Alcatraz

We went to Alcatraz Island on May 18th. We had a good time, even though San Francisco was freezing!  I had on about 6 layers, including a winter scarf.  Amazing how the humidity can make it so cold.  But we went with some great senior couples who are really fun to be with.  We are all about the same age (well, ranging from 80 to 60) and the guys like to kid each other a lot, which makes for some pretty fun times.  We ate fish and chips on Pier 39 after, and made it back to San Jose before the bad traffic hit.  Here we are before our ship sailed, and the rest are of the prison.

This last one is the view of San Francisco from the island.  It's breathtaking on a cloudy day; can't imagine how beautiful it would be on a sunny day.

We had a busy few days then got to see Paul and Lin in Hayward.  They had an open house where they invited a lot of people over for a Korean Barbeque.  Lin is a wonderful cook, and we had great food.  You can see the new wood floor they had installed.  They practically gutted the home they bought; took out a wall and the carpet; had the fireplace re-surfaced, painted it all, inside and out, and replaced all the bathroom showers, cabinets, toilets, floors.  The only thing they couldn't afford to do right now is the kitchen, but are planning on doing that later.  It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath place, about 30 years old, and cost them 450,000.  No basement, and a very small yard.  But that's the Bay area for you!   This is Paul with a cousin on Lin's and a view of the inside from the patio door.

Then yesterday was the MSA Memorial Day barbeque.  It was great!  Dad and I helped fix the food, and got to talk to lots of people we had never met before.  They think about 150 people came, which is about a third more than last year.  It was a great success.  My phone didn't sync the pictures from that, so I am going to go out and go back in and see if I can post some of them.

It was cold, so not a lot of swimmers. That's Dad on the left in his apron!

 

The middle one is of Eric, one of our sweet MSA brothers, with a bunch of Spanish speaking ladies.  He was having a great time!

Well, time to get to work.  Hope all of you had a good Memorial Day weekend, and that you are enjoying life!  Love you all so much.

Keeping busy

I can't believe its been almost 3 weeks since I posted last.  Time is really flying by.  We have been keeping busy.  On May 2nd I attended a Relief Society Women's Conference where the theme was "Look up, Step up".  They talked about how to keep focused on serving the Lord and being the best you can be.  The luncheon theme went along with that, using shoes (step up) as décor and dessert.  One lady in the Stake made a cake for each table with a pair of high heels (made of sugar) in the center:

Isn't that amazing?  The boxes on the table contained cupcakes decorated as shoes also.  She and her daughter made them all.  It was a fun day.

We prepared and served lunch to the mission leadership council, which consists of Zone leaders and Sister Trainer Leaders.  We made pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, and a fruit tray, served with chips and homemade cookies.  Dad and I have been on a diet (we both have gained weight on our mission), and we haven't had any sugar for 3 weeks.  So then I go and make cookies!  Yikes!  What was I thinking?  I can't resist my cookies, let alone the dough.  I made Snickerdoodles and Parfait (of which I ate WAY too much dough), and Dad said that wasn't enough cookies, so I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip, but I didn't have enough chocolate chips, so added white yogurt chips also.  Holy cow, were they good!  So we fell off the wagon and are still trying to get back on.  Here are some of the Sisters that come to the training

We're getting pretty good at feeding 50-60 people!

Saturday was the baptism of the son of one of our mid-singles.  He is such a cute boy.  He wanted his mom to make special cupcakes to serve for refreshments, so she and a lady in the ward made some that looked like an ice cream soda

They were incredible.  They had injected them with a jelly filling.  Dad and I succumbed, so now we are going to have to double our efforts to get back on our sugar smart diet!

Mother's Day was great.  It was so fun to receive a package and cards.  Knowing you were all thinking of me made it a great day, and it was wonderful to talk to you as well.  Here I am modeling my new scarfs and purse.

They were prefect!  Plus I get to pick my own present from Amazon.  Thank you so much for being such wonderful daughters.  I love you all so much.

We are trying hard to stay busy and not dwell on the fact that we are winding down.  We have lots planned for the next few months, so that's good.  We are staying healthy, and enjoying the perfect weather.  Hope spring and warm weather comes for all of you soon. 

I know this is a busy time for everyone with kids in school, what with last minute projects, concerts and make-up work, but hope you get a minute to say hi. Kiss your families for us and tell them we love them all.