Alcatraz

We visited Alcatraz this last weekend. We rode the train down to the city and spent the afternoon there. Neither of us had been to Alcatraz before so we were pretty excited to go. It was very interesting. There was definitely a creepy vibe there, but it was so cool at the same time. We loved reading the histories of people that were inmates there. This week are going to watch the movie, "Escape From Alcatraz" now that we have been there. The views of the city from the island were spectacular. You could see both bridges and all the buildings. We definitely want to go back again and do the audio tour with former inmates narrating. Our favorite part of the tour was looking at the prison cells of the 3 inmates that had escaped through the vents in their rooms. Their vents were very small. IMPOSSIBLE to fit a grown man's body through but they had stolen spoons from the dining hall and had dug their vents out and created holes big enough to fit their bodies through. Those were the only 3 inmates that were not recaptured after escaping. Super intense. It was awesome, and we want to go again!

The City

On the train to San Fransisco

Golden Gate Bridge

Bay Bridge

Me!

Prison cell. Oddly enough, this was roughly the same size as my room in my house growing up! I felt right at home!

Thanksgiving

I know that thanksgiving has been past for quite a while, but life has been crazy! We had a great thanksgiving with my family. They came to California to see us and spend some time here. It was a lot of fun! We played games, watched a movie, went to see thw giant sequioas, and saw BYU play. Not to mention, a delicious thanksgiving dinner with Jake's brother's family. We had a great time. We are grateful for the time of year when we can focus on all our blessings.

It was really fun to go to a BYU game with my family. I got way into the game and Jake wasn't annoyed with all my questions!

I think J had way too much fun at the Calaveras state park. He kept referring to himself as a spider monkey! B had a good time too! 

All my boys! Dad, J, B, and Jake! I am so glad that everyone was able to come and spend time with us for the holidays.

Walking through the streets of Berkeley! J is such a ham!

I love this man! 

Giant Sequoias! 30 ft. In diameter! I wanted to take a picture and Jake said that it had to be with the biggest tree! It was amazing. I love all the intricate details in all of God's creations. 

The City

We had family in town last weekend so we all took a trip to the city! It was such a beautiful day and a fun time to spend with family. We went to Pier 39 and saw the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the sea lions, the WWII ships, an old fashioned arcade, and Ghirardelli Square. Needless to say, we had a good time.

Our trip started with an accidental, but much welcomed drive through of China town! It was super awesome. There were so many shops compacted into such a small space.

We got to the Pier and got some lunch (Clam Chowder for those who are fans of that and crepes for those who are not! - Let me just say, Jake and I had crepes and were very very pleased! YUM!)

This is L and M. Two of our cute cute nephews. 

They were such troopers going all over the city with us! 

We went to this old fashioned arcade that each game about 25 cents. We had a blast trying the games and finding out our futures from "fortune tellers". 

These pictures are from the ships we were able to get on and look around. It was really awesome to see the living quarters for the crew - the beds were SO tiny and the bunks were so close together. There was a ferry boat too that had old fashioned cars. There was one called "The Woody" that was made of wood. Jake and I laughed thinking about driving that car around now... Not very safe. 

Me and L before we left in the morning. He is such a happy boy!

Alcatraz. Jake and I are planning a trip to tour Alcatraz next month. It should be really cool.

The Golden Gate Bridge.

The Waite brothers. I know this is one of those cheesy pictures, but I am kinda cheesy. I loved watching them together and how they interacted. Brothers are fun. I know that Jake admires and looks up to his brothers so much. I just had to capture this moment.

The sea lions on Pier 39. There was a sign that said the male sea lions can weigh up to 850 lbs. Yikes! The female sea lions weigh around 220 lbs. if I remember correctly. As we walked along the Pier there was a HUGE sea lion laying alone on the boat docks sun bathing. It was really cool. I love that they live in such a populated place.

Funny story:

As we were walking along the street there are all kinds of people selling things, performing, and showing their talents. There is one guy who hides behind this little bush (and by little bush I mean little. It covers barely his face) and "jumps" out at people as they walk by. WELL, as we were walking by - I was oblivious to his whereabouts and looking at the city around me - he jumped out at the little boy next to me. I FREAKED OUT! I screamed and my heart starting pumping so hard. Everyone laughed at me. It was really funny. I am quite jumpy and get scared at basically anything. It was a good time. Next time I will be prepared!

Our last stop of the day was to Ghirardelli Square where we had delicious ice cream. Jake and I shared a cookie sundae. Cookies N' Cream ice cream, hot fudge, and crumbled chocolate chip cookies on top. Y.U.M. Ghirardelli Square was a fun place to go. It is so different from the rest of the city. It reminded me a little of the place my family goes to for Thanksgiving sometimes - kinda artsy and eclectic. 

We had a fun time in the city - unfortunately the fun ended as we left the city, because the card ride home sparked our new adventure: THE FLU. M started throwing up in the car, and within a few hours so were the rest of us. Luckily it was a 24 hour bug and now we are all feeling better.

Till next time San Fransisco.

October's Festivities

So.... this month has been full of ups and downs. There has been a lot going on, and I haven't had time to post. But here we go! Jake and I both had our birthdays. For Jake's birthday we had dinner at his brother's house with some friends. It was a blast! We are grateful that we have great friends! I also made Jake sticky buns (at his request) and snickers cake (his favorite).

For my birthday Jake gave me a shower speaker and so now I can jam in the shower! I LOVE it! We went out to Famous Daves and had some delicious food! I love the grilled pineapple!! Yum yum!

This month we also went to a corn maze for FHE. It was a lot of fun! We got COMPLETELY lost and it was PITCH black, but we wandered around until we found our way out. (Next year we are going to go during the day). We also had a Halloween party with our ward. There was a chili cook off, carnival games, and a trunk-or-treat. We had a fun time! 

The corn maze!!

Me and my good friend M, she looks so good!

A nerd and a black widow! Love him!

Labor Day

We went down to Vegas for the holiday weekend. It was a quick trip, but we had a great time. We live in CA and were definitely going to get caught in the traffic to Vegas with every other Californian so we went up through the Sonora pass. It was BEAUTIFUL! I think Jake said, "wow this beautiful" at least every 5 minutes (he is so adorable!). The drive was a little longer than we expected because the mountain was very steep. We enjoyed our ride down though! These are a few pictures from our drive through the "back streets of CA."

Harley Davidson

Once we got to Vegas we spent time with family and had a great time! We were able to meet up with one of Jake's mission companions and his family. I was nervous because they only spoke Spanish, and I don't speak much... really none at all! But it went a lot better than I thought. I had such a good time and I feel that they became such dear friends so quickly. The language barrier wasn't really a barrier at all. 

We got to spend time with our niece and our nephews while we were there too! We went bowling, played hide and seek, and everyone came over for a big delicious breakfast! We had so much fun. We wished we lived closer to our family so we could see them more often. It was such a fun trip. On our way home we drove through SoCal (Jake wan't thrilled by the idea of driving through the steep mountain again). Can't wait for our next trip!

Jake recently started calling me Kimberlina and then we saw this road sign and thought it was funny!

Please disregard the bug guts on our windshield!

Happy Early Birthday!

Our birthdays are 5 days apart, and they aren't for another month and then some! haha.... BUT we saw this bean bag and needed it! It is 6 ft long. It came in a HUGE box! It was so heavy. We are really excited about it. Who doesn't love a nice big bean bag to sit on while you watch movies??

Del Valle

Last weekend we went to the lake with the W family as well as the V family! We had a great time! The W family has paddle boards and they let us borrow them and ride the waves. It was harder than I thought it was going to be. I didn't fall in at all and Jake fell only once! We all packed picnic lunches and soaked up the sun. We are excited to go back soon!

K & I out on the water

I felt so much like Pocahontas!

Jake and JV and cute little K

The boys out on the water

I adore this little guy! M and I are BFFs! Being an aunt is so much fun!

Our Trip to Sacramento

We wanted to go to the temple, but our temple (Oakland Temple) is closed for maintenance so we drove up to Sacramento for the afternoon. Jake also got a gift certificate to Cheesecake factory so we stopped there for dinner as well. We live in a smaller city and so the closest Cheesecake factory to us is about 45 minutes so we thought stopping there after the temple was a fun idea! We enjoyed the drive and we were able to chat about so many things. We are grateful for the beauty of the world that Heavenly Father has made so accessible to us! We are excited for another temple trip soon!

Here is a picture that I took of the Sacramento Temple! There was a wedding there when we went! It added to the fun of it all!

Jake's Red Velvet Cheesecake

My Oreo Dream Cheesecake

Another picture of the Sacramento Temple

Also, Manteca is so patriotic. Each Holiday (That is somewhat patriotic: Flag Day, President's Day, Fourth of July, etc.) Manteca lines the streets with flags. It was so awesome to see all the main streets lined with flags. It made us so grateful for the land that we live in and the freedoms that we have.