Happy Holidays from the Hughes Family!

We know that a holiday blog is not quite as personal as a letter -- but we had a really big year, and there is too much to share!

As many of you know, we started our year in Paris. I was working on the launch of the IAPP's European operations, so we packed up the whole family and settled into a nice apartment in the the city of lights. You can read the blog below to get the full story (the boys used the blog as an online journal of our stay). It truly was a magical time for our family. We ate great food, saw amazing art, spent a week in England, watched soccer games in Paris AND London, and made many new friends. We certainly are smitten with life in Europe!

Our normal life resumed at a busy pace when we returned from France. The boys dove into their many activities: baseball, violin, swimming, tennis, sailing, basketball, and (of course) soccer.

2009 was a big baseball year for the boys. Dinon turned out to be a star pitcher for his team, closing out the quarter and semi final victories (he was nicknamed the "iceman") His team lost in the final, but it was a great run.

Malcolm had a solid regular season, and was selected for the town all-star team again this year. A special mix of talented players and great coaches

resulted in a fantastic all-star squad. Most of June, all of July, and the early part of August were filled with many, many regional and state games. In the end, Malcolm and his team made it all the way to the state final for his age group! They lost to Falmouth in a nail-biter. And while there were certainly tears (many from the parents and grandparents who had followed the team for weeks), the boys were justifiably proud of their achievements. Malcolm contributed as a slugger, relief pitcher, and utility infielder for team. We all loved watching him play!

Soccer season was also great fun. I coached both boy's travel teams this year, which made for many multiple-game weekends in the fall. The boys participated in a soccer academy in Paris, and the professional coaching certainly produced results! They were both very strong contributors to their teams. In fact, Dinon played "up" for a lot of games with Malcolm's team (he even scored the winning goal in the last game of the year for his big brother's team). Malcolm is gaining a reputation for a ferocious shot -- and scored many goals for York this season.

During our stay in Paris, we befriended a wonderful family -- the Coens. They have two boys that are the same ages as ours, and we quickly hatched a plan to do mini "exchanges" between Paris and Maine. So Adrien and Natan spent two weeks in August with us as we visited our law school friends at Moosehead and vacationed in Acadia National Park. We introduced them to big hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, and cheese puffs (all faves now for the french boys). Malcolm and Dinon will head back to Paris this coming summer for the return leg of the swap. What fun!

Gabi continues to dedicate herself to raising our boys and looking after our family. And she does it brilliantly! Between the numerous shuttle runs around town, she continues to volunteer as a Spanish teacher in their classes. This year, Gabi joined a tennis team with some local friends. She is having a blast at practices and matches in the area.

After many years of running three associations, I have finally migrated to just the IAPP. Even in this down economy, we grew 20% this year and continue to add staff. I love my work and the convenience of having our offices right here in town. We are now up to 30 employees, and our growth outside of the US suggests that we may get much, much bigger. I still manage to get out and play soccer from time to time, but my ankles and back keep reminding me that I should be hanging up my cleats soon. I still love shooting pictures of the family. My Christmas present from last year -- a Canon 5D Mark II -- is getting plenty of work as we travel and watch the boys in all manner of activities.

Bella, our beautiful lab, is getting quite old now. She is 13 and has a tough time getting around. We love her dearly, and she still manages to perk up for pats and tummy rubs.

We wrapped up this year with a big trip and a big project. The trip was a two-week family journey to Spain. I had to be in Madrid for work for a week in November, so we tacked on

another week and Gabi, Larry (Gabi's Dad) and the boys came along. We spent the second week in the south of Spain, visiting Granada, Cordoba, Ronda, and many small towns around the house we rented. We had fun seeing a Champion's League soccer game, walking through olive groves, and seeing beautiful Moorish architecture.

Our big project is an addition to the house. Gabi and I came to the conclusion that we loved our property and gardens too much to leave them... so we decided to make our home a bit bigger to accommodate growing boys. We are in a wonderful seasonal rental this winter -- right on York Harbor -- while the work is being done. Be sure to visit us in 2010 to see the results!

As for extended family, we are eagerly awaiting the newest edition of the Hughes clan -- my brother Jason and his wife Gina are expecting early in the new year. Our nephew John is blissfully, thankfully, and wonderfully cancer-free and has returned to college. And we were very grateful for many, many family visits this year.

That is it for this year. Phew!

We wish all of you the happiest of holidays!

Trevor, Gabi, Malcolm, Dinon and Bella

Daily Breakfast Run

For the last month in Paris I have been going out each morning to get our baguettes, pains au chocolate and croissants for our breakfast.  Within three blocks of our apartment there are at least eight bakeries to choose from!  We have tried them all!  It's been a lot of fun going out on my own every morning with money in my pocket to pick out pastries.

-by Malcolm

Musée Picasso

Another great find in Paris is the Picasso Museum in the Marais district.  Although I do not understand or enjoy most modern art, Picasso stands as an exception to that rule.  The collection of his works at Hotel Salé is fabulous - and I love how these small museums like the Picasso and Rodin throw in a few other masters just for good measure!  Picasso reminds me of two things: that we each have our own unique perspective from which we see the world and not to expect even the most obvious of things (a nose is not always where you'd think it might be!).  Karina - I think you saw more art in five days then in all the rest of your life!

-Gabi

Musée Rodin

Karina and I explored Rodin's gorgeous home and gardens, now a museum dedicated to his artistic genius.  Even in the late winter it's worth a visit (though I prefer the glory of it's gardens in June!).  His sculptures are magnificent and thought provoking, truly awe inspiring.  For me, it's as though Rodin can show us the life or true form of each piece of marble.  Fantastique!

-Gabi

Eiffel Tower Light Show

Each night after dark on the hour the Eiffel Tower lights up with a million white, flashing lights.  It lasts about eight minutes.  It is very cool to see it lighted up!  Even when the light show is over it still has regular lights on it and that's really cool, too.

-By Dinon

PSG Academy

Malcolm and I went to the Paris Saint Germain (PSG) soccer academy last week.  It was the local soccer team's camp for kids.  We went on the metro each day to get there and the camp was all day (9-5).  The most fun things for me were: eating the yummy lunches, watching the soccer movies (after lunch each day, in French) and playing the daily afternoon tournaments.  Most of the kids were French except one older boy from California.  We all tried to communicate but sometimes it was hard.  They gave each of us a cool new uniform including a warm up suit!

For almost the whole week Dinon and I were in different age groups so we tried to speak lots of French.  There were kids who tried to use their school English to speak with us as well.

One of the movies was Shaolin Soccer and it was a Kung Foo/ Soccer combo - it was funny!

Our soccer skills really improved over the week!  

-by Dinon and Malcolm

Visitors

We happily hosted two visitors in Paris over the past few weeks: Terri Getty, my sister and Karina McIntosh, my niece.  Terri joined us in London first for a day and then five days in Paris.  She even brought the boys a little US comfort food - boxes of mac and cheese!  Terri did some exploring on her own but we had fun joining her on some adventures, like lunch at Laduree, visiting Sainte Chapelle and going up the Eiffel Tower.  Karina came for six days during her high school vacation week to practice her French.  The boys really only saw her on Sunday and each night for a couple of hours since they were at their soccer camp each day.  Karina and I, however, covered almost the entire city in 5 days!  Whew!  We were tired each night: art museums, churches, shops, monuments, etc.  She even tried her first escargots and liked them!  It was fun for me to have some GILRS to be with, for a change!

-Gabi

Sainte Chapelle: a jewel in Paris' crown

If you are ever in Paris on a sunny day, you must not miss a visit to Sainte Chapelle.  This tiny 'Holy Chapel' on Ile de la Cite near Notre Dame, displays an amazing set of stained glass windows telling the stories of the Old and New Testaments.  The sunshine is key, giving the glass a heavenly glow.  Built in 1248 by King Louis the IX (Saint Louis) to house the Holy Relics he brought back from his travels, Sainte Chapelle is one of the oldest buildings in Paris today. Malcolm, Dinon and Terri were all impressed!  

-Gabi

internet problems

On Friday February 13th (just coincidence) our internet service at our apartment died. Unfortunately, that meant that our high speed internet, cable TV (with our only English channels) and our landline apartment phone were ALL out of service. This greatly complicated life overseas for us. Skype, email and consistent internet have made our lives easier, happier and in the case of Trevor's work, manageable from Paris. The slow and unreliable service we have found since has meant no blog for a long time!

-Gabi

Bertillon Ice Cream

Yesterday we went to Bertillon Ice Cream on Ile Saint Louis, one of the islands in the Seine River. They had lots of flavors of ice cream and all the ones we tried were REALLY good!  Most of the flavors here are different from the ones in the US.  Around half of the flavors are fruit and some of the others are things like chocolate/ hazelnut, nut flavors and salted caramel.  I had pineapple and chocolate.  They were both REALLY good!  I think that Bertillon Ice Cream should be the most famous in Paris!  

--by Dinon