She finally updated the blog.

So... where to begin. December was busy. Full of visitors and fun and very few quiet moments for blogging.

Things started getting wild when, during Thanksgiving weekend, my dad's car was stolen from the street near our apartment. The SFPD told him that they have a 95% recovery rate within 30 days. Since he was supposed to continue on to visit friends, he picked up a rental, continued his trip (sans much of the stuff _for_ the trip that had been in the car), and we all hoped he'd hear his car had been found but we were not at all optimistic. The make/model/year suggested it was soon to be parts. Well, lucky day! The car was recovered (not 5 miles from our place), but without most of his stuff. At least we now have an easy shopping list for Christmas and birthdays.

Fortunately the car was in decent shape, so Dad returned to SF for visit part2 while the car spent a few days in the shop. I felt just terrible and rotten about all this, but he was a good sport. And it meant a second visit with my dad just two weeks after the first, which was quite a treat. I'm sorry for circumstances, but we loved having him visit and Grace adores her Pop.

A few snaps from hanging with Pop...

Learning how to put stickers on ears, nose, eyes, etc. Naturally.

It wouldn't really be a visit with Pop without donuts (nonuts!).

Ice cream (ice-seee!).

Playground. Notice we are not wearing coats. It was December.

I love California.

Making Christmas cookies. Grace had very definite ideas about how to approach this. I also turned around at one point to find her with a mouth full of cookie dough. Yes, she's clearly my child, but I'm hoping she can wait a while longer before getting salmonella.