Trip to San Jose

Boy did we have fun. (I just found this and forgot that I had even started writing it). Actually, I got my camera in the mail and now I can show you pictures of the eldest (her family) and San Fransisco. It may also be time for another geology lesson. It was more than I expected. It was, however, a very quick trip. We left on Thursday night and arrived about 2:00 of Friday afternoon. This was after a semi good nights rest in Reno, we drove until 4:00 am on Friday. What can I say, with Lorie one learns to travel and get places. We had to leave Nikki and Rachel at home as they had places they had to be.

Brooklyn likes beaches, so when we arrived Meagan and Brooklyn took us (Lorie, Hailee, and Myself) to a beach near Santa Cruz I believe. The Beach was a California State beach called Natural Bridges because of the sea arches formed by the waves. The water was sooo cold but that didn't stop Brooklyn from running in the water. One time she didn't stop soon enough and a wave covered her. She is quite the little trooper as she didn't even cry. I don't think she shivered. I ran in the waves with her several times but my feet and legs were numb from the cold.

Saturday morning Derek, Meagan, and Brooklyn took us into the city (San Fransisco here I come). Lorie had been there but I had never been in California except for a visit to the L. A. International Air Port. It was great fun and actually a very nice day for the middle of January. A bit hazy but very nice for this time of year from what I'm told. We went to Coit Tower first: this was an amazing place to go as we parked the car near the pier and walked up 200 feet of stairs to Coit Tower. The stairs take you up a steep hill and on either side of the stairs, there are homes. Each home has a gate and fence but they are on the left and on the right. These are nice homes. Not a very good place where earthquakes are frequent but actually safer than on the valley floor. We went to the top of Coit Tower and took pictures of the city and bay area. The picture of Meagan, Derek, Brooklyn, and Hailee are in the back of the tower where there is a garden of sorts.

We then went to Fisher Mans wharf to eat lunch. It was rather nice but nothing to write home about. The Sea Lions were out sunning on floating platforms and it was fun to have Brooklyn show us them.

Then it was on to the Golden Gate Bridge. This structure is simply amazing. I didn't think it was red for some reason, maybe steel gray was what I had in mind. It is huge. There is a picture of Hailee standing by a cross section of the cable used in the construction. I can't remember the amount of wire used in the cable but it is on the sign next to the cable, so you can zoom in and read it yourself. We walked out to the first post or whatever the structure is and looked down into the bay. It was a long way down. Derek and I said it would be fun to ride a bicycle across it and someday I just might. I wanted to see what was on the other side, that is just what I am about, so I told Derek I would pay the toll and we drove across and drove up the road and took some pictures of the bay and the city, the geology of the mountains, and as it was late at night we took some sunset pics also. I don't think I like the red color paint on the bridge. They didn't ask me so it doesn't matter. I was just very surprised at the color.

Derek then drove us home by way of Highway 1 along the coast and that was very nice. I got a passing view of the Melange of the San Franciscan complex. It consists of blueschist facies of metamorphic rock formed as the oceanic crust dives under the continental crust. As this happens parts of both plates are scraped up and it forming the coastal mountains of California. This is important because it is one of the only places where we get to see rock of the ocean plates. It was actually very interesting as I have never seen this type of geology before.

On Sunday after church, Meagan and Derek took us to see the redwood trees. We drove to Big Basin Redwoods State Park. It was a very nice drive a time to get some rest for me. When I woke up we were just about there. We arrived at the park head quarters and walked around and looked at big trees. I always thought this would be boring as I am sometimes not culturally very bright, but it was very interesting. The trees are big and very different than the spruce, fir, and pine that I am use to. What was really interesting was where the trees were hit by lightening and continued to grow. The core of some of those trees was completely gone and growth appeared to be from the outside or bark of the tree. We looked as a cross section of one tree they had on display where they had the rings corresponding with historical dates. This tree was very old and dated back to about 400 years before Christ if I remember right. On the way back we thought Meagan was going to get sick. We drove with the windows down which helped a lot. There was one time when she thought it was over as she had Derek stop the car and got her composure back (I have tough women around me).

It was a great trip and we want to thank Derek and Meagan for sharing their time and making our trip so enjoyable. As Brooklyn would say "It was really, really fun".

Snowman and Snow Angles

During Christmas when Brooklyn was visiting, between snow storms we made a snowman. Actually her dad, mom, and Hailee built a snowman. I suggested they start the project while I shovel snow off of the sidewalks and clean the driveway. Come to find out the snow was very powdery and not very packable. So by the time I got in the back yard to help, there was this snowman on the retaining wall. He was a small bugger but a snowman he was with arms and three body balls of snow, and eyes making him a real person. I felt bad that I hadn't helped and Brooklyn had fallen in the snow, so I made a snow angel. As I fell into the snow with Hailee and Rachel's help, Brooklyn thought they were mugging me and taking my life. She let out a howl and cried "save bommpa, don't hurt him". I don't know if she actually said that but it sounds good. I tried to get her to stop crying and started waving my arms and my feet making a snow angle. She didn't quite get it as she continued to cry. So after getting up again, I found a new place to fall in the snow and start again. By this time her crying ceased and although she was not exactly laughing, she did accept that maybe there was a bit of fun in the snow.

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008, what an event to remember: getting Christmas trees, putting up the Christmas trees, having everyone home for the Christmas Eve bash, and best of all playing with my favorite granddaughter, I can say that and actually get away with it because she is the only granddaughter I have. My Christmas spirit usually takes a while to wind up due to the hassle coinciding with the blessed event, but this year it seamed I was able to have a child like anticipation for the event. That has not happened for a long time.

A few minor words about the tree. It is customary for our family to travel to the mountains after Thanksgiving and cut our tree and this year was no exception. With permit in hand, we traveled up the Wasatch Plateau looking for the perfect tree. Usually because of snow fall we are limited to where we can get a good tree. This year the snow was late and we were able to get higher in the mountains and look over trees that usually are not accessible to our saw. We found one and brought it home to decorate it.

Our new addition has never had a tree in it so we figured a taller one could be place along the wall that separates the kitchen/dining room from the office, this location is just under the apex of our ceiling. What a gorgeous tree! The tree once decorated decided it did not like our old decorations and just as Lorie was leaving to visit with her Visiting Teachers the tree fell over breaking several of her ornaments from past Christmases. We could not get the tree to stand up so we tied it to the wall with 30 lb fishing line, and there it stayed until we took it down after New Years.

The Christmas Eve Bash is a family tradition: the party starts at 4:00 or 5:00 and if you can make it you come and feast and play games and if you can't make it, no hard feelings and we will see you next year. This year was special because Brooklyn was coming over and she is 2 and 4 months, the perfect age for Christmas. She loved to play on our stairs and have grandpa or aunts chase her - man can she fly down those stairs - it was the funniest thing I ever have seen. She would run around our couch fall down on the stair landing, then rollover on her tummy and slide feet first down the stairs. It was incredible how fast she would go.

Traditional food for the Christmas Eve Bash is something exotic that we either never have eaten or that we seldom eat, so the feast is mostly a treat. This year we had homemade rum cake, homemade fruit cake - I am the only one who appreciates a good fruit cake, oh well more for me - two different salsas, a black bean salsa and some cowboy caviar which was a delicious mix of peppers and black eyed peas. From the moment we start the bash we are playing silly games. One of the most popular is the Hat Game. This game is played with everyone wearing a Santa hat. One person is it (I usually start the game since I am the chosen one) and that person removes his hat when no one is looking and the last one to take off their hat is the looser and they then start the game. This game is played continuously through the night as other games are being played.

We were truly blessed to have had such a wonderful Christmas Eve Bash. Even though we were having such a wonderful time, we do remember the reason for the season and having family together during the holidays accentuates the birth of the Saviour and reason he was born and mission he would fulfill.