Ohio December 2011

Emily and I flew to Ohio last weekend to visit Mom and Dad. Since Emily just started a new job, we didn't want to take time off work, so we took the Friday night redeye to arrive Saturday morning. The redeye always seems like a good idea when buying the ticket, since it maximizes visiting time and minimizes time away from work. In reality, however, it is always a struggle with the middle of the night change of planes and the 3 hr time zone difference. But nothing that can't be remedied with some good coffee!
We spent the entire weekend hanging out with family and got to spend a lot of time with my 3 nephews. We squeezed in 2 of Logan's basketball games.
Dad is still doing well with his rehab and recovery. He seems to be in better spirits, but still has a long way to go to get his writing and speech back. Since I will be on call and working during Christmas, we did an early gift exchange with my parents. We also got to see the nephews in the Christmas play at church. It was a great weekend, but went by too quickly. We flew back late Sunday night, to face reality (work) again on Monday morning.

ice crystals on our rental car in the morning - the thin needles were almost 1" tall and blanketed the car in a perfect uniform layer, resembling a finely manicured miniature frozen turf

Logan handles the ball under fierce defense

Logan shooting

and part of the fan club at the game:

Chandler

cousin Jill and her little R.J.

San Francisco - December 2011

I traveled with Emily to San Francisco for her weekend of MBA classes. She went to class while I got to have fun visiting with family. :)

We stayed with our cousins Danny and Renee (and their two adorable girls Naomi and Nina). Emily arrived on Thursday night so that she would be ready for her early classes on Friday. I flew in after work on Friday to join Emily and her classmates just in time for dinner in downtown SF. On Saturday, Emily went to class and Renee had to work, so Danny and I took the girls out for a little walk at Lands End. For being early December, the weather was amazing: 55 degrees and hardly a cloud in the sky! It's nice to be able to walk around in the winter with a mere sweatshirt. Sorry Midwestern people...I just don't miss those winters (if I want to enjoy snow, I can just go to the mountains).

The girls and I at Lands End (with a distant view of the Golden Gate Bridge)

We had lunch at a little bistro on the beach and watched the surfers maneuver the rough waves.

On Sunday, we all went to watch Naomi's dance recital. Afterwards, we grabbed some lunch and hung out at home with the girls. We got them a Play-dough set for Christmas:

the Play-dough set for the, ahem, kids

OK, I admit, that stuff is still awesome to play with. :)

Nina shows off her masterpiece: a multicolor Play-dough ice cream cone

Of course the trip was not complete without some famous San Tung wings, so we ordered take-out and munched them down before having to leave for the airport. Our trip was ever so brief, and we were back home in Portland on Sunday night so that we could face the real world on Monday morning.