My last picture for Powderhorn365 is of my daughter, Maggie, as we leave the house to celebrate Christmas with family.

I cannot express how much fun I have had this year taking photos of our neighborhood. Thank you to everyone who participated, either in front of or behind the camera...or in front of your computer screen. Your enthusiasm and support has made this experiment much bigger and more enjoyable than we could have imagined one year ago.

Kim, Issac (off camera), Jonah (4) and Asher (4 months) lit the eighth candle on their menorah tonight, the last night of Chanukah. Issac is the president of the Mayim Rabim Congregation (www.mayimrabim.org).

Fun fact: Dreidels printed everywhere in the world have the characters nun, gimmel, hay and shin printed on them, standing for the sentence "a great miracle happened there". Dreidels made in Israel have the characters nun, gimmel, pay and shin meaning "a great miracle happened here."

Elvis rocks the house at the Ukulele Christmas Cabaret.

Paul Brohaugh and his wife Rebeccah Berry rented in Powderhorn for several years before purchasing their home on 34th and Bloomington in April of this year.

I have watched the progress of the renovation with interest and feel a sense of extreme satisfaction with their choice of siding. Not to mention that I am crazy envious of all the extra windows.

(you can reach Paul Brohaugh Carpentry at 612-865-8995)

River, Byrd, Sam and Jeff host the third annual Pie-nal Four* pie contest at their Powderhorn home. This year's contestants are a Lattice Top Deep Dish Sour Cherry Pie, a Maple Cream Pie, a Pecan Maple Pie with Kumquat and Bourbon, and a Triple Layer Pumpkin Chocolate Pie.

I voted for the Maple Cream Pie. No one ever said that photographing events in the neighborhood was easy.

* It starts with 64 pie suggestions, narrowed down to 32, narrowed still further to the Sweet Sixteen, then the Elite Eight, and lastly....the Pie-nal Four.

edited to add: The winner of the 2009 Pie Competition was the Pecan Maple Pie with Kumquat and Bourbon.