Our Family Vacation!

Sorry it has taken so long to post again. We went on vacation and we didn't have internet access for the first few days then the internet in the hotel was slower than molasses in January....it was like dial-up - it was bad. it was more frustrating than it was worth trying to post. And since we got home our internet has been having problems...maybe it doesn't like the snow either.
OUR TRIP! So, we left on the 21st, we flew into San Fran, our friend Annette picked us up and took us to her house in Monterey. We stayed there for the weekend. Dave and Mindy and Derek went too. (Mindy's sister lives in Monterey too.) this is what our time looked like. I hope you enjoy the slide show to go with this narrative. (I decided to do a slide show because there were too many cool pictures to post individually.) Enjoy! :o)

Day 1:
We got on the plane and flew SLC to SFO. Fortunately the DMV isn't far from the airport, so I was able to renew my license and go on vacation with Jon and Garen! (Thanks Mom and Dad for coming back to get me and take care of that!) Got our luggage and drove to Monterey. We went over to Mindy's sister's house and walked down to the wharf for dinner. It was a a very expensive fish place, but pretty tasty. Then we walked back and saw the sea lions, they were like 2 feet away from us. It was cool.

Day 2:
Saturday morning we got up and going for the day and headed to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was awesome. (Annette got us free tickets, which makes it even BETTER!) We did an otter fact scavenger hunt and won "otter boxes" (the are water proof boxes that you can put your stuff in so it won't get wet.) Then we moved on to the deep sea, the touch tanks, and then the living jellyfish art. That was COOL! We saw the great white shark and HUGE sun fish. Then we had lunch.
After lunch it was time to go Whale Watching! Talk about a trill!!! I have wanted to go whale watching my whole life! We took a 2 1/2 hour tour on the "Monterey star". It had been raining all morning but it cleared up and warmed up for our trip. It was a perfect day to be whale watching. (Thanks to Michelle for taking the kids! - Mindy's sister took Derek and Garen home with her so they wouldn't get sick on the boat. We really appreciated it! Thanks again!!) I was worried that we may not see whales but we did! So there was nothing to worry about. The other cool thing was that is was $25 but we got a "military discount" and only paid $20/person (Thanks Ren!!)
After the TOTALLY AWESOME whale tour, we went to Chipoltle(?sp?) for dinner, yummy! then back to Ren and Annette's to hang out! (And dress up like a bunny and army men! - heehee)

whale tails!

Day 3 (Sunday)
We went to church, which is always a nice thing! Then we had a lazy Sunday with Ren and Nette. It was nice to just hang out with good friends and take it easy. Nette and I did drive over to Fort Ord to see it all boarded up. I wanted to see it since my dad was stationed there for a little while before he went to Germany back in 61-62.

Garen and Daddy playing!

Day 4 (Monday)
This was a little hectic but fun. We went to Pacific Grove and played on the beach and saw the lighthouse. Then I introduced them to the avocado sandwich. (YUMMY!!!) We then headed to San Fran. Dave and Mindy stayed in the same hotel as us, which was fun. Annette headed back to Monterey and We headed into downtown. We met Miryoung at Ghiradelli square for dinner and icecream. On the way back to the hotel we took a detour and drove down the steepest street in San Fran. It was like going on a roller coaster - after you crest the hill, you just hang there suspended in seemingly nothing until your car gets pointed down and you are hanging there as you start your decent. It was REALLY steep! It was AWESOME!! It was worth the detour to hear Dave Whooping in the car behind us! It was SWEET!

it is hard to tell but this is the steepest hill!

Day 5 (Tuesday)
We headed out and went to Golden Gate Park. We parked our cars and walked. We took cool family pictures and walked around some more. We saw the conservatory, the Museum, a big stage, the Japaneese tea garden, and the Shakespeare Garden. It was a good time. We then drove over to the Golden Gate bridge. Did some walking around and picture taking. Then back to downtown to ride a trolley. We drove down the crookedest street in SF then parked. Walked to the trolley station, took that to Union Square for lunch then back on to the trolley which took us to the top of the Crookedest street - ultimately back to our cars! I was a great time with Dave and Mindy. But they had to get to the airport to come home. they left and we went to Coit Tower. Then back to the hotel where we found a grocery store to buy food for a few days and just hung out and watched a movie.

Me in Shakespeare's Garden

Day 6 (Wednesday)
We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Muir Woods, a small Redwood forest about 15 miles from the SF. It was a pleasant drive and very beautiful. We took a nice hike through the woods and enjoyed the wonderful weather and the beauty of the forest. It was GREAT! On the drive to the Muir woods I was looking at a booklet that I picked up somewhere and found that there was Jelly Belly Factor not to far and they had free tours with free samples. So we headed East to see how jelly belly's are made. It was fun. Garen didn't like wearing his hat but he did OK. He liked sitting next to Mr. Jelly Belly at the end of the tour. He is soo cute! We went back to Ghiradelli Square for ice cream and did a little souvenir shopping. Then back to the hotel for the night.

Yeah for Jelly Belly's!

Day 7 (Thursday)
We saw what we went to see in SF so we drove back to Monterey to see Ren and Annette again. They both had to work but we managed on our own until they got home. When we got into town Garen needed some stretch time before his nap so we went to the Dennis the Mennis Park. He also turned 10 months on this day so we took some 10 Month pics. He is growing up so fast! After he chased the birds we headed to the 17-mile drive. It was beautiful...we saw birds on Seal Rock and seals on Bird Rock and the Lone Cypress. It was a overcast and cold, but it was a nice day for a drive. We spent the evening hanging out with Ren and Annette and that was lovely too. Jon and Ren played computer games while Nette and I went shopping.

Daddy and Garen at the Lone Cypress

Day 8 (Friday)
We drove back toward SF, we got directions to go to the Oakland temple. Jon was REALLY tired driving up so when we go to the temple, I took Garen into the Visitor's center and then we walked around the temple while Daddy took a nap. We made our way back to the hotel and went to bed. It was a GREAT trip.

Garen stole the tortilla - I think he was hungry!

Day 9 (Saturday)
We came home....to snow! UGH! I guess it is back to "real" life again. and recover from vacation! Jon asked me what my favorite part was: I narrowed it down to 3 things. Whale watching - because I have wanted to do that my whole life, so it was a dream come true. The Steepest Hill in SF - because it made Dave so happy! and The Jelly Belly Factory - because we were flexible enough to change our plans to do something different and fun. I did love it all! It was great to see friends and hang out and conquer a new city. It put Jon more at ease with the possibility of moving out of state in Feb. Just knowing that we can find our way around and we can feel at home somewhere new, wherever the Lord has in mind for us to go. Until next time - Love you! later! :o)

I took this pic for mom, it was the USAirways Plane that I saw in SLC as we were walking to baggage claim. Enjoy! :o)