Tuesday, April 26, 2022
Thursday, November 11, 2021
Bret's Barkito - November pt 1
Below are a few things that have been important to us the last 2 weeks. For more pictures just click: https://photos.app.goo.gl/krE1Qao83bPsg2wL6
- Halloween wrap up - cute grandkid costumes. Anyway, I didn't get a lot of these halloween pictures until after my last October letter, so I put them in my shared folder. Enjoy.
- Also, Sid's birthday was a fun event for the 3 brothers. And while his birthday was the end of October, it wasn't until the next Thursday that we could take Sid to b-fast. So I'm reporting it here in my November letter. Amazing omelets, great pancakes. Thanks to Sid for introducing me to this fabulous breakfast joint. Original Pancake House. Apparently they are everywhere. And like on Elf, when he discovered the coffee shop with the worlds best coffee, I wanted to congratulate our waitress for making the original pancake. But I refrained.
- Rosey and Steve went to France - I was so impressed with Rosey and Steve's courage and bravery. They took advantage of a good airfare deal, and loaded up their family and flew to France. I know there are lots of Jr Class members who fly internationally all the time - like Lorie/Manny, Maretta/Danny, Scott/Melissa all come to mind. But I get nervous during covid to see my kids head off to places in the world I've never been with tiny kids who are expected to test negative at every stop or else they miss a flight, or worse get stuck paying for a hotel for 2 weeks and trying to get a different fligth home, etc. And that is if a hotel would take them if they tested positive. Well they were negative all the way along and returned home without much incident. So now I can breath easy again. One fun thing about that trip was that I had lost my Apple watch at the SLC airport the night before when Wendy and I flew in from SC. I spent nearly 2 hours looking for it that night, but everything was closed. So Rosey checked the lost and found and miracle of miracles, it was there! Prayers are answered. The 'Track My…' app on my iphone was able to see where Rosey and Steve were for a couple of days until the battery died on my watch. But that was fun (and scary) to see how tracking can work. Amazing.
- These last couple of weeks we have been preparing for a family trip to Orlando since last Christmas. This includes the whole Bret and Wendy Family. We are so excited. We will be there over Thanksgiving for which we are grateful. Things are getting exciting as we prepare.
- Pre-Trip Playlist - Everyone sent Max their favorite song from Disney or any movie, and he created (after buying all the songs) a playlist called BAWB Jams - Entertainment version. If you want to see/hear it, feel free to go out to YouTube and check it out. https://youtu.be/f3p7fttgN8g
- Meal Planning - We are planning dinners/lunches/breakfasts/snacks for 28. That's a lot of food planning, purchasing, preparations, eating, digesting (fortunately our house has 12 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms), and cleaning up after.
- Purchasing park tickets - Liz taught us to not go to the parks during the week of Thanksgiving because of the unbelievable crowds. So most of us will be sticking around for several days after that week, and going to the parks of our choice. W&I will be going to Universal for 2 days with N&S and B&K and their families… R&S and M&A will be going to Magic Kingdom. should be great.
- Picking colors for family pictures - Not sure the next time we will all be together again, so we are making getting a family picture a priority. Janey is organizing us, so we have to pack the right colors.
- Talent Show video - Rather than a talent show where we all come up front and play a piano piece or sing a song, Stef has agreed to create a video which is made up of a collection of each person's talent sent to her prior to the family trip. So we are looking forward to seeing that.
- Planning out games, crafts for every age of children. We are going to follow Jann's example from our cruising days and bring a suitcase of games to keep everyone happy.
- Winterized the yard and got Christmas lights up. Yeah for us. Now we don't have to sweat it when the snow starts flying.
- For what it's worth, I got my Covid vaccination booster. Now I can keep my job (not that it is being threatened by the mandate). I don't know if I am the only one in the Bassett family who has gotten the booster or not, but I can say, it was painless and I hardly got sick at all. Just a sore shoulder really. But you're talking to a guy who puts so much medication in my body every day, that one little vaccine isn't too scary.
- BYU Victories are news around here. We are happy to have another good season with the cougs. Nick took his whole family to the last game. He sent us a picture (in the album link above) where they met a kid-sized Cosmo, and Sof got her picture take with him. It's adorable.
That's it from me. Party on. Looking forward to all of your letters this week.
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet love!
A quick note out to you great kids, that it's because of this great woman that we can enjoy wonderful meals, events, ideas, hike, swimming, vacations, testimonies, parade and reminisce together.
Without Wendy Margarette Winder Bassett we wouldn't be an eternal family... with Blaine, Kristi, Gwen, Ben, Ivy, Tess, Nicholas, Stef, Bret, Clay, Ned, Sofie, Mitt, Janey, Warner, Griff, Ezra, Adele, Rosey, Steve, Reed, Leona, Max, Ashley, and last but not least, Hallie.
So thanks Wendy for being the heart and soul of this happy family with great things ahead.
Friday, August 2, 2019
Paying for the reunion
Probably best if we pay our reunion fees before we get there so we can enjoy it without worrying.
Please calculate what you owe, and either send it to me (venmo, paypal, check, cash) or if Sid will allow it, you can send it to Sid direct. Let me know if you have any questions about how this is calculated.
Our family will owe - $1773
Here's each individual's costs:
Wendy Bassett | 4.00 | $ 168.00 | $1,773.00 |
Bret R. Bassett | 4.00 | $ 168.00 | |
Kristi Bassett | 4.10 | $ 168.00 | |
Gwen Bassett | 4.10 | $ 168.00 | |
Bentley Bassett | 4.10 | $ 88.00 | |
Ivy Bassett | 4.10 | $ 88.00 | |
Tess Bassett | 4.10 | $ 8.00 | |
Stef Bassett | 4.20 | $ 168.00 | |
Nick Bassett | 4.20 | $ 168.00 | |
Bret Bassett | 4.20 | $ 88.00 | |
Clay Bassett | 4.20 | $ 88.00 | |
Ned Bassett | 4.20 | $ 88.00 | |
Sofie Bassett | 4.20 | $ 8.00 | |
Mitt Bassett | 4.20 | $ - | |
Warner Nielsen | 4.30 | $ 47.00 | |
Janey Nielsen | 4.30 | $ 87.00 | |
Griffen Nielsen | 4.30 | $ 7.00 | |
Ezra Nielsen | 4.30 | $ - | |
Rosey Schaefermeyer | 4.40 | $ 168.00 | |
Reed Schaefermeyer | 4.40 | $ - |
Please calculate what you owe, and either send it to me (venmo, paypal, check, cash) or if Sid will allow it, you can send it to Sid direct. Let me know if you have any questions about how this is calculated.
Loves. Can't wait.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Stef's FHE lesson from weeks ago!!
Sorry I forgot to send this out. I know you were all dying for it. LOL.
-Stef
Sunday, December 4, 2016
Re: Thanksgiving Weekend
Nick, griff and I will have to come over for hot chocolate sometime to oh and ah over your lights! Thanks for sharing a shot of them.
On Fri, Dec 2, 2016 at 8:57 AM Wendy Bassett <wendy.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:
Janey I loved that letter! What an amazing trip. I'm so glad you could do it and that you documented the memories.And I love your Christmas lights, and Nick I love yours, too. Great picture! I love the "B".You are all such fun kiddos who grew up to be fun adults and I'm happy to be your mom!
Sent from my iPhoneThat was so much fun to read! I didn't know where any of the places were that you mentioned, but they all sounded cool! I'm so grateful Warner is home even if just for a little while, and feel badly things haven't worked out yet for us to see him.Way to go putting up your lights...especially on the lane. I'm not sure why I've always cared, but I guess it's a small way I can help bring some joy to other people. I'm sure people don't drive by to see my lights, but anyone who drives by in a car like ours, I'm sure is commenting: "looks kids, there are some lights...and what's up with the random B on the garage?!" Anyway, way to go!--<image1.JPG>Good luck at work. I'm proud of you guys for figuring it out and doing it right. You guys are an inspiration in so many ways. Don't get discourage just keep on keeping on! Love you guys!Nick
Sent from my iPhone--I love a good long letter and that was a such fun one! Thanks for all the details Janey. It sounded like such a fun trip. We sure missed you in St George. I missed your rolls! And I miss seeing you and Griff every morning when I get up. But I'm happy you're close!
Sent from my iPhone--LOVED the recap Jane. It sounds like that was a super awesome trip. I seriously CANNOT believe that you were all in that small house together...I think that beats any camp grandma records. Wow! I bet Kemi was in heaven :) I can't wait to see Warner on Thursday! I feel so silly that I haven't seen him since he got back.Hope your finger is okay (after last night's problem). Sure love you!-Rosey--On Tue, Nov 29, 2016 at 9:25 AM, Blaine Bassett <blainebbassett@gmail.com> wrote:Janey,
Thanks so much for writing such a fun, detailed letter. I read your letter over breakfast and it just made my day. It was so fun to get caught up on your life. I have heard bits and pieces about what is going on with you guys from our conversations when I was there and from Mom's letters and stuff, but it was great to hear about everything from the "horse's mouth" as it were. So glad you guys get the opportunity to live on the lane. What a fun life experience to have, even if it won't last forever. Good for you both to get out there and put up Christmas lights—that is one area where I have always kind of been a bum and I fear Grandpa Winder frowns down on me for that… ;)
It was also soooo fun to hear about your awesome Thanksgiving! So interesting how everyone has such different lifestyles, isn't it? Without even going to the extremely different lifestyles of the drug addicts you almost had run-ins with walking down the street (love the Home Alone comparison!), it just blows my mind that people choose to spend over a million dollars to live in crowded, expensive cities in an 1800 sq. ft. houses and apartments. We have certainly had a hard time deciding what we want in a house or a location to raise our kids, but at least it is super easy for me to say I would NEVER choose that (even if I had the money)! J But isn't it fun to live in a world (and to be part of a family) where some people do choose that? We are all different and that diversity leads to so many interesting things in life. I'm so glad they could generously share their life with all of you and it sounds like you all had an amazing and memorable Thanksgiving.
Anyway, I could go on and on about all the fun stuff I enjoyed reading in your letter, but I better get back to work. Thanks again for writing and good luck to you starting back into work and to Warner as he enjoys time with you before having to head back to school. You guys are awesome! Hope to talk (or at least write) to you soon (and update you all on our fun and eventful Thanksgiving).
Love,
Blaine
From: bwbassetts@googlegroups.com [mailto:bwbassetts@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Warner Nielsen
Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2016 11:59 PM
To: BAWB <bret.bassett2.bawb@blogger.com>; Janey Nielsen <janeybassett@gmail.com>; bwbassetts@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Thanksgiving Weekend
Great recap of an amazing Thanksgiving week(end). Love you Janey. It's been so fun being home with you and Griff and I'm sad I'm leaving for another two and a half months. Glad we've been able to get so much done while I've been here.
On Sun, Nov 27, 2016 at 22:49 Janey Nielsen <janeybassett@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Family-
I liked Kristi's challenge of documenting our weekends for the family. First let me back up and do a little more documenting on the last couple eventful weeks in our families life (sorry it's so long):
-Moving: After living with Mom and Dad for two months (which I LOVED and could write a whole letter thanking them for all they did), Kent and Suzy left on their mission. Lots of our family and lots of the Yorgies helped move all the stuff from Grandma's garage up to Kent's house. Then over the next week I slowly unpacked our things while I still lived at mom and dads. The goal was to be unpacked by the time Warner got home the next week. I had lots of things unpacked but not quite as polished as I would have liked….but of course Warner didn't care. We have really enjoyed having more space and our own walls. And while there are a few quarks to living in someone else's space, we are grateful for this opportunity!
-Warner came home: Wow, distance definitely makes the heart grow fonder! I missed Warner so much and was so excited to see him. Griff and I went to surprise Warner and waited in the airport. As Warner came around the corner and broke into a big grin, I pointed to him and Griffen went running over to him. Made us both happy as we were curious to see what he would do with Warner being home. He loves his Dad. We went to Itto Sushi to celebrate…..and we both highly recommend this place if you like sushi. Excellent. And it's half off on Tuesday and Wednesday night which makes it much more affordable. And I hope this doesn't embarrass Warner, but can I say how much I really love him and appreciate all he does for me. These last few weeks have been amazing and he's been so so great to jump in and help and is willing to do things that I know he doesn't want to do. It has been so nice!
-Putting up Christmas lights: One of those things that I know Warner didn't want to do was putting up Christmas lights, but he did. I didn't want to be the only house on the lane that didn't have lights on their house, so I was hoping we could at least get a strand of two up. I knew it wouldn't be as extravagant as Kent's, but something is better than nothing. And I figured this was the year to do it as there are already lots of nails on the house to make putting on the lights easy. I asked Grandma if we could borrow her lights and she said yes. With Warner's CMT disease he doesn't feel steady on a roof, so he moved the ladder and was the support crew while I managed the roof. Then we worked together to get a few more things done on the house and it exceeded my expectations and I could see Grandpa Winder smiling down on us! We turned them on last night and I saw several cars go up and down the lane looking at lights….phew, so glad we did them!
-San Francisco: Our plan was to leave on Monday morning (Nov. 21) to drive to San Fran. However, as Warner got looking at the weather on some parts of our journey, it was looking a little scary and we suddenly weren't sure if we should even go. All day Sunday we debated; but after borrowing some snow chains (which are required in the Donner pass if its snowing) Warner felt more confident and we decided to go (this was at like 8 PM that night, so we hurried and started packing.)
Monday: Got out the door early and enjoyed an overcast but dry road driving day! We arrived in Walnut Creek around 4:30 and enjoyed seeing Karalee and Adam's 1800 sq ft million(+) dollar home. Their home was tiny but they live in a beautiful neighborhood and walking distance to a huge outdoor mall and lots of shopping. Very cool and beautiful neighborhood. We enjoyed hanging out with Karalee and her two kids and eventually Adam for the rest of the evening. We were the first to arrive with everyone else coming on Wednesday.
Tuesday: Warner hadn't ever been to San Francisco so of course he wanted to see the famous sights. We decided we would go to Pier 39. We walked through their shopping area, rode the carosel, stopped to watch the seals, and then ate at the famous Boudin for clam chowder and sourdough. Then we headed home for the kids to nap and just hung out and let the kids play and fight over the toys. Griffen has really mastered how to say "nine" which means "mine."
Wednesday: Other siblings started arriving in the morning. We enjoyed a leisurly morning, walked to their shopping mall to get some lunch at Ike's, and then let the kids run around at the Elementary school playground which is right down the street from them after naps. We celebrated Trent's 38th birthday with BBQ chicken on the grill, salad, and baked potatoes. After a late dinner we headed over to a "Cream" which is basically the same as Smart Cookie. Everyone was in kind of a silly mood which made the excursion even more fun with lots of laughs!
Oh, and did I mention we 12 adults and 11 kids (2 of which are 4 months old) living in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home. Warner and I got super lucky with our own bedroom on a blow up mattress (perks of getting there first I guess.) Brandon and JaLene and their family got the other bedroom; Adam and Karalee and their 2 kids were in the master ALONG WITH Katie and Trent (sleeping on tiny mats) and their 3 girls; Michael and Christie and Jonas were in the play room area of the family room with some sheets put up to give them some privacy, and Kemy and Chris and Coen were in the main living space and just deflated their mattress everyday. The place was packed and a HUGE mess, but it was a party and everyone did pretty good at just living in the space we had….it was a PARTY.
Thursday: THANKSGIVING. We had one oven and one roaster oven. We organized our day and everything was cooked just right. I was in charge of the gluten rolls (lots of gluten free people in Warner's family…..but when we get together with his sister's, some of their families eat gluten too) and mashed potatoes. We ate around 3:30 and enjoyed eating outside under a heated lamps; everything was delicious and we each went around and said what we were grateful for. Wonderful dinner but it ended a little crabby for me as Griffen was having a melt down and I was super frustrated. Oh well. We watched Sleepless in Seattle had pie (I definitely missed our St. George pie collection and never did eat any pie.)
Friday: We were told Adam and Karalee had a surprise in the city for us. We packed up for the afternoon and were headed into San Francisco around 12:30. We first stopped at Yidio (Adam's office) and dropped off our strollers and extra stuff. Very cool office that I'm sure cost $$$. Then we walked around the corner and were all standing on a corner when an empty trolley pulled up and picked us up. We had a trolley to ourselves from 2-5. It was such a beautiful day and so dreamy. We drove through the city and our first stop was quick to get a picture with Alcatraz in the background. Then we drove over and walked down Lombard street. Then we stopped at Ghirardelli square for a few minutes to get treats and pictures. Then we headed down to Golden Gate Bridge and four point as our last destination before heading back to Adam's office. It was an amazing way to see so many famous destinations in such a short amount of time. After getting back for a pit stop at Yideo, we made our way to Union Square where they were doing an annual Christmas tree lighting. Katie and I had a store we needed to run to that was a basically on the way, so we left a little before everyone to go to the store and then we would meet up with everyone at the tree lighting. San Francisco is definitely a whole LOT different and BIGGER than Salt Lake City. I've never smelled so much smoke (and weed) in my life. As Katie and I walked to our store I felt like Kevin on "Home Alone in New York City" when he's walking the streets by himself at night and there's all these scary people. It totally is true. There are some scary people in this world and I couldn't help but think how blessed I am. And how grateful I didn't get caught up in drugs. So so sad.
After going to our store, Katie and I got to the tree lighting minutes before they would light the tree so the place was packed and of course our group was on the opposoite corner. We SLOWLY made our way through the crowd (I was really wishing there was some Disney Parade police to keep a walkway open) and didn't get to our family until after the lighting. We eventually made our way to dinner at a place called "Lemonade" and then drove back home. An amazing and happy day.
Saturday: We drove home. Griffen actually did pretty well (that's his first longer road trip). He did better on the way there than on the way home. But thanks to episode after episode of Curious George it made for a more pleasant ride.
Everyone else was staying until Sunday and then driving down the Anaheim to do a day of Disney (we were sad to miss out), but with our $$$$ situation and my starting my job on Monday, it didn't work out to stay longer. Which speaking of….I better close so I can get some sleep. I start at Alta Pain (again) Monday and Wednesday. This is just short term until Warner gets a job. I'm hoping I'll like it once I get in the groove, but I'm really not excited. I finally really feel like I can say I enjoy being a stay at home mom. But I'm grateful Alta Pain is providing this temporary help with the situation we are in. And Mom is so nice to help out with Griffen.
Love you all and hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend.
Love, Janey
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Friday, December 2, 2016
Re: Thanksgiving Weekend
Janey I loved that letter! What an amazing trip. I'm so glad you could do it and that you documented the memories.
And I love your Christmas lights, and Nick I love yours, too. Great picture! I love the "B".
You are all such fun kiddos who grew up to be fun adults and I'm happy to be your mom!
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone
That was so much fun to read! I didn't know where any of the places were that you mentioned, but they all sounded cool! I'm so grateful Warner is home even if just for a little while, and feel badly things haven't worked out yet for us to see him.Way to go putting up your lights...especially on the lane. I'm not sure why I've always cared, but I guess it's a small way I can help bring some joy to other people. I'm sure people don't drive by to see my lights, but anyone who drives by in a car like ours, I'm sure is commenting: "looks kids, there are some lights...and what's up with the random B on the garage?!" Anyway, way to go!<image1.JPG>Good luck at work. I'm proud of you guys for figuring it out and doing it right. You guys are an inspiration in so many ways. Don't get discourage just keep on keeping on! Love you guys!Nick
Sent from my iPhone--I love a good long letter and that was a such fun one! Thanks for all the details Janey. It sounded like such a fun trip. We sure missed you in St George. I missed your rolls! And I miss seeing you and Griff every morning when I get up. But I'm happy you're close!
Sent from my iPhone--LOVED the recap Jane. It sounds like that was a super awesome trip. I seriously CANNOT believe that you were all in that small house together...I think that beats any camp grandma records. Wow! I bet Kemi was in heaven :) I can't wait to see Warner on Thursday! I feel so silly that I haven't seen him since he got back.Hope your finger is okay (after last night's problem). Sure love you!-Rosey--On Tue, Nov 29, 2016 at 9:25 AM, Blaine Bassett <blainebbassett@gmail.com> wrote:Janey,
Thanks so much for writing such a fun, detailed letter. I read your letter over breakfast and it just made my day. It was so fun to get caught up on your life. I have heard bits and pieces about what is going on with you guys from our conversations when I was there and from Mom's letters and stuff, but it was great to hear about everything from the "horse's mouth" as it were. So glad you guys get the opportunity to live on the lane. What a fun life experience to have, even if it won't last forever. Good for you both to get out there and put up Christmas lights—that is one area where I have always kind of been a bum and I fear Grandpa Winder frowns down on me for that… ;)
It was also soooo fun to hear about your awesome Thanksgiving! So interesting how everyone has such different lifestyles, isn't it? Without even going to the extremely different lifestyles of the drug addicts you almost had run-ins with walking down the street (love the Home Alone comparison!), it just blows my mind that people choose to spend over a million dollars to live in crowded, expensive cities in an 1800 sq. ft. houses and apartments. We have certainly had a hard time deciding what we want in a house or a location to raise our kids, but at least it is super easy for me to say I would NEVER choose that (even if I had the money)! J But isn't it fun to live in a world (and to be part of a family) where some people do choose that? We are all different and that diversity leads to so many interesting things in life. I'm so glad they could generously share their life with all of you and it sounds like you all had an amazing and memorable Thanksgiving.
Anyway, I could go on and on about all the fun stuff I enjoyed reading in your letter, but I better get back to work. Thanks again for writing and good luck to you starting back into work and to Warner as he enjoys time with you before having to head back to school. You guys are awesome! Hope to talk (or at least write) to you soon (and update you all on our fun and eventful Thanksgiving).
Love,
Blaine
From: bwbassetts@googlegroups.com [mailto:bwbassetts@
googlegroups.com ] On Behalf Of Warner Nielsen
Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2016 11:59 PM
To: BAWB <bret.bassett2.bawb@blogger.com >; Janey Nielsen <janeybassett@gmail.com>; bwbassetts@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Thanksgiving Weekend
Great recap of an amazing Thanksgiving week(end). Love you Janey. It's been so fun being home with you and Griff and I'm sad I'm leaving for another two and a half months. Glad we've been able to get so much done while I've been here.
On Sun, Nov 27, 2016 at 22:49 Janey Nielsen <janeybassett@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Family-
I liked Kristi's challenge of documenting our weekends for the family. First let me back up and do a little more documenting on the last couple eventful weeks in our families life (sorry it's so long):
-Moving: After living with Mom and Dad for two months (which I LOVED and could write a whole letter thanking them for all they did), Kent and Suzy left on their mission. Lots of our family and lots of the Yorgies helped move all the stuff from Grandma's garage up to Kent's house. Then over the next week I slowly unpacked our things while I still lived at mom and dads. The goal was to be unpacked by the time Warner got home the next week. I had lots of things unpacked but not quite as polished as I would have liked….but of course Warner didn't care. We have really enjoyed having more space and our own walls. And while there are a few quarks to living in someone else's space, we are grateful for this opportunity!
-Warner came home: Wow, distance definitely makes the heart grow fonder! I missed Warner so much and was so excited to see him. Griff and I went to surprise Warner and waited in the airport. As Warner came around the corner and broke into a big grin, I pointed to him and Griffen went running over to him. Made us both happy as we were curious to see what he would do with Warner being home. He loves his Dad. We went to Itto Sushi to celebrate…..and we both highly recommend this place if you like sushi. Excellent. And it's half off on Tuesday and Wednesday night which makes it much more affordable. And I hope this doesn't embarrass Warner, but can I say how much I really love him and appreciate all he does for me. These last few weeks have been amazing and he's been so so great to jump in and help and is willing to do things that I know he doesn't want to do. It has been so nice!
-Putting up Christmas lights: One of those things that I know Warner didn't want to do was putting up Christmas lights, but he did. I didn't want to be the only house on the lane that didn't have lights on their house, so I was hoping we could at least get a strand of two up. I knew it wouldn't be as extravagant as Kent's, but something is better than nothing. And I figured this was the year to do it as there are already lots of nails on the house to make putting on the lights easy. I asked Grandma if we could borrow her lights and she said yes. With Warner's CMT disease he doesn't feel steady on a roof, so he moved the ladder and was the support crew while I managed the roof. Then we worked together to get a few more things done on the house and it exceeded my expectations and I could see Grandpa Winder smiling down on us! We turned them on last night and I saw several cars go up and down the lane looking at lights….phew, so glad we did them!
-San Francisco: Our plan was to leave on Monday morning (Nov. 21) to drive to San Fran. However, as Warner got looking at the weather on some parts of our journey, it was looking a little scary and we suddenly weren't sure if we should even go. All day Sunday we debated; but after borrowing some snow chains (which are required in the Donner pass if its snowing) Warner felt more confident and we decided to go (this was at like 8 PM that night, so we hurried and started packing.)
Monday: Got out the door early and enjoyed an overcast but dry road driving day! We arrived in Walnut Creek around 4:30 and enjoyed seeing Karalee and Adam's 1800 sq ft million(+) dollar home. Their home was tiny but they live in a beautiful neighborhood and walking distance to a huge outdoor mall and lots of shopping. Very cool and beautiful neighborhood. We enjoyed hanging out with Karalee and her two kids and eventually Adam for the rest of the evening. We were the first to arrive with everyone else coming on Wednesday.
Tuesday: Warner hadn't ever been to San Francisco so of course he wanted to see the famous sights. We decided we would go to Pier 39. We walked through their shopping area, rode the carosel, stopped to watch the seals, and then ate at the famous Boudin for clam chowder and sourdough. Then we headed home for the kids to nap and just hung out and let the kids play and fight over the toys. Griffen has really mastered how to say "nine" which means "mine."
Wednesday: Other siblings started arriving in the morning. We enjoyed a leisurly morning, walked to their shopping mall to get some lunch at Ike's, and then let the kids run around at the Elementary school playground which is right down the street from them after naps. We celebrated Trent's 38th birthday with BBQ chicken on the grill, salad, and baked potatoes. After a late dinner we headed over to a "Cream" which is basically the same as Smart Cookie. Everyone was in kind of a silly mood which made the excursion even more fun with lots of laughs!
Oh, and did I mention we 12 adults and 11 kids (2 of which are 4 months old) living in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home. Warner and I got super lucky with our own bedroom on a blow up mattress (perks of getting there first I guess.) Brandon and JaLene and their family got the other bedroom; Adam and Karalee and their 2 kids were in the master ALONG WITH Katie and Trent (sleeping on tiny mats) and their 3 girls; Michael and Christie and Jonas were in the play room area of the family room with some sheets put up to give them some privacy, and Kemy and Chris and Coen were in the main living space and just deflated their mattress everyday. The place was packed and a HUGE mess, but it was a party and everyone did pretty good at just living in the space we had….it was a PARTY.
Thursday: THANKSGIVING. We had one oven and one roaster oven. We organized our day and everything was cooked just right. I was in charge of the gluten rolls (lots of gluten free people in Warner's family…..but when we get together with his sister's, some of their families eat gluten too) and mashed potatoes. We ate around 3:30 and enjoyed eating outside under a heated lamps; everything was delicious and we each went around and said what we were grateful for. Wonderful dinner but it ended a little crabby for me as Griffen was having a melt down and I was super frustrated. Oh well. We watched Sleepless in Seattle had pie (I definitely missed our St. George pie collection and never did eat any pie.)
Friday: We were told Adam and Karalee had a surprise in the city for us. We packed up for the afternoon and were headed into San Francisco around 12:30. We first stopped at Yidio (Adam's office) and dropped off our strollers and extra stuff. Very cool office that I'm sure cost $$$. Then we walked around the corner and were all standing on a corner when an empty trolley pulled up and picked us up. We had a trolley to ourselves from 2-5. It was such a beautiful day and so dreamy. We drove through the city and our first stop was quick to get a picture with Alcatraz in the background. Then we drove over and walked down Lombard street. Then we stopped at Ghirardelli square for a few minutes to get treats and pictures. Then we headed down to Golden Gate Bridge and four point as our last destination before heading back to Adam's office. It was an amazing way to see so many famous destinations in such a short amount of time. After getting back for a pit stop at Yideo, we made our way to Union Square where they were doing an annual Christmas tree lighting. Katie and I had a store we needed to run to that was a basically on the way, so we left a little before everyone to go to the store and then we would meet up with everyone at the tree lighting. San Francisco is definitely a whole LOT different and BIGGER than Salt Lake City. I've never smelled so much smoke (and weed) in my life. As Katie and I walked to our store I felt like Kevin on "Home Alone in New York City" when he's walking the streets by himself at night and there's all these scary people. It totally is true. There are some scary people in this world and I couldn't help but think how blessed I am. And how grateful I didn't get caught up in drugs. So so sad.
After going to our store, Katie and I got to the tree lighting minutes before they would light the tree so the place was packed and of course our group was on the opposoite corner. We SLOWLY made our way through the crowd (I was really wishing there was some Disney Parade police to keep a walkway open) and didn't get to our family until after the lighting. We eventually made our way to dinner at a place called "Lemonade" and then drove back home. An amazing and happy day.
Saturday: We drove home. Griffen actually did pretty well (that's his first longer road trip). He did better on the way there than on the way home. But thanks to episode after episode of Curious George it made for a more pleasant ride.
Everyone else was staying until Sunday and then driving down the Anaheim to do a day of Disney (we were sad to miss out), but with our $$$$ situation and my starting my job on Monday, it didn't work out to stay longer. Which speaking of….I better close so I can get some sleep. I start at Alta Pain (again) Monday and Wednesday. This is just short term until Warner gets a job. I'm hoping I'll like it once I get in the groove, but I'm really not excited. I finally really feel like I can say I enjoy being a stay at home mom. But I'm grateful Alta Pain is providing this temporary help with the situation we are in. And Mom is so nice to help out with Griffen.
Love you all and hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend.
Love, Janey
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