Tuesday, May 26, 2009

A quick trip to San Fran

Brent and I had some time after dropping his parents and brother off in Oakland, Our flight was late that evening, so we decided to take a quick trip over the bay to San Francisco! I was very excited, I've only been there one other time, and just for an afternoon, so we didnt see much. It was cool and windy on the bay, so we bundled up and headed down to the Wharf for some chowder and sights. 


(Above) Crossing the Bay Bridge. There is a $4 toll, which was packed on the other freeway (our freeway from Oakland was wide open!) we dont have toll's here, so that was actually kinda neat.

The Bay Bridge is such a neat bridge! Brent almost took a job with Kewit Construction, and the Bay Bridge project was a possiblity, i'm glad he didnt take it ;o)

I loved the view of the city while we were driving across the bridge

The Clocktower signaling the start of Fisherman's Wharf

We didnt get a chance to figure out what this giant bow and arrow symbolizes, but it was really neat!

I just loved all the old trains!

What we came down for, Sourdough bread bowls! My fav!

Brent enjoying his breadbowl

I really wanted to buy one of these amazing sourdough animals! they were walking the alligator around the building

The official Wharf sign

I rode the trolly cars the first time I was here, and loved them! We didnt have time to ride one this time, but they were still neat to look at!

A Tall Ship was docked in the harbor. That's Alcatraz in the background to the right

We've been to Ghirardelli in Miami, Las Vegas, and Chicago, now San Fran!

Trying to get a shot of the sign in the background

Alcatraz!!

It was really windy, were trying our best to get a pic in front of the bay

We couldnt zoom in enough, but there are seals on the docks in front of the catamaran

Saying goodbye to the arch from the bay bridge

Heading back to the airport and heading home. What a wonderful end to a great weekend!

Family Trip to Cali!

Brent and I just got home from the 46th Garcia Family Reunion! Every year family from all over the country decend upon Stockton, California for this annual tradition, and this year we made it down as well! Brent and I usually go only every other year, when they have a big dinner and golf tournament, as well as the picnic. We love seeing all of the family and we are so thankful that we could make it this year! So, enjoy the pictures I have here, there are many more that I didnt post, but will be doing a kodak gallery later on, email me if your interested. 

(Below) Tia Liz, we adore her!

Brent with his cousin, Joseph

Jess with cousin Joseph. We are so proud of him, He graduates this year!

Brent and I with Joseph Sr.

Brent and Dane enjoying the evening

Brent with his parents, Beth and Jim

We took lots of self pics, but this is my fav

The whole gang! the Andersons and Norris' (all Garcia's!)

Beth and I having a great time at the dinner!

Dane and Jim with Uncle Joe. He's one of the only original Garcia brothers still causing trouble, and we love him!

Cousin Kimmy and I, love this pic too!

Brent and his dad

Cousin Eddie and I (we bonded over horseshoes... I took out him and Uncle Joe :o)...)

Aunt Michelle and Beth, Daughters of Jess Garcia, one of the original brothers

Uncle Joe and Aunt Shirley with their girls, Aunt Renee and Aunt Cynthia

Sarah and I... I always miss these girls!

Faith and I... They are just growing up too fast!

Uncle Joe and I enjoying the evening

Uncle Joe with Beth and Michelle

The Andersons, Doug, Michelle, Faith and Sarah

Brent and I, after I won runner-up in the horseshoe tournament, First girl ever! I'll have to bring it when we go back in two years, they are all expecting me to win next time!

Dane, cousin Max, cousin Kimmy, and Aunt Cheryl enjoying some shade

Uncle Doug and Beth taking a break from all the fun of the picnic

Uncle Frankie (L) and Cousin Carlos catching up

Brent giving a big Garcia hug to Uncle Cito


As you can see, we try to pack as much into one short weekend as possible. On top of the reunion and dinner, we visited with Aunt Micky and Uncle Frank, who live in Tracy, CA, and we havent seen in about 4 years, Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Jim came to visit us there, along with many other family members we had not seen in ages! It was so great to see everyone and catch up on life in general, we are thankful they make the time to get together with us and we cant wait to see them again soon!



Sunday, May 17, 2009

Hot, Hot! Sunday

This weekend we also managed to plant some tomatoes, bell peppers, and jalapeno's! We have been told repeatedly not to plant any warm weather plants until after the snow has melted off of bogus basin (our glorified ski hill). We'll, we cant seem to find the snow, and it was 94 degrees here today! so I think it's time to plant :o) 

Brent and I also spent the day comparing prices and models of gas grills! We had been wanting a new grill since last summer. Our portable camp stove had one grate that had melted from the heat, and the other ones were just too small to handle more than a couple steaks at a time. So we bought a Brinkmann 4 burner with a side burner for pots! We are so excited to have a new grill, and cooked dinner tonight on it, fajitas and fideo, and grilled all the tortillas on it, Brent was having a great time. 

A little more on updates...

A few weeks ago my parents came to town for the race at Firebird speedway. It rained all weekend, making track conditions tricky, and dad went out after the second round, but we still had a fantastic weekend! We had a great birthday dinner for myself, at one of our favorite places, the Tavern at Bown. Mom and I had a great time exploring downtown in the rain! We ventured down to the Saturday Market on 8th, and did our regular shopping, just soaked and dripping wet. My sister even flew over for a couple days! We treated ourselves to pedicures and massage's for my birthday, and had lunch with Brent downtown at another one of our favorite places, the Bittercreek Ale house.  It was so great having my whole family here to visit, we even found my mom's dream house in Meridian, so who knows, maybe they'll buy a second home closer to us! 

When family comes to town, if they are driving, there are usually a couple of things brought over for us... this time was no exception! Brents parents sent over this beautiful hutch for our house! We snapped a couple of pics, and after just an hour, Lilly had made this her new napping spot. So, Thank you Beth and Jim! We love our new hutch! 



Saturday, May 16, 2009

Insta-lawn!

Well... it's finally done! Brent and I finally have a backyard! The sprinklers went in last weekend, Which we decided was probably one of the most difficult things we've done on the house so far... It was so laborous! Our new friend, Adam, owns his own landscaping company, so he came over with all the materials and spent the entire weekend showing us the ropes. He has a pipe-puller, which is pretty neat, he hooks the pipes up to this big, mini-backhoe type thing, and it cuts a thin line deep into the ground while pulling the pipes along with it to wherever they needed to go. But the puller only worked so much... all the rest of the pipes had to be layed by hand, which meant digging trenches... lots of them. I have never used a shovel so much in my life. Not that i've never worked hard with a shovel... but this was different, we were digging through several layers of rock and clay. Our entire backyard is rock, lots of rock. We ended up having to use the pick-axe most of the time to work up the rocks and clay, then go back with the shovel and scoop it all out. We also had to battle the layers of plastic the previous owners had layed down over the entire yard, we won that battle and now have perfectly working sprinklers and drip-line! 


(Above) Working hard laying sod, it had to be set and adjusted just right to make the seams fit together perfectly, or else they wont grow together as well or fast. 


tugging on the sod to get it lined up and fit together


We have awesome neighbors who came over for the evening to help us out. They have all done their yards together, so we were very thankful to have their help and expertise!


Cutting and fitting the sod, it's amazing how fast it went with so many people helping!


We had a quad running up front and loading the sod onto every available inch, then bringing it back to us to roll out, we had a great system worked out! 


one half of the yard (known as zone 2 for our sprinkler system :o) with my little garden in the back ground, yay!


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