We're hard at work on our dissertations!

And also installing shelves, working on art Sudoku,
and completing a puzzle of Greece.

Ho ho ho!

Our famous Christmas eve dinner featuring ham, corn, rice, greek salad, and greek bread, along with Coke and apple-mango sparkling cider. Delicious and original!

Our giant roast beast.

The smokey man joined us for dinner.

Santa brought the dogs the best bones ever.

We spent the day today at Meaghan and Scott's. After a great brunch and fun gift exchange we played Settlers and Gina won.
It was our first Christmas in Greensboro. We missed seeing both our families (and we also missed going here), but we still had a wonderful day. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Our plans for the day include all of these materials. Who can guess what we're working on?

Takin' it easy

We're finally done with all of our holiday concerts and we both have the next few days off. It feels wonderful to relax a little.

Christmas with the Pezzolis

This weekend Gina's parents and Oma came to celebrate Christmas. They brought tons and tons of gifts which made the tree look very festive.

On Sunday morning we feasted on Gina's famous breakfast casserole. Bella made herself comfortable while presents were opened. And Oma looked very cute in her new puffy coat.

Piano Recital

On Saturday morning we had a recital for our 4 piano students. We didn't get any pictures during the recital because we were running around, but it was a big success. Our students were great little performers and they played beautifully.

We filled the living room with chairs and moved the piano so that the parents could see their kids' hands.
It was short and sweet! After everyone played, which took 10 minutes, we had a little reception.

We gave the students CDs of piano music so they will be inspired to practice more.

It was a nice way to mark the end of the year. Thanks Monica for your advice and thank you Meaghan for the punch bowl and holiday tunes!

Deck the Halls

The Christmas tree is up! We got an awesome deal on a tree at Home Depot. Anyone who hasn't gotten a tree yet, 20 bucks.

We put it up on top of a table because Winnie thinks Christmas trees are delicious.These are our favorite ornaments. Aren't they fancy? Thanks Daniel and Elizabeth!

Other favorite decorations are our new anorexic reindeer and our Utah Jazz basketball player nutcracker.

Here's where we need your honest opinion. Gina thinks it is the ugliest tree stand in the whole world and that it should always be covered up with a tree skirt. Thomas thinks that it is the most beautiful tree stand in the whole world and that it is very sturdy. Should we hide it or not?

Winnie is Special

Holiday Whobewhatee?

We have been playing holiday concerts all over the state, and finally we both had a night off tonight. We decided to drive around and see all the pretty Christmas lights in the city.
The Famous Greensboro Christmas Tree

When we got home we checked to see if the lights on the house were still working. Thomas put them up during Christmas 2006, and they never really got taken down. Looks like our display is reduced to just one porch edge this year.

Instead of fixing them we went in to watch a movie. Who can guess which one?

Fly Fishing

We're in Charlottesville, VA for a few days to celebrate Thanksgiving. Today Steve took Thomas to the Rapidan River and taught him how to fly fish.

There was a beaver dam. All the trees in the surrounding area were chewed up.

Steve says you have to sneak up on the fish because they can see you.

Can you find Steve in the woods?

The fish were really biting. Here's the day's catch:

These fish were on vacation from Sweden.

A caterpillar fish.

It was a nice relaxing day outdoors. You don't really need to catch fish to have fun.

Zopf

Gina is on a quest to create bread that reminds Thomas of home. This bread was a big hit yesterday when it was fresh out of the oven. Thomas calls it Zopf.

Schnee!

Yesterday it was warm enough to sit out in the sun and eat lunch.
And today it snowed!

Gingerbread House

We were tired of working on our dissertations, so we baked a gingerbread house. From scratch too, the walls and everything. Some walls turned out a little bendy. It stayed together long enough for us to take this one picture:
Then boom. The roof fell in.

We were sorry to see our little house collapse but it still tastes good.