My 28th Birthday!

Keith and I celebrated my birthday today by taking a day trip to San Francisco. It was a wonderful, beautiful day. This is the view from the Bay Bridge driving into the city.

We ate lunch at my favorite restaurant in San Francisco - The Cliff House. Lunch was incredible as usual. I had the "macadamia nut crusted halibut" and Keith had the Ahi Tuna. This is the view from our table. 

After lunch we went out to the deck behind the restaurant to enjoy the view and sunshine. I love this picture, but I can't help notice that my "squint wrinkle" is much deeper now that I'm 28! :) 

After lunch we drove to downtown San Francisco. We enjoyed the sunshine and walked along the waterfront to Pier 39. It was such a beautiful, warm day. It was like having a summer birthday - like I'd always wanted as a kid. 

We got an ice cream sundae and hot chocolate for dessert. It might seem like a strange combination, but I highly recommend it to any chocoholic. It was a great end to my birthday trip to San Francisco. 

Becoming Californian

Keith and I moved from Seattle to California on August 13th. Here are some of the things we've been doing since the move. 

We took this picture only minutes after walking into our new apartment - 30 floors up. We enjoyed the view for a while before going to a hotel for the night because our belongings weren't being delivered until the next day - due to a completely disasterous situation with the moving company. I was just glad our things showed up at all. 

This is how things looked when we were done bringing our things in the next day. So much for the view! :) 

This is the view from our new bedroom. The sunrise is spectacular coming up over the Berkeley Hills and campus. 

Once we were all moved in we had to become official California residents (scary, I know!). That meant new driver's licenses and license plates for the car and motorcycle. We spent about 4 hours at the DMV to get everything done. Keith and I both only missed 1 question on our tests and were glad to have this over with.

This is the view I see most often. This is the view of campus from the window of the Scandinavian Library where I study and work. I spend almost all of my time on campus in this library. Almost everyday is as sunny and beautiful as it looks in this picture. You can't beat this weather. 

On Memorial Day we decided to take a mini vacation. Unfortunately one of my professors decided to hold class on the holiday, so we didn't get started on our vacation until 4:30. Once I was out of class we drove over the Bay Bridge into San Franciso and across the Golden Gate bridge to Stinson Beach. Fortunately we had plenty of time to enjoy the sand and sun while we watched the surfers ride the waves. 

...but we decided against going for a swim! 

Our new ward meets in the multi-stake center next to the Oakland Temple. It's a beautiful place to visit every week.

We went to our first Oakland A's baseball game with some friends of ours from school. It was our first time cheering for a California team. They lost, but we had a great time. 

Since it was "fan appreciation night" they let everyone come down on the field after the game and watch a fireworks show. It was fun to see the stadium from the player's perspective. 

The fireworks were amazing! It was like a full 4th of July show. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ERIN & REED!

Erin and Reed had a combined birthday party yesterday. I can't believe that Reed will be a Senior this year and that Erin will be a mommy! And, from this picture, it looks like Mickayla will be launching her modeling career. :)

Erin and Reed both had candles left burning on their birthday cakes, but I hope they get their bday wishes anyway. I love having 2 birthdays in one party - I ate both Erin's icecream cake and Reed's cheesecake!

I gave Erin this shirt and earings. She looks so cute! It think the baby likes it too. :)

Keith, Dad, Reed, Blake and I went to see Star Wars Episode III on Memorial Day. We arrived over an hour early and the line was already around the block. We were about 400 people deep in line. I was worried that we wouldn't get a good seat, but we did. Cinerama Theater seats 800, so we were technically in the front half of the line.

The Cinerama screen is 90 feet long and 30 feet high. It was the best possible place to see Star Wars III. I loved it.

Happy Birthday, Brett! He's not as old as the fire on his cake makes him look! :) We had a nice birthday dinner and then roasted marshmellows over the cake.

HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY BLAKE!

Okay, okay, so I have a slow trigger finger and missed the shot of Blake blowing out his birthday candles. This is an reenactment of the event. Hopefully he got a second birthday wish out of it!

Mom gave Blake a rash guard shirt to wear under his football pads. It is supposed to be tight, but not this tight! :) She accidentally bought a kid's large instead of a men's!

SAILING!

On Saturday, May 14th, Keith and I went sailing with some friends, Josh and Brianne. Josh and Keith were co-instructors at the Washington Yacht Club at UW.  

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It was a beautiful night for sailing! 

Keith got a little sunburned, but he still looks dignified out on the water. :)