Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving down in San Jose again with Jason's family. I had to go to the German Consulate in San Francisco to renew my passport. I was able to get an appointment the day before Thanksgiving, which saved me an extra trip to the bay area. The girls and I flew down Tuesday night and Wednesday was supposed my day alone in San Francisco. I had looked forward to wandering around all day and shopping, but everything turned out quite different. The night before the flu, that the girls had had the week before had caught up with me and besides all signs of a cold I was very achy. It did nor help that it was pouring rain in the city. I did not carry an umbrella, because no one had anticipated that type of rain. So there I was: wet, cold and sick. That kind of took the fun out and I returned after lunch back to San Jose.

Unlike previous years we stayed with Jason's sister Pam and her family. Jason's parents have ongoing plumbing problems in their house, which would have made it difficult to accommodate four more people. We had a lot of fun at Pam's house and the kids had 100% playtime with their cousin's Katie and Sam. Katie was so nice to give up her room for us. They played with their DS a lot and even Amelia got to play with an old gameboy. She tried very hard to be a big kid. The Craigs have various musical instruments, so we were treated to impromptu concerts from time to time.

Jason drove down with our car on Wednesday, so the whole family was together for Thanksgiving on Thursday. While Jason helped Pam, John and I took the kids to Castle Rock in Saratoga for hiking on Thursday morning. Marlene enjoyed climbing on the rocks, but Amelia was afraid and even John's help did not make her feel comfortable on the rocks.

Meanwhile Pam, Teri and Marlene prepared a perfect Thanksgiving dinner. It was a fabulous feast. We had a great time sitting together and talking.

Jason's parents had just returned from a Mediterranean Cruise. So on Friday we got to see videos and photos from the trip. Since we would not come back down for Christmas the children got some early Christmas presents, which made them very happy.

Saturday we started our drive back home. The whole week had been very dark and rainy, but Saturday dawned with beautiful sunshine. It is just my luck, that it always rains while I am in California.