Hannah was introduced to and quickly picked up the game of Euchre, a Roche family favorite. Meanwhile, desserts were being prepared in the kitchen.

This afternoon the family drove to Burlington, Vermont where we joined Jeanine’s sister Susan for the New Year holiday. We made the four hour drive in two cars so that we could more comfortably accommodate Kyle’s friend Hannah and Maya’s friend Lydia who joined us on the short family vacation. Susan recently purchased a new condominium and this was our first visit. The place is huge with a fantastic open floor plan. We enjoyed a fine lasagna dinner before settling down to some serious card playing.

Maya and Sarinagh created nine clothing ensembles and laid them out on the bedroom floor. Using a ladder and wide angle lens I was only able to capture five of them.

Since meeting Jeanine over 25 years ago I have enjoyed a Roche family tradition, popovers for Christmas morning breakfast. This year’s batch will go down in history as the best ever reaching new heights due to a small adjustment Jeanine made to the recipe. Rarely do I get to capture peak moments of happiness but I must say this comes pretty close. The popovers were so big that we could only eat one for breakfast. Leave it to Kyle to invent the grilled ham and cheese popover which we enjoyed for lunch.

I think it would be safe to conclude that Maya is excited about Christmas this year. Either that or she takes pleasure from defying her parents over the use of the sofa as a trampoline. I used a flash and long shutter speed (to retain the mood of the ambient light) which gives Maya something of a translucent appearance.

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse….

It is rumored that the finished Zeppole tastes best if the honey is allowed to soak in overnight. We may never know if this is true.

The next element of our holiday tradition is the preparation of the Zeppole (fried dough balls covered in honey and sprinkles). Years of practice have made for a very efficient production line approach, only slightly less efficient than the speed with which the finished product is consumed.

Songs celebrating Christmas and a candle lighting ceremony define the evening service at First Parish our Unitarian Universalist church. Always a point of great controversy among the children afterwards is whether their father has a three or four note vocal range. Not in question is how much we enjoyed sharing the evening with Aunt Susan.

Our family begins every Christmas Eve with dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Chang An being our local favorite. Something of a present for Jeanine who will spend much time cooking over the next several days this tradition dates back many years and I can no longer recall how we came to decide on Chinese cuisine. Maya ordered the entire meal and was honored to do so.

Jeanine’s sister Susan is joining our family for Christmas and was on hand to see her nephews compete as was Maya who put a headlock on me when I tried to kiss her. Immediately after the wrestling, I took off for an indoor soccer game. Witnessing both of my boys wrestling must have stirred some deep passions in me because I produced a career high five goals in one game helping my team to a big victory.

Nicolai had an outstanding match defeating his opponent with a pin in the second period but not before executing two beautiful leg tackles, a Granby roll escape, and an absolutely perfect switch. He used several different pinning combination to win back points and finished the match with a very sweet cradle.

This evening I got to see Kyle wrestle for the first time ever. It is only the second match of his life and what he knows of the sport he has learned in two weeks. Despite his novice status, he possess great natural abilities and the intensity of a wild bull. He was soundly beating his opponent by a score of 4-1 well into the second period when he made a beginner’s mistake that cost him the match. If he elects to stay with the sport I believe he will quickly overtake many wrestlers with years of experience. Nicolai has been very encouraging and generous with his time, helping Kyle to come up the very steep learning curve.

No sooner than I arrived in California, I was on my way back to Boston. Just enough time for an important three-hour meeting in Thousand Oaks. Flying at this time of year is a real hassle, but the beautiful scenery makes up for it.