Early Sunday morning, when Arturo Ibarra turned on his bakery’s oven, he made the sign of the cross to bless it. He did it again when he readied the first dough of the day for hundreds of orders of the traditional Rosca de Reyes or Three Kings Bread. It has become part of Ibarra’s ritual to pray everything goes well on what he describes as the most important days of the year for Chula Vista’s La Moreliana — the bakery he has run with his family for almost 30 years. “For us, it is like Black Friday,” said Ibarra. For those celebrating on both sides of the border, Three Kings Day marks the end of the holiday season. The Epiphany or Three Kings Day is celebrated on Jan. 6 in many countries. It is based on the biblical story of the Three Wise Men — Melchior, Gaspar and Balthasar — who brought gifts to baby Jesus after his birth. Arturo Ibarra, owner of the family owned La Moreliana Bakery in Chula Vista, has been preparing and baking Kings Bread “Roscas” since Friday, as bakeries in San Diego County are gearing up for the celebration of Three Kings Day on Monday. (Carlos Moreno / for The San Diego Union-Tribune) For many, the celebration includes the traditional sweet bread rosca, making it a busy time for bakeries in both San Diego County and Tijuana. La Moreliana, founded in 1998 by the Ibarra Abrego family, devoted this weekend and Monday to exclusively selling roscas. Many customers who usually come for a Mexican sweet roll known as conchas found that the shelves were filled with nothing but roscas on Sunday. Ibarra said it was a challenge to find room within the bakery to store the roscas ready for customers to pick up. “We’re excited about it,” Ibarra said of this weekend’s demand, given that the celebration falls on Monday this year. The bakery, at 275 Quintard St. in Chula Vista, is a completely family-run business. The bakery is staffed by Arturo Ibarra, 62, and his wife, Elizabeth Abrego, 63, their children, Valeria, 38, and Luis Arturo, 43, as well as their son-in-law, daughter-in-law, nieces, nephews, and occasionally their 14-year-old granddaughter, who likes to bake cookies and is starting to get involved. For this busy weekend, more nieces and nephews came to help. The dough is made with wheat flour, yeast, eggs, butter, and salt. The bread is then usually topped with colored gelatins, sugar, crystallized fruits, figs, dried plums, an assortment of nuts and sometimes is stuffed with cream cheese. (Carlos Moreno / for The San Diego Union-Tribune) Elizabeth’s father, Baltazar Abrego, opened the first La Moreliana bakery in 1956 in Tijuana’s Colonia Libertad, where it is still located today. Elizabeth Abrego shared what she found most beautiful about this celebration: “It’s about getting together with the family.” Three Kings Bread or Rosca de Reyes is a soft oval-shaped sweet bread often decorated with dried and candied fruit with a small baby figurine baked inside. Families, friends or co-workers typically gather to break the Rosca de Reyes on the holiday. There is a tradition that the person who cuts the piece with a figurine inside is supposed to bring or make tamales on Candlemas or Día de la Candelaria on Feb. 2. The rosca comes in different sizes, and depending on the size, the number of figurines inside varies. Some bakeries also offer both the traditional rosca and those filled with other ingredients such as cajeta (caramel made from sweeten condensed goat’s milk) or cream cheese. The rosca’s oval shape symbolizes God’s infinite love, while the dried fruits that decorate it represent the jewels embedded in the crowns of the Three Wise Men, according to Mexican officials. The figurine of a baby represents baby Jesus. Chula Vista resident Eva Valencia, 76, went to pick up her Rosca de Reyes on Sunday. She said she has been buying bread at La Moreliana for 10 years. Valencia, who is originally from Michoacán, Mexico, said she was sharing the rosca with her family. “What I like the most is how tasty it is,” she said. Employees in the family-owned La Moreliana Bakery in Chula Vista have been busy preparing and baking for the celebration of Three Kings Day on Monday. (Carlos Moreno / for The San Diego Union-Tribune)