INTO THE WINTER HOLIDAYS

As if having two birthdays in early November weren't enough, the winter holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's follow. There's barely time to catch your breath after closing the door on one to open the door for the next.

With his folks in Texas, it was up to Matt to make the traditional cloverleaf rolls for Thanksgiving in addition to cooking the turkey.  Obviously he did himself proud!

No sooner were the Thanksgiving leftovers stowed and the kitchen cleaned up than it was time for the Valentines to go in search of just the right Christmas tree.  Seems that a little song and dance was warranted once it was found.
The circle of friends with young children is large.  It's now customary that growth changes are documented each year by exchanging photo Christmas cards featuring the children.  This is the photo on the Valentine's card for 2007.

This year Brandon and Sophia took an active part in baking the cookies for Santa.  After Sophia put the cookies on the baking sheet, Brandon got to put them in the oven.  Later they both decorated the cookies.  By the time they were done with the icing, Sophia was wearing more than she'd put on the cookies.  Before they went to bed, they went outside to sprinkle oats and sparkles to help Santa and the reindeer find their house.  Then it was back inside to put out the plate of cookies and a few carrots for the reindeer.

I spend Christmas Eve night at the Valentines. This saves me the hassle of getting up and dressed early Christmas morning to drive over when they call.  Consequently, I was there and asleep at 5:00 AM when I was awakened by young feet scampering across the floor above me.  It was obvious from the excited chatter that Santa had not only been there, but he'd been generous.

We have New Year's Day traditions, too.  By late morning on the 1st, the Valentines arrive at my condo.  There's a meal of the traditional foods, including sauerkraut, which only Dawn and I will eat.  Matt won't eat at all.  Brandon will wolf down a couple helpings of black-eyed peas.  But the primary reason they come is to have their annual family picture taken.

	Brandon had received a PSP and Sophia a DS for Christmas and both brought their games to play with.  Suddenly I realized that conversation had stopped and Matt and Dawn were playing with them!
	In spite of momentarily being deprived of their gifts, spirits were high, and I caught Sophia and Brandon in a good mood at the same time!

GETTING AWAY

It's hard to believe, but Brett's been in San Francisco for almost a year.  Now that he's familiar with the city, there's a good chance he'll move to an apartment that's more convenient to his office and less expensive.  But before he makes a move, he wanted Dawn to see where he lives now.  Thus, she and I flew to San Francisco in mid-January for a 5-day visit. 

Our first stop after dropping our luggage was Union Square for an afternoon snack.  While seated at an outdoor table, a pigeon flew over and pooped on me.

Brett had deadlines to meet before leaving for China the following week, so he suggested some places that Dawn and I might enjoy visiting.  Although we were tentative when learning how their transit system works, by the end of our visit, we considered ourselves quite capable of getting from A to B like veterans.

The weather all week was gorgeous.  The sky was blue; the air, clear; and daytime temperatures hovered around 60. On our first day, we took the Muni bus to the west side of town.  We walked a few blocks from the bus stop at Van Ness to the shops on Union.  Before heading to the next shopping area, we took a break for lunch at a cafe with tables outdoors.  Dawn's light lunch could have been a meal for four!

After our break we headed south, up Fillmore toward the next shopping area.  After several pauses to catch our breath, we took a picture down the hill to show the street two blocks below, which we'd just left.  We looked at each other and shook our heads at the thought of continuing the climb and instead turned east, back to the bus stop and more level ground.

No visit to San Francisco is complete without a trolley ride.  One day we rode from Union Square up to the Embarcadero and did some shopping.  Then we walked over to the Hyde Street trolley turnaround where we relaxed in the sun and took pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge before returning downtown.

Each evening we sampled a different type cuisine -- American, Mexican, Italian and French.  By Saturday, we were ready for the picnic Brett had in mind.

We visited the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero where a Saturday farmers' market sells only organically raised/fed produce, dairy and meat products.  We stocked up on cheese, fruit, meat, bread and crackers and then drove north into wine country.

We sampled wine at Kendall's Chateau St. Jean outside of Santa Rosa before selecting bottles of white and red to drink with our recently purchased groceries.

With full tummies, Christine and Brett got comfortable and took naps in the warm sun.  Dawn and I wandered off to shop and take more pictures.