We have completed our first week in the United States and did we ever do a lot! We arrived at our hotel in the San Francisco Bay Area the first evening and after calls to our children we went to bed. It is soooo lovely to stretch out after sitting or half lounging for 36 hours in the airplane! The weather is rainy in San Francisco so we needed to shop for a few things, so we were off to shop!

Next on the list was unpacking to make sure all of our gifts arrived in one piece - once again we were blessed because only one object broke and my clever Dave has repaired it perfectly already! Yeah!!! Next we wrapped presents for Christmas and packed them to be mailed to our other daughter in Tucson. In between doing that we got together with our other children Heather and David Paul and his fiancée, Allison who live here in San Francisco. Much loving and talking and sharing later we got busy again!

A car was the next "to do" must do! We decided to buy a car since renting was just too expensive for the long time that we will be in the US this time. Dave and Heather did this together and were very successful. We are the proud owners of a 2012 Ford Fusion, cranberry in color.

We moved out of our hotel and into Heather and Dan's (her significant other) home for the rest of our stay in Northern California. Once we did that Heather involved us in "home projects" for the house! While I did gift wrapping and laundry, (what a combination!), Dave fixed our dresser and doors in the house.

Whether on land or sea the mundane and daily routine must be maintained! We loved seeing our children and slowly adapted to the 9 hour time change. Next week is Christmas and we wish you all the best - peace and happiness. Until we speak again...