Oakland Temple Lights

We made our way down to Oakland this year to look at the Temple Lights!

It was a beautiful night.

We actually got there before the sun went down and we decided to watch the lights be turned on from the top of temple, so we started up the stairs, and by the time we got to the top they had already turned the lights on.

We missed it by about 3 seconds.

Oh well!

And we made a whole day out of it by visiting San Francisco earlier that day!

It was the most beautiful day!

Clear as could be!

We stuck to the tradition and ate at Boudins!

And of course got our picture taken by the huge Christmas Tree!

We had grand plans to head over to Union Square, but after seeing how "not" crowded pier 39 was and realizing it was the Friday before Christmas at 5:00 we assumed that it would be so crowded it wouldn't be worth it - so we drove through the city a little and then headed over to the Temple!

It worked out perfect. . .

And it got me thinking about a few other San Francisco trips that I took this year that have not made it to the blog. . .

So here we go!

This summer us two crazy gals took our 6 (and 1/4 kids - I was pregnant and sick) to the Big City for a few days of FUN!

We wanted to do things that we hadn't done yet

so first on the list was to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge!

The best part for me. . .

It was so loud from the cars that no one noticed the screaming daughter!

We made it to the half way point!

The kids loved it!

It was probably their favorite part of the trip. . .

(other than the heated pool at the hotel)

Then we headed over to Pier 39 where we. . .

Ate some lunch. . .

did some crazy shopping. . .

and ended up being convinced to stand in line for an hour and half to ride the TROLLEY!

So worth it to see these faces as they got to stand on the outside as the trolley took us all around the city!

We opted for a cheaper, faster bus ride back!

Where this one was in heaven with a seat all to herself!

The next day we headed to the

SAN FRANCISCO ZOO!

This one loved the Pink Flamingos!

And this one was in awe at the Penguins!

The kids loved the Lions!

And they put on quite the show for us. . .

roaring back and forth at each other. . .

you could hear it through the whole park!

Along the way we found some strange creatures of our own!

This little monkey. . .

This scary spider!

And here's something you don't see everyday. . .

Brotherly Love!

But we saw the strangest thing of all near the end of the day. . .

A creature who sleeps standing up!

We ended our two day little adventure at Ghirardelli Square!

It was such a fun ROAD TRIP!

And then. . .

just a few months later I was back in the city with these fun gals!

My sister in law Sheena had a Doctor's appointment in the city so we decided to make a day out of it!

I was so glad I could go with her to her appointment.

She is one of the bravest people I know.

She has been battling (and by that I mean kicking it in the rear)

Lyme disease for the past few years. . .

and if you know Sheena at all you would never even know she's sick.

But to sit in her doctor's appointment with her and hear her describe her symptoms and what she's been going through

made me love her even more.

She is such an example of strength to me!

And to so many who strive to live their life based on how she lives hers!

We had to get our minds off of

"not so fun doctors appointments"

so we found this little park and had a little photo shoot!

And these two got their KUNG FU moves mastered!

We ended our little adventure at Tartine Bakery

(where a bowl of hot chocolate really is a BOWL of hot chocolate)

Love you Girls. . .

Thanks for the fun day!

And Thank You San Francisco for the great memories of 2011!!!