Tonight we decorated the Christmas tree for family night. Each child invited a friend to spend the night and to participate in the tree trimming. 

Maya prepares to take a shot at basketball practice this morning. Despite her diminuative stature, she is a little dynamo. 

Naturally, the kids are enjoying the snow. I snapped this photo of Maya waiting for the bus as I departed for an early work meeting. 

This was the first big snow for Nala. She went crazy. I believe she confused herself with a submarine, burrowing deep into the soft powder. If it was not so entertaining to watch I would have liked to strangle her for messing up my perfect snow blown driveway contours. I should also report that she has learned how to open the front door. She can now let herself in or out of the house. Her ability to close the door behind her (she can’t) is only slightly worse than the children and I am anticipating an enormous gas bill this winter. 

Today we were hit with 12 inches of snow. It began to fall at around 1PM and did not stop until midnight. Because so many people let work early, the plows got stuck in traffic and the roads were really quite bad. I was lucky on my back road commute and it only took me an hour to get home. Some of my co-workers reported spending 5 hours on the road. 

This photo of Nico and Jeanine in Tanzania came in today. It was taken by the leader of the yoga group they spent time with on their visit to Africa. Do these guys look relaxed or what. 

Kyle is getting increasingly committed to his music and spends a good deal of time practicing by his own choice. 

Maya adorns herself with some fabric we are using to decorate the Chistmas tree. 

This evening, my soccer team had its end of the season banquet. The evening begins with great formality at Serafina’s and ends in drunken debauchery at Erik’s house. Tradition demands that coat and tie are worn until the first toast has been made to the Queen of England. Rob, our keeper and team manger, announced my decision to join the over 50 club next season and went on to honor me with some very kind words and stories about my four years with the club. Many others chimed in. Not since my decision to leave Truevision have I ever felt so appreciated by a group of friends. 

Nala begs each morning to go outside to see Maya off on the bus. Because of the invisible fence, she must stay at the top of the driveway. As you can see we have snow and the temperatures have become quite frigid. 

On the work front I was offsite giving a presentation to our premiere broadcast customers from around the world. Over the past year my team has made huge strides in addressing some quality problems we were having in the field. Although our latest software is extremely robust, I got my chestnuts roasted for the pain we had caused during the interim. Despite the grilling, I am proud of the work my team has done and of the product we are now delivering. 

Jeanine and Nico return from Tanzania eboulient from their adventure together. 

Great photographers connect with their subjects and establish trust. It is clear to me from this image that Nicolai and this little girl established a special rapport based, perhaps, on a common understanding of what it feels like to be the object of unwelcomed stares and pity. 

Make no mistake, Nicolai is very deliberate in his photography. If you study this collection of images you can see a very artistic and creative mind at work.