Some Things Don't Go as Planned

Christmas this year was full of surprises. My Grandma Jacobson rather surprisingly passed away the Friday before Christmas after a week in the hospital. The next day my 18 year old cousin also died in a bad car accident when his car slipped off the road down a riverbank into the Snake River. Rather than spending time in Boise like planned we went to Eastern Idaho early to attend two funerals. Just when we thought we were done and getting ready to head to a cabin on Christmas Eve, as was originally planned, we received word that my Grandma Weed also passed away.

Needless to say, our best made plans were thrown out the window and the whole week was an emotional adventure with highs and lows. Some of our memories include:

• Arriving in Winnemucca at 1am searching for a motel with an available room for the night. We went through 4 before we found one.
• Almost being creamed from behind by a truck going a little too fast on a downward slope in snowy conditions. Luckily they went off the road first. Nate ran back up the highway to make sure they were okay and spent 30 minutes helping them get out of the snow bank.
• Feeling the Spirit as the funerals focused on the glorious Plan of Salvation. My Uncle Doug spoke at both his mother's and son's funerals and did an amazing job. Despite the sorrow felt by all, there was an underlying comfort provided by the gospel and plan on salvation.
• Lots of snow and bad roads - one highway was closed right after the funeral procession went through because it was white out conditions. You could barely see the car in front of you!
• Getting stuck in the snow in Jason's driveway - it took us about 30 minutes to get our car out.
• Being together as a family in Island Park at the most amazing cabin
• Treking through the forest to cut down our own Christmas Tree for the cabin. Jason got his car stuck on the way and we had to dig him out.
• Receiving about 3ft of snow from Christmas Eve to the end of Christmas day
• Going in the hot tub. Jason and Nate would jump out into the snow, then back into the tub. Tyson thought it was funny and followed their lead.
• Playing Buzz Word
• Snowmobiling
• Spending time with 4 cute nephews.
• Taking nearly another week off of work to attend my Grandma Weed's funeral. Since the funeral is in Utah we made an unexpected trip to visit Nate's family for a few days in Utah.

Christmas 2008 will never be forgotten. We loved being with family and are grateful to know families can be together forever.

Christmas Pics

Christmas Spirit

This weekend we took some time to get into the Christmas spirit.

First, we spent some time on Saturday putting out Christmas decorations and decorating our little tree. I think it turned out pretty well.


Then, on Sunday night we went down to Palo Alto to a Christmas Creche exhibit. There were over 45o nativity scenes collected from all over the world. We were also there in time to listen to the Valparaiso singers delight us with some Christmas carols.

We're Thankful...

...for our families


For Thanksgiving we flew to Utah to spend time with the DeFries side. Our first stop, however, was to visit Jaime's grandma Chloe at an assisted living facility in Spanish Fork. Jaime helped feed her lunch while I chatted with some of the other residents.


After our short visit, we drove out to Grand Junction, CO to meet up with the entire extended DeFries family at my uncle Richard's home. It was good to be with all of the cousins and relax a little bit. Richard did a lot to make sure we were all comfortable. He catered the food so no one had to worry about cooking, and he arranged for a photographer to come on Thanksgiving to take a family picture.



On the day after Thanksgiving, the boys played a round of golf while the girls went to see Twilight.


After returning to Layton from Grand Junction, we just took it easy for the rest of the vacation. We were able to go to Logan on Sunday to see my cousin Paul (from my mom's side) bless his baby girl, Penny.



Our Thanksgiving was good time to reflect on all of our blessings and to be with family. As with all vacations, however, it was much too short. Good thing Christmas is right around the corner.

Birthday Wishes

My two nephews celebrate their birthdays one day apart. Ryder turns two today and Tyson turns five tomorrow. I can't believe they are growing up so quickly! We love reading about the shenanigans of these two creative little boys and can't wait until we see them at Christmas time.

Happy Birthday to two of the cutest boys in the world!

Pictured above are all of my little nephews when they were together over the summer. Tyson is the oldest and Ryder is the second oldest. Ryder has the most beautiful blue eyes. Aren't they all so cute?

Happy Birthday Jaime

Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife. On Saturday Jaime turned 26! We had a nice relaxing day before attending our ward Halloween party and then spending the rest of the evening with some friends.

We were in charge of a game at the Halloween party. We did bowling for ghosts and called it the spook alley.

Happy Birthday Honey!

Isaac Bug Turns One!

Too cute for words! Isaac - the happy, go lucky baby - is no longer a baby. His recent pictures show he is turning into quite the little boy and today marks his first birthday. Isaac is the third of four adorable nephews I have. What a lucky aunt am I?

Happy Birthday, Isaac!

HMB Pumpkin Festival

Yesterday we spent a hew hours at the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival to help us get into the Halloween spirit. We got down there in time to watch the Pumkin Parade which featured this year's biggest pumpkin winner along with any local who wanted to dress up walk the route.

We spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the local art vendors (our favorites were the blown glass pumpkins and photos by Pep Ventosa),

eating pumpkin rolls and pumpkin ice cream,

and watching Farmer Mike - Award Winning Pumkin Carver.

Cruisin' in Santa Cruz

A few weekends ago Nate and I ventured to Santa Cruz to see a good friend of ours from college run her first half-marathon. Recently Krista and her husband moved to Fresno from D.C. We are so excited to have them a little closer.

Krista looked amazing at the finish line! And - was rearing to go for the rest of the day. I was overly impressed that despite having run 13 something miles she was ready to spend the rest of the day on her feet exploring Santa Cruz.

We took in the sights of the boardwalk in this small surf town, watched a few routines of the Cheerleading Competition going on and even indulged ourselves in a few carnival rides. We rode the Giant Dipper, which happens to be the 6th oldest roller-coaster in the United States.

Later we went geocaching, though we never quite completed the find. The final destination seems to now be a occupied by vagrants and we were a little too nervous to approach too closely. We finished the day by playing bocce in the park where we were again chased off by a homeless man. All in all, what a fabulous day!

Krista and Jonathan were also able to spend Sunday with us. We loved catching up with our good friends and hope to see them a lot more often.

I Just LOVE this Quote

I was reading Elder Lance B. Wickman's conference talk "Today" from the April 2008 General Conference Addesses the other day and found this paragraph to be so profound.

"We really are immortal in the sense that Christ’s Atonement conquers death, both physical and spiritual. And provided we have so lived Today that we have claim on the Atonement’s cleansing grace, we will live forever with God. This life is not so much a time for getting and accumulating as it is a time for giving and becoming. Mortality is the battlefield upon which justice and mercy meet. But they need not meet as adversaries, for they are reconciled in the Atonement of Jesus Christ for all who wisely use Today."

He's Done!

Hooray! Nate has PASSED all four of his CPA exams! We just got his final test score yesterday. Way to go honey!

Giants and Ghosts

Last weekend my parents came out for a short visit. On Friday night, we went to a Giants baseball game. The Giants lost, but it is fun to go to AT&T park and eat their famous garlic fries.



The next day we went down to San Jose to check out the Winchester Mystery House. Sarah Winchester, the widow of the owner of Winchester rifles, moved to California in 1884 on the advice of her spiritualist. She believed she was being haunted by the spirits of all the people who had been killed by Winchester rifles, and in order to appease the spirits she began construction on her house and didn't stop for 38 years. The result is a crazy collection of rooms with doors that open to the outside, windows in floors, stairs that lead to no where, and cupboards that open to entire rooms.

We're glad that my parents could come visit, our only complaint was that the weekend was too short.

365 Days Later

We made it! (Not that there was ever any doubt!) Nate and I celebrated our 1-year anniversary over Labor Day weekend. To commemorate the occassion we went to Monterey, CA for the weekend-- a place we have wanted to visit since moving here.

We loved the aquarium-a must see for Moneterey. We spent almost 4-hours looking at fish, touching various sea life in the tidal pools, watching the feeding in various tanks, etc.

On our trip we also explored the beautiful coast by taking a picnic to eat along the 17-mile drive. And, another day we rented bikes to ride to a lighthouse.

Monterrey was beautiful, especially with the renovated cannery buildings, which are now hotels and shops, lining the main street. I would have loved to see it back in its prime canning days!

DONE! (I hope)

Yesterday I took the fourth of four CPA exams. It usually takes about two months to get my results back so I don't know if I passed yet, but for now it is a huge relief. I'm well on my way to becoming an officially licensed nerd!

San Francisco Stake 80th Anniversary Celebration

Our stake is having a massive celebration to commemorate 80 years since its formation. To help celebrate, the stake has come up with tons of activites that will help us learn about the early saints who settled in California. Yesterday, the stake held a picnic at a local park where there were games such as panning for gold, handcart races, and more.

The day was a success and the weather perfect. At church today, there wasn't a single person who attended the picnic yesterday that didn't have a little rosy look to their complexion. Nate and I came home a little more red than we would have liked.

Full of Surprises

San Francisco never ceases to amaze me with how much it has to offer. With a festival for almost anything you can think of, there is always something new and exciting to discover. Last week while at work, there began to be a buzz around the office. I noticed tons of people standing at the window watching the bay. I gazed out to the bay in time to see a tall ship sail by with a large American Flag blowing in the breeze: a gorgeous sight!



The tall ship marked the start of the Festival of Sail. For the remainder of the afternoon, the bay was a fury of ships and boats of every kind. It was an amazing site. I have never seen so many ships on the bay at one time. I watched old naval ships go by, several tall ships, barges, and tons of sailboats. This picture, sadly, doesn't do the parade of sail justice.





The next day I was surprised when I arrived home from work to find Broadway in Millbrae blocked off with a live band, the Hot Rods, performing in the middle of the street. They performed old hits such as Buddy Holly, the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Credence Clearwater Revival, etc. In addition, Broadway was full of old cars from the 60's and 70's. Some were pretty cool. Nate and I had a great time joining other people in the streets dancing to some great tunes!

We Love Geocaching...

...and we're not afraid to admit to it. Lately we have found quite a few caches with our friends, the Chipmans. Here are a few pictures from our latest adventures. On our last trip we even found a "travel bug" that has traveled all the way from the UK! Check it here.

This one was taken on a camera phone at night, but it illustrates the lengths we go to when retrieving a cache.

Noteworthy Weekend

Last weekend, my mom and sister came to visit Nate and me for the first time since we moved to San Francisco.

The weekend was amazingly clear and super hot for the bay area. We took advantage of the nice weather by walking around Chrissy Field, then going to the mission district to experience Bi-Rite Ice Cream, which was rated as one of the best ice cream places in the nation by MSNBC. After ice cream, we drove down the embarcadero to Pier 39, where Jennifer was enamored with the sea lions. We stayed on the wharf for an enjoyable dinner.

On the way home, we stopped to purchase a fan for our apartment! With the heat, no AC, and no wind our apartment was unbearably hot.