Christmas in San Francisco

Look at the deceptive fall-colored leaves on the tree outside our hotel. Hard to believe it was Christmas Eve looking at that scenery.

The reindeer at the mall reminded us of Christmas.

We were some of the first ones at the mall that morning.

We even beat Santa Claus there. We could have been first in line to sit on his lap.

We hooked up with Abe, Klarissa, Newland and Ben at the Palace Hotel for brunch.

This photo makes me laugh because it looks like Abe is about to eat the centerpiece instead of his food.

We got seated at a table that was pushed right up against the gigantically tall Christmas tree. Abe laid on the floor to see if he could get us and the whole Christmas tree in the photo.

The place was so beautiful and the food was delicious and it was a shame Klarissa had been throwing up in the night and even at the hotel. She was convinced it was the cream in the Krispy Kreme doughnut she ate with the boys the night before.

Despite feeling so yucky, she still looked beautiful and didn't let the yuckies prevent her from joining in on the activities she and Abe had planned for us.

Imagine our surprise when they treated us to a Cirque Du Soleil performance under the big top.

Newland loved wandering around the parking lot. In the background is where BYU would be playing football a couple of days later.

At dinner that evening Newland liked to dip his chopsticks in the soy sauce or use them for drumsticks.

 Glen and I went to IHOP for Christmas morning breakfast.

Ben stayed at Abe and Klarissa's and slept on the couch. We watched "Elf."

Abe was grilling the Christmas turkey outside. I was trying to help out as much as I could to help out Klarissa who was tired and weak from all the throwing up.

 Once again, she didn't let illness hold her back. She whipped up some great side dishes for us.

 Newland was busy trying to figure out how to get the keys to reach the door knob.

Abe was proud to reveal the turkey he had spent the morning grilling.

Newland played with the toys on their back patio. It was so lovely back there. Quite the luxury to have some outdoor space in the city.

 Their apartment is the yellow one on the ground floor.

Ben set the table, we toasted the occasion, we gave thanks for the food and we feasted upon all the good food.

Klarissa reached her limit at the end of dinner, so while she and Newland slept, we cleaned up the dishes and played Bananagrams.

 Ben won.

Quote from Sarah, "He is the least fun person to play games with because he always wins!"

Escaping Winter for Christmas

We took Ben to San Francisco for Christmas. First stop was a dinner buffet in Reno.

On we went to Sacramento where we stopped for the night. Don't these lumpy beds look very inviting?!?? Shockingly they were much more comfortable than they appeared.

Lunch at In-N-Out. Notice the blue sky, the palm trees and most importantly--no coats while dining outside.

We got prime parking right outside Abe and Klarissa's apartment. Glen is calling Abe to let us in.

Look at this cute little feller we found inside eating his lunch.

Good thing there were signs of Christmas around the city because the weather didn't feel like December to us.

We went on an excursion and ended up here where we played bocce ball while eating our dinner.

Thankfully the court right next to ours was empty and Newland was able to run free on it and play with his own set of bocce balls.

Dinner was set on the table behind our court and we ate as we played.

Photo op before we moved on to our next activity.

The Tapestry Church puts on a live nativity scene. While waiting in a long line to get into the city of Bethlehem, we saw angels singing and dancing on the rooftop of the church across the street.

At last we made it inside the gates of the city.

The camels were popular with everyone. Klarissa wasn't afraid of getting up close and personal with the beasts.

It had been a fun way to spend our first afternoon and evening in San Francisco.