The Event ~ San Francisco Christmas

Rain, rain go away, come again another!  It rained two of the three days we were in San Francisco for Christmas.  But it was a beautiful rain ~ a hard rain that poured nearly continuously.  Intermittently the rain  stopped long enough to walk the three family dogs, but sometimes we walked them in the light rain.  We wish we would see that kind of rain in Nebraska.

However, rain and all, we enjoyed a very nice Christmas celebration in San Francisco with Alexis and her now fiancé Val Ornoy.  We were genuinely delighted to get to know Val through the three days we were guests in their beautiful SF home.  With all the beautiful architectural row houses there, I wish I would have taken a picture of their home.

We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Val (Luval) into our family and curiously await to hear of their matrimony plans.  Alexis and Val became engaged on December 20, which I understand is the second anniversary of their first date! 

Alexis took time  to scout out a church to attend on Christmas Eve, a very important occasion for Tim and I  to celebrate and observe  in church.  Val is of Jewish descent,  and Alexis raised Christian, but neihter are strongly tied to their faith,  so we very much appreciated them joining us in a worship service and sharing in our observance of  Christmas and  the significant meaning it has for us.   Alexis carefully selected a stately old German Lutheran church with bilingual German/English mixed service, remembering our German heritage.  It was interesting and different. 

Following church we went for dinner in a quaint little French restaurant only a block from their house.  Then returned home to a cozy fireplace, wine, and gifting.  Christmas Day we enjoyed a late brunch breakfast, played a little scrabble, went to the movie Lincoln, and ordered in pizza for evening dinner. 

I know Val and Alexis were looking forward to driving us to the beach and/or other places, but all the rain kept us pretty close to home.  They live within walking distance to several parks, so we did get out to walk the dogs several times when the rain let up a bit.

The dogs include Kuma, the beautiful poodle Alexis has had for over two years; and 16 year old Riley and 7 year old Max, two beautiful dogs that have been part of Val’s life all their years.  It’s easy to see how much they love these four-legged family members.

No matter where we are, as long as we are with family, the celebrations are so much more special and memorable.  We enjoyed this eventful Christmas in San Francisco and spending time with Val and Alexis.