It’s that time of the year when families gather together to make new memories, spend time with family and friends and celebrate new and old traditions.

The Rogoff family, consisting of Rachel, David, 7-year-old Nela, 5-year-old Hazel, and large rescue dogs Cook and Zoe, are sharing their story, including holiday traditions for this last issue of 2022.

 Rachel grew up in Houston and attended college at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Arizona was her home, and she resided there (moving to Phoenix to obtain her Master's degree at ASU) until she returned to Texas with her husband, David, in 2015. David’s work in Arizona was a happy coincidence, but she was thrilled to return to Texas to raise their daughters and be close to her family in Houston, allowing her to visit several times a year, which was difficult while living in Arizona.   Rachel’s profession: Master of Social Work degree with 13 years in child welfare before transitioning to working in the educational field in 2016; as of summer 2022, Rachel is taking some much-needed time to focus on her family and assisting David with the family business part-time.

Dave was born in Pittsburgh, PA. He moved to Scottsdale with his family when he was 12 years old. He obtained his degree in computer information systems at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ, before entering the family business of developing areas for The UPS Stores in both the Phoenix and the San Antonio areas. Dave’s profession is an area developer for the UPS Store in the greater San Antonio area since 2008; after several years of commuting, the family moved to San Antonio in March of 2015 from Phoenix, Arizona. Dave and his team support all 70 stores of the greater San Antonio metro market from their offices in Alamo Heights.

The family settled in the north-central area of town. It didn’t take long to realize they loved the Alamo Heights area for its ideal location and the schools, which led them to move into the heart of Alamo Heights.  

Nela is a first grader at Cambridge and Hazel is in pre-K at Howard. The girls are involved in gymnastics, art classes, girl scouts, softball, and soccer. They enjoy spending time outside swimming in the summer at the AH pool and playing on the Cambridge playground. Rachel is Nela’s co-girl Scout troop leader and volunteers at Cambridge and Howard. David had fun as Nela’s t-ball assistant coach last spring. When not volunteering and attending school, they travel to Colorado to spend two weeks in Crested Butte, where they hike, breathe in the fresh air, pick wildflowers, and relax in the mountains.

The Rogoff gang loves taco Tuesday, breakfast for dinner, and grilling. Mexican food, sushi, and barbecue are family favorites, and they can be found dining at The Cove, Kura, EZ’s, Julian’s, and Florio’s. One of their favorite dinner traditions is each saying their rose and thorn (one good thing and one bad thing) for the day.

December is a celebratory month for the Rogoff family consisting of eight nights of Hanukkah and Nela and David’s shared birthday! During Hanukkah, they look forward to celebrating with friends since they don’t have any family close by. They have a close network of friends that have become like family, and they love that they are able to raise their children together and share traditions. They make latkes (potato pancakes), light candles, and exchange gifts.

Dave and Nela both share a December birthday, so they generally try to make the day dedicated to celebrating Nela, and David celebrates his birthday in the evening. Another favorite December tradition is driving around to look at the sparkling Christmas lights in the neighborhood and visiting the zoo lights experience!

 It is safe to say they adore everything about their area of AH, from the close proximity to the city, the homes with charm and character, the amazing schools, and the small-town feel of the community. They feel safe and comfortable in a family-centered neighborhood and are making and sharing traditions with friends and family. “Alamo Heights is the quintessential neighborhood when you think of a place to raise a family,” says Rachel.