The day after Christmas, Paul and I drove out to Worcester for the annual MHC holiday gathering at Susan and Jen's. It was a small group this year, but we had a great time catching up.



Next up was six nights at my parents' ski house in North Conway, New Hampshire. For me, this part of Christmas vacation is the most relaxing time of my entire year. Family and friends come and go over the course of the week, and the house, which sleeps 14, always seems to be full of good conversation, good food and good times.

We read. We hit the outlets for the post-Christmas sales. We napped.







We played Wii and board games.



We played with the little ones.















And we skied! While most of the others are downhill skiers, Paul and I prefer cross-country. Some days, we used trails practically outside the doorstep. One day, we drove into Jackson to the Nordic center.







And Paul took me on my first snow hike up Hurricane Mountain Road, which he then skied down. The snow was fantastic and so beautiful!







Finally, we celebrated the New Year with a delicious Italian feast of Eggplant Parmesan courtesy of my step-brother Jimmy.



Here we are, our final photo of 2009. All in all, a very fine year. Best wishes to you for a happy and healthy 2010!