Oh Christmas Tree

I usually like to get the Christmas tree the Monday after Thanksgiving for FHE. However, we wanted to cut it down this year so we had to wait until the weekend. We went to Half Moon Bay with our friends to a great Christmas Tree Farm. It had every kind of tree and every size you could think of. We were looking for a large one for us and a fluffy one for them. It took us a very long time to find the perfect tree. Along the way, we stopped off at Pigeon Point Lighthouse. It was an amazing day along the coast. 

The boys cut down the trees while the girls cheered them on and took pictures. The Christmas Tree Farm had tons to do there. We played on the swings hanging from the trees, roasted marshmallows, had hot chocolate, roasted dogs, made wreaths and enjoyed the day there. We were prepared in our warm jackets, scarves, hats and mittens however, it was warmer than a summers day in Half Moon Bay. I think the guy at the ranch said it was about 70 degrees. We were a little worried we wouldn't be able to get both, very large Christmas trees home on top of the Land Rover but the guys were good and they made it home safely.

Rick cutting down the tree.

The guys trying to stuff it through the largest shoot they had.

Making wreaths

Playing

 

We haven't finished decorating our Christmas tree yet because we need another 20 boxes of lights to go on it. Once we get it decorated, I'll post some pictures. It was a fun time and possibly a new Christmas tradition. Although this may be the only year we are able to have a tree this big! It gets pretty close to the ceiling in our loft which means it is BIG!

A Day in The City or shall I say Everyday in The City

Each morning I have a mile walk to my office from the gym and the other day I was thinking, how beautiful my walk is each morning, so I thought I would document what our morning ritual is. 

The alarm beeps very early in the morning and we pop out of bed put on our swimsuits or our gym clothes, brush our teeth and quickly head out the door. We are usually running through the bart station to make our train. 

We take a 12 minute bart ride into the city and walk a few blocks in the dark to the gym. Half the time we swim together and the other half we start out rowing on the urgs and then do our thing at the gym. 

After my shower, I head out the door, walk a block and see 

The Ferry Building

I walk through the plaza past all the sleeping homeless people

(you can't see this one really good, but it is someone sleeping up against the trunk of a tree)

I continue to walk down along the Embarcadero

I pass by the pier. I love this pier, you can see the Bay bridge in the background. I like to take lunch breaks here.

I walk through the park at Levi's Plaza,

until I get here. My office building at Levi's Plaza. You can see Coit tower in the background. The stairs leading to the tower are right across from my window.

This is my home away from home. 

Rick has a much shorter walk than I do but still gets to see great things. Right across from the Ferry Building is his office building. It is a large beautiful office building on the corner of Market and Embarcadero.

He goes up 10 floors and get this view from his office 

The Bay Bridge with the sun coming up. You can't beat that.

We enjoy working in the city and being able to see so many beautiful things each day!

Thanksgiving Week

We spent Thanksgiving in Utah this year with my family. I drove out to Utah with my dad on Saturday. It's Rick's busy season right now so he stayed in town to work. He worked until Wednesday afternoon and then flew out to Utah. We stayed at my twin sister's house. The first half of the week Mariah and I did some sewing projects for Christmas. I must say, I did a pretty good job considering that I don't sew and have little patience for it. Our projects came out adorable. When Rick came into town we celebrated our nephew, Dallin's 8th birthday. 

Thanksgiving morning Rick and James (Mariah's husband who lives in Iraq) got up early and headed to Thanksgiving Point to run the 5K Turkey Trot. There wasn't a big turn out since it was raining. I was there to cheer them on and take pictures as they crossed the finish line. They both did great considering they are not use to the high altitude. Rick came in 9th place and James in 13th place. They both ran it way under 25 minutes. Good job guys!

After the run, we sent "the boys" out to the mountains to go quadding behind Utah lake. The girls had a little time by themselves to start preparing Thanksgiving dinner. I did the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and pecan, cranberry white chocolate pie. Mariah made the homemade bread, salad and corn and Ricky made homemade whipping cream for the pie. It turned out delicious.

After dinner the boys all went outside and played football. It was fun to see them all playing football together. That night Rick and I headed to Park City to visit his family. All the girls and Rick went Midnight Madness shopping at the outlet stores. After shopping until 3:30am Rick, Caitlyn and I decided to head back for some sleep. However, Rick's mom and sister stayed shopping until about 10:00am the next morning. I can't believe they shopped for 10 hours and in the middle of the night. Crazy. I am definately not that hard core. We did wake in the morning and headed back out there for more. That night his parents came to our house and we all played games. The Ricks won! I can't believe it - it was pure luck!

We left Utah on Saturday morning and drove to Fernley, NV and stayed with Jessica & Jeff and family. It was fun to play and is always a relaxing stay. Thanksgiving was great this year. We were able to spend some time with both our families and enjoy some time off.