Thanksgiving, Part II, San Francisco

Being one of our favorite holidays, we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving again (and give it another blog post), but this time with family. Emily's brother Jon lives near San Jose so we jumped a quick flight on Thanksgiving day to join her parents and other brother Chris. It was nice to get a break from the Portland rain and enjoy slightly warmer weather and sunshine. We spent 4 wonderful days hanging out with family (Em's cousin Renee and her family live in nearby San Francisco) and eating some amazing food. I even got to meet up with an old grad school buddy, Mark Witschi, who just started a job in San Fran.

hanging out with the parents in Chinatown, S.F.

the full crew ready for yet another family-style feast

Since we are not sure how long it will be when we can all get together again, Christmas came a little early this year. :)

Naomi opening her gifts...it's always so fun to see kids open presents at this age

all of the girls (minus Nina) pose for a quick pic

Naomi modeling her new Hello Kitty backpack and lunchbox

Nina was just getting over being sick so she needed a little help from mom to rip the paper open

story time

Jon and Stacy did an excellent job showing us all the best restaurants in town. Every meal was great, and it was fun getting to share the experience with family. The best one, however, was a restaurant where the chef was the former chef for the President of Taiwan. Not only did the food taste phenomenal, the presentation was beautiful as well. Here are some of our favorite dishes:

shrimp salad served in lettuce bowl

pork perfectly garnished with tomato and cucumber

Peking duck stuffed with rice

Japanese pumpkin stuffed with pork

On Sunday, we took a short road trip 1.5 hrs south to Monterey. I determined this could be a top retirement spot....someday. It hosts many small shops and restaurants and gets copious amounts of sunshine. We spent the day strolling around town. It was a relaxing way to spend the holidays.

Monterey Bay

Monterey is home to the famous Cannery Row....for all you Steinbeck fans

Sadly, all good things come to an end. We departed for home on Monday night with full bellies and warm hearts.

Also, I just HAD to throw in this random pic from the San Jose airport...it's a trippy rotating sculpture that looks like a figment of Orsen Welles' imagination. As it spins around, you will notice that the mouth contains a screen....with YOU on it! The legs suggest it could walk, while the wings suggest it could fly. Perhaps it is really an alien disguised as art?