New Year's Eve!

We had good times in Sacramento for Christmas and New Year's Eve. Here's Daphne and Emma in their PJs. Here's the spread that Kelly put together at her place. We had a great time at the Vellanoweth's for New Year's Eve.
Daphne and Emma in a red wagon. Daphne looks like a character from a Robert Frost poem about winter: Quietly, she looks like she's reciting in her head "the only other sound's the sweep/of easy wind and downy flake."
The Samuels/Levi Family with Daphne. Josh (center) and I played some backgammon before this picture was taken. His jovial face belies my dominance with the dice. We ended up playing another game to 10 in LA a few weeks later and he got his revenge in a big way. Looking forward to our rubber match.
Ben and Rob took some time away from eating food and opening presents to throw the football around a little. We were basically throwing tight spirals for about 35 minutes straight.
Daphne getting excited about her new red wagon! Emma is helping her try it out. (aside: one of these days, I'll remember to upload the pictures in reverse order of time so they are displayed for you in proper order. This is Christmas Day, so you'll notice we're already 7 days before the top picture)
Dan and Gwenna on Christmas Eve. I like those smiles.
Papa with his two great-granddaughters on Christmas Eve.
Sinterklaas, I mean Santa Claus, posing with the NorCalAllens (can you make out Zwarte Piet in the background?). Here is a really interesting article about Santa (no, I don't work for Wikipedia--I just enjoy adding hyperlinks for those of you who want to extend your break from work or just want to read something else while you're at it).

Next stop, the Spring Equinox fertility festival! I mean Passover, or (if you're of the liturgical persuasion) Easter. Nothing like painted eggs, budding trees, Baby Jesus, bloody lintels and smiling bunnies to get me in the mood for bright days!