San Francisco

Thursday we headed up to San Fran!  It was our only good day to go, so we couldn’t be picky about the weather, but wow, was it foggy!!  Very common for San Francisco to be like this and when we were driving into the city it really took Dan and I back to the years we lived there.  But when you’re visiting just for the day and taking someone who hadn’t been since he was 12 (Spencer) you really really want a gorgeous clear day.  Oh well.  We still had fun! 

We started off on the Golden Gate.  When the skies are clear, the view from the bridge is breathtaking.  When it’s foggy, well . . . . we couldn’t see a darn thing!  We couldn’t even see the water below, which makes it a little creepy. 

“This fog’s as thick as peanut butter!”  “You mean pea soup.”  (Name the movie:)  I mean, seriously!  Look at how the bridge just disappears into the fog! 

Then we headed on over to the Palace of Fine Arts.

My sister, Ashley, with Kristen’s baby, Jacob. 

Feeding the ducks and birds with the only thing we had . . . . fish crackers:) 

The Newlyweds!

When we were just about finished walking around the Palace of Fine Arts, Brigham called saying they were almost there and to meet them at Pier 39 (Brigham and Steph’s family, and my mom, drove up a little later).  So we headed on over to Pier 39!

After eating lunch at a pizza place upstairs, the kids were very anxious to ride the carousel!  James kept saying, “Horsie Ride!”

And of course we had to go over and see the stinky seals!

From Pier 39 we walked our way through Fisherman’s Warf and into Bush Man territory!

And then up to Ghirardelli Square for our free chocolate sample:)  I was really wanting to go in and order hot fudge sundaes, but the line was crazy long!  Next time:)   

All of us except for Dad and Michael, who couldn’t come because of basketball.

Then one last stop before heading home . . . . Lombard St!  Always a blast.  Can you spot me and Ash hanging out the windows?

And here comes Katherine looking like Miss America!

And Steph!

Ash was sure having fun on all the steep streets!

We couldn’t stay in the city too long, because we had to get back for our cousin Johnny’s baptism.  Today was his 8th birthday, and we were happy we could be there.  We celebrated with cake and ice cream at the church following his baptism.  A great way to end the day!

6th Man

One of our favorite things we did during the week after Christmas was to go watch my little brother’s basketball games.  Michael is a freshman in high school and he is one of only 5 freshmen that made the team.  It was so fun to go and cheer like crazy for him!  Michael is the youngest of the 6 of us, and we all played 4 years of high school basketball, so I think we were all reliving our high school days a bit:)  It was fun to show up with all our kids . . . . I think most of Michael’s basketball team was surprised to find out he has 5 older married siblings and 9 nieces and nephews!  They probably thought he was an only child!    

So, whenever Michael’s team was down and needed some momentum, we would take it upon ourselves to help the team out, and would do a Defense cheer as loud as we could.  You know the one: “DE-FENSE!” clap, clap, “DE-FENSE!” clap, clap.  And sure enough, whenever we would do the cheer, Michael’s team seemed to play harder and they would make some amazing steal, or grab a sweet rebound to get the ball back and we would all go crazy.  We thought it was hilarious, and started calling ourselves the “sixth man.”  Yeah, we might be a little arrogant . . . . BUT, one game, after a terrible first half, Michael’s team was down by 20 points at half time.  We thought they had no chance against what appeared to be a much better team.  When they came out pretty strong in the second half, we thought they could use some extra cheering . . . . and before we knew it the game was tied!  It was such an exciting game, and Michael’s team ending up winning with Michael swishing a key free throw at the end.  We even had the coaches coming up to us after the game and thanking us for the extra energy.  Needless to say, we took some of the credit for that win . . . . and a few of the other close wins they had that week:)  Haha . . . . it was quite funny actually.  But we loved it.  We had so much fun, and I’m pretty sure Michael loved having his #1 fans in the crowd!   

Here he is sinking a 3:

And us going crazy!

And here he is with a sweet steal and then going up for a lay-up.

Yep, we’re pretty proud of that little brother of ours!

3 Flys Up

Well, Christmas was over.  Part of me was sad, and part of me was kind of relieved.  Christmas is just so crazy busy!  I was looking forward to the week after Christmas . . . . when we could finally just relax and have fun with my family!  The weather the week after Christmas was just gorgeous!!!  Like upper 60s.  We took advantage and headed to the park one day.  We played some 3 Flys Up.  Here I am battling it out with my sister and 2 brothers.

   

Jeff easily caught 3, and traded places with Spencer.  Woah, Michael!  Sweet grab!  haha.

Michael has some serious air . . . . he always comes flying out of nowhere!

Take that, little 14-year-old brother!

Oh yeah, me and Ash have our eyes on this one! 

We’re going for it!

What the?

Hey!  Michael!

And one last progression:

Because I catch this one . . . .

over Spencer:)