More Weekend Pics....

The amazing bridge

On Pier 39 looking out at Alcatraz in the distance


A really cool harbor off of Pier 39

Dan acting a little "crabby" at the Boudin Sourdough Bread Factory

Beautiful gardens by the Golden Gate Bridge

Our Weekend Exploring the Sites

So this weekend we got out and explored our new city! We decided to do a few of the touristy things like Fisherman's Warf, Pier 39, Ghiardellhi Square, and the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a fun overcast, and a little foggy day so it gave the day a lot of character. We started out by taking a scenic drive through the Presidio and past the Golden Gate Bridge--sort of by accident. But the view we saw was so amazing with the huge bridge half covered in fog, that we decided to do a photo shoot on our way home. So we headed down to Fisherman's warf and walked around for awhile. It was fun looking in the little shops and seeing all the interesting people on the street. We went over to Ghirardellhi Square and sampled some delicious chocolate but we decided not to get a sundae since we both were starving for lunch. We'll have to go back and try that another time. We had lunch at the Boudin Sourdough Bread Company. We ate clam chowder in the most delicious bread bowls we'd ever had! The soup didn't quite beat Anthony's in San Diego, but the bread was amazing. Then, we walked down to Pier 39 and took some pictures of Alcatraz in the distance and saw the seals lounging off the pier. We walked past the 'bush man' on the side of the street, but didn't quite get to see him in action. I'll guess we'll have to catch him another time. :) After we were done down there we drove up by the coast and sawe some amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Obviously, we stopped for some photos and then we headed to our ward activity to learn about emergency preparedness for earthquakes!!!!! haha.....ahhh the joys of living in San Fran. Maybe I should've thought through this a bit more carefully?!?! :) We went to church on Sunday and met more people from our ward. We love it and we're so lucky that there are so many fun, young couples. We're really excited to get to know people. Well, its Monday now so back to work work work. We'll check in this weekend after we hopefully do some more fun things!

Down by the water closeby Ghirardellhi Square

Oh the wonderful chocolate shop--how I love thee!

Some sailboats in the misty fog. Dan is in heaven seeing all the beautiful boats!

Dan with a 3 mast ship in the background.

A shot of Ghirardellhi Square in the distance

We've Moved to San Francisco!

Okay so another post very long awaited. We have finally moved to San Francisco and Dan has started working here at Grey San Francisco which is an advertising agency. Dan got the offer from them 2 weeks ago and that weekend we were in the truck moving all our stuff across the country. I actually got to fly since Dan's brother came out to drive with him so I got a lucky break, but fortunately Dan and matt arrived safely and nothing was damaged! Let me tell you it was some seriously fancy driving trying to get that 25 foot truck up some of these steep hills! Well, San Francisco is great so far. Very different and so much to see and do. We've just been trying to get settled and get our apartment together so far so that is why there aren't too many pictures yet of our place. I'll put more up as soon as it is more presentable. These pictures are mostly just of what is around us. Views from our apartment, etc. We live a few blocks east of the beach, Ocean Beach, and a few blocks north of Golden Gate Park. It is pretty amazing. We haven't been to the beach yet but I do get to see it every day from my office window which is a very nice treat. We have been to the park several times--I take Cruiser on walks down there sometimes during my lunch breaks. We live in an area called Outer Richmond and it takes about 25-35 mintues to drive our car into the actual city. (It's only like 5miles but it takes awhile with all the stop signs). I've only ventured to drive myself down there once and it was quite an adventure. Last weekend we went to the cutest restaurant with our friends Matt and Liz called 'Mama's'. It had the most delicious breakfast food. They drove us on Lombard Street and past the Golden Gate Bridge. Dan and I have also been shopping in the city one evening, but other than that we haven't spent much time down there together, so we're exciting to do some exploring. Dan rides an express muni bus down to the financial district everyday and it seems to work out well. He loves walking through the city listening to the iPod and just taking it all in. There is so much to see!!!! Other than missing all of our friends terribly, knowing where everything is, and being able to park wherever you want, whenever you want, the city is great and we are excited to get to know it better. We will keep you all updated on our findings.

This is the view of the beach from out office window/minature balcony.

This is our living room, very unfinished and without anything on the walls. We are really excited to have a fireplace!

This is the front of our building. We are the middle/second flat. We like having those bay windows in front.

This is a view from our front living room window. The houses across the way twinkle at night when the sunsets. It is beautiful. I always laugh though how many cables there are hanging everywhere. There are thousands!

This is the view standing in front of our building. The trees in the distance are Golden Gate Park which we love!

Visiting Friends in Phoenix

So over our vacation in Phoenix Dan and I were able to get together with some of my friends from high school Fallon and Sarah and their husbands. We had a great time visiting and catching up. They both have beautiful homes and it was fun to see where they live. It's so great to see what everyone is up to and the directions of everyone's lives. It's too bad we don't live closer so we can get together more often!

Fallon, me and Sarah


Fallon and her husband Chris

More Christmas Pics!

All the grandkids on Christmas morning in their matching jammies! Left to Right: (bottom) Carlie, Ian (top) Chandler & Rachel, Caleb

Christmas morning sleepy faces!

Carlie after she and I had a little nail party.

Dan and me with Caleb

Dan and I with my Grandpa Updike. We went and visited him at his house in Mesa.

Christmas in Phoenix

I feel badly that is has taken me so long to get this Christmas post up but Tada!!!---Here it is! Some pictures from our trip. So for Christmas we went to Phoenix to be with my family. It was so great because every one of my siblings was there for the first (and maybe last time) in years! So it was great to be with everyone under one roof--although it was a bit stressful at times, we made the most of it and still made some great memories. Now that we're gone I miss everyone a lot and wish so much we lived closer.

For Chrismas Eve we tried doing a little Nativity play with the grandkids as the stars and the adults as some minor roles--as you can see Dan got the donkey--Let me tell you he was thrilled! :) The production was a little stressful but very fun in the end. I was costume designer so please, no making fun! (I didn't have much shepherd clothing to work with now okay??)

I love you family and I miss you!!!!

My sister Allyson and her husband Marc and 4 kids: Chandler, Carlie, Caleb, and Rachel

The Nativity: Dan with Chandler and Carlie (I love her little pregnant belly I made :) )


My Sister Amy (the angel) and her boyfriend Dustin

Me with my little nieces Carlie and Rachel