raspberry and blueberry over a vanilla base. Nicolai went for chocolate ice cream and raspberry (delicious). Jeanine made a coconut milk based concoction which was not very popular with the group.