My Christmas Vacation

Count the visitors -- this has been an international vacation! I went to Japan (several times), Macedonia, Turkey, Czech Republic, and am hoping for a quick jaunt to Brazil before it's all over. And let's not forget Philadelphia and Brooklyn! It's been a busy week-and-a-half starting with the arrival of Yuki, Sei, Yigit, Max, and Milena on Christmas Eve. That's four countries if you include the U.S.

We started with a Christmas Eve celebration at our house with neighbors and honored guests.

Naoko took our guests to a gospel church on Christmas Day and they all came back filled with the love.

Later our guests (Sei, Yuki, Yigit, Milena) along with Max and Naoko, and me went to the Kubacki's annual Christmas party.

That following day we went to Dim Sum with the crew (Happy 26th Birthday my son). Yuki and Sei returned to New York and we went on to sponsor a Honduran tamale-fest brilliantly executed by Gabriel and Bella. In the middle of this party, Michika arrived from New York. She is on an around-the-world tour and stopped in Philly to get some respite from the hostel she had been staying in. Greg Lytle also arrived to help Naoko animate, as did Tex Kubacki.