University Ave

I've been taking a photography class through the adult school this fall and we had to take black and white photos. I decided to capture some of where we live and here are 2 pictures that I especially liked.

Nickel City

A while ago we house sat for a nice family. As a perk we took one of the kids to Nickel City and tried our hand at arcade games.

Scott working very hard to beat an 11 year old.

Histch easily beating Scott.

DDR was my favorite.

For some reason the boys liked guns.

And when you take a Stanford student and kid you learn how to beat the odds at Wheel of Fortune.

We won a lot of tickets with that game!

Stanford Football

Do I look like a real fan even though I grew up a Bears fan?

(Sorry about the finger. Otherwise it's a good picture!)

Tahoe

A super nice couple in our ward invited us up to their cabin in Tahoe at the end of September. The weekend consisted of lots of boating time, great company, delicious food, and fun games. Some day we'd like to be as cool as the Branson's!

The crew: me, Frank & Coralee Branson, Jonathan & Haley Hammer, and Scott.

Sunrise on the North Shore.

The boys are ready to go!

Scott stretching out before his first run.

I am very proud to say I was the only one to get up on the first attempt! (Everyone else did get up but it took more than one time.) I may not be really good but I can ski with one hand!

Do I not look totally happy?!

Scott went wake boarding and was pretty good.

Is this not beautiful?

Sunset on the North Shore.

Seriously, the weekend was so much fun. We loved it!

Jewelry Queen

We got these beaded necklaces for Laura's birthday this summer and Hailey found them during General Conference. She would happily be wearing more if we had them!

Pirates of Emerson

We went to a super fun collection of haunted houses. Since I told Scott before hand that he'd have to walk home if he scared me it wasn't too bad. There were 5 haunted houses and 3 mazes.

Happy Halloween!

iPhone 5

I finally entered the world of smartphones and got the iPhone 5. It's really cool but considering my past few phones anything that rang or got reception would have been an enormous improvement...

I actually got the phone on the first day but had to go to the store to get it activated. The Apple store was super busy so I walked down to Verizon. After saying what I needed they told me to go outside to wait in line. I looked outside to see no one. Since the store was relatively empty I asked if I could stay inside and look at accessories. They said that everyone had just been kicked out and I would need to wait outside. Here I am in the front of a very long line of only myself.

Top notch service Verizon.

Livin' in da Hood

A few weeks ago Scott's bike was stolen on a Friday afternoon between noon and 4pm. It was locked to itself but outside. A few days later Scott saw some guy just casually biking by on a bike that looked EXACTLY like his old one. Since then we've seen the bike and new owner all over town.

Here's a nice photo I took last weekend.

Thanks Homeless Guy! I've got a few choice words for you but since you're so friendly and I see you all the time I'm going to save those words until just before I move.

Giants game

My uncle flew out from SLC to see the Giants play the Braves and it was cold but fun.

I used to love baseball but since I don't follow the Giants (or any team) now it made the game a bit long. However, the Giants won so we all went home happy.

The gang.

Pie Making

And these are the pies we made from the blackberries!

Scott had a friend teach him how to make the crust.

It was delicious.

So this is actually a peach pie that I made from Costco peaches but I thought I'd include it anyway!

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day we went up to Santa Rosa to pick blackberries. It ended up being a fun and delicious weekend. 

Rush and Grandpa putting together a fan base. He is quite the helper.

Hailey looking for mischief.

Rush kept talking about building a fort so Scott helped in the morning. Building the fort created a huge mess but only provided about 30 seconds of entertainment once it was complete. Awesome!

Yes, we did pick blackberries on the side of the road.

I took pictures and Scott picked berries. We're such a team!

Again, Rushton being helpful.

OK, so it didn't last long.

After all the hard work we treated the kids to swimming

and playing games with the adults. (However, Rush got to decide the rules so we were never really sure about what was going one. Big surprise: he won!)

Hailey SO SO SO sad to see Grandma leave. That girl loves her Grandma!

Les Miserables

In August we went to Les Miserables with some friends and LOVED it. I may or may not have cried. Seriously, it's so emotional. Since then I've started to read the unabridged version and it's divine! I sort of feel like some parts can be counted as scripture study since there is such rich doctrine. If anyone is thinking about reading it I would highly recommend it. Even the abridged version is wonderful.

Night Sailing in SF

Some friends told us about a great deal to do night sailing on the Bay so we decided to join them! We thought that by night sailing it meant we'd have chairs and a HUGE boat. Nope! It was more than we sat on the side of a 26' sailboat and prayed we wouldn't get soaked. In the beginning there was a lot fo fear and trepidation but by then end we thought it was awesome!

We took off from Pier 39 around sunset so there are some beautiful pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and surrounding sights.

Scott and I are mostly dry still after quite the boat rocking!

Alcatraz

We went around Treasure Island so on the left is the new bridge being constructed and the old bridge is on the right.

It was so dark that you couldn't take a good picture of Berkeley or the Oakland shipping yard. Just imagine those in the blur!

We also went down to McCovy Cove and saw AT&T park where the Giant's play.

Pier One

The City skyline.

Coit Tower

It was so fun! Thanks Liz & Dave!