Family Fun in San Francisco

When we all heard that BYU was going to be playing in the Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco on December 27th of this year, we were all thrilled!  Not only did we all want to go to the ballgame, we all love visiting John and Alison who live there, and we all wanted to be at one of the most important events of a young man's life--his farewell before leaving on his two-year Mormon mission.  All of that could be accomplished in a few days in San Francisco!  The drive from Utah is about 11 hours long; however, George and I had some credit on the airlines, and after our horrific drive just a few days before when we went from Washington to Utah, we opted to fly.  Connor, who has had a job working for Under-Armour in the outlets, spent his own money and came with us.  It was great having him as a traveling companion!

John has four tickets to the Warriors game, and he and the boys have become huge fans since moving to the San Francisco area.  In order to let Connor see part of the game, we went to the arena and Tyson came out so Connor could have his seat.  So kind of Tyson!    It, also, took another guy who just happened to give Connor a ticket when they wouldn't let him in without one.  There are some really nice people in the world everywhere, right?!

 Parker still works at the Country Club and worked a lot while we were there, but that didn't stop Connor from having a great time!

 

Not only did Tyson give up his seat at the arena, he also gave up his room to George and me.  Thanks so much, Tyson!  I love to look out the window--and especially to see no snow!  In the five weeks I had been gone--I've seen an ice storm, a gigantic snow storm, and now beautiful, but cool weather.  I felt like I experienced all the seasons in just one month!

We gave the Wilde family their Christmas presents when we got there even though they were a day late.  Alison wanted to let us see the kids open them.

We actually gave this same thing to Preston a year ago, but Alison said he has played on it so much that it had just broken a couple of weeks ago, so I think he was pretty glad to get it.  He actually plays on it for hours!

 This little guy is absolutely one of the biggest basketball fans I have ever seen!  He knows every statistic of every Warrior player--plus those of the teams they play.  I never saw him out of his basketball clothes the entire time we were there--even though some days were a little cool!

The cousins had so much fun playing outside on the big basketball standard, too!  Seriously, we hardly even knew they were around--continuous challenges, mini-tournaments, and fun!

When the BYU teams play bowl games, they always have a fireside the night before where the players and coaches come and speak.  This year, with the bowl game being held in San Francisco, the fireside was held at the Mormon Stake Center which is right by the Oakland Temple.  What a treat it was to be on those beautiful grounds where everything reminded you of the Savior!

 

 We lined up all the grandsons that were there in birth order and in the order they will be future missionaries.  Kevin and Kyle's families had just driven 11 hours from Utah and came straight there, so they didn't get a chance to change to their church clothes.

I loved what the sisters-in-law gave Natalie for Christmas:  This beautiful necklace is a remembrance of Cannon.  He has inspired all of us, the letter "C" for Cannon, the copper Menkes ribbon, the number "3" for how old he was, the angel wings he has earned, the yellow stone because he certainly "Is Our Sunshine," and his blue birthstone for his March birthday.  Such a wonderful, heart-felt gift!

The next day, we all got dressed in our BYU clothes and set off for "The City."

 It was so great having Bracken with us this entire weekend.  He works at Best Buy and, also, works a lot of hours, but we were so happy that we got him as many hours as we could.  We soon will not be able to see him for two whole years when he leaves on his two-year mission to Australia the end of January!

 The Alcatraz Tours were totally booked up again, but we still were able to enjoy it from afar today, and got to take a boat tour around it another day.

 Watching them make the famous sour dough bread of San Francisco.  Amy in front of the gator and turtles on top of it.  She has turned out to be one of the biggest Gator fans in the family!  Love it!  They will rebound!

 The blimp getting ready for tonight's game.
 

 Beautiful flowers!  No snow on them!  Sorry--but I've really turned into a warm-weather person!

Everybody who goes to San Francisco has to go to Ghirardelli Square.  It is a landmark that has been there for years with not only the best chocolate there is, but some of the best ice cream there is.  The plan was to have their famous ice cream sundae before the game.  Kent and Bracken went to get the cars while we ordered the sundaes.  However, it seemed like everyone in San Francisco had the same idea.  The place was packed!  The guys were waiting and waiting outside in the cars afraid the police were going to ticket them for waiting in their cars so long and not parking, and we were getting worried about being late for the game. 

This is a desperate man!  Where is my ice cream?  But seriously, we were all feeling it when it still wasn't done and we had waited forty minutes!  Finally, George just went and got our money back.  Ghirardelli treats will just have to be another day!

George and I hopped in with Bracken, everyone else were in different cars with the object of all of us meeting at the stadium for the game.  Every group went in different directions to get there any way we could!  Let's just say, it was nerve wracking!  There was so much traffic, it was stop and go for the longest time, although we really weren't that many blocks away.  
Finally, it looked like we were reaching a little clearing of the traffic up ahead, when all of a sudden we heard sirens from everywhere, and four or five fire engines appeared into view!

 Firemen were jumping out in front of us and the road was totally blocked!  We actually started busting up--George, Bracken, and me!  What else could happen so we couldn't get to the game!  Eventually they let one lane through and then the GPS had to re-route us to the stadium.  We were going down tiny streets and through apartment house parking lots.  It became hysterical where it was taking us!  Finally, we broke out into a main street, and we saw a group of BYU fans crossing right in front of us.  Suddenly, Bracken rolled down the window and yelled, "Ethan!"  It was a huge group of our own family!  We just laughed and laughed!  We had all gotten there about the same time no matter what had happened to everyone!  Definitely an experience we will never forget!  





 So, the game we were so excited about was an absolute disaster--BYU didn't come to play!  They were so lackluster and actually embarrassing!  In addition, I was purposely being tripped on our way in by a couple of guys which George let know it wasn't acceptable!  Unbelievable!  In another incident, some people blocked George's exit from the row when he tried to go get a security guy to sit the people down in front of us who were being so obnoxious--well, needless to say, it wasn't a very pleasant time.  But, the best part was all being there together as a family and seeing some of the friends we saw there!

 It was great seeing Bart Gleave who was George's 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric when George was bishop.  We haven't seen him for years!  His wife is quite ill and wasn't able to come.

 Kevin keeps in touch with him, but this is Vonn Elkins who was his first missionary companion in the Missionary Training Center before they went to Brazil on their missions.  Again, it's been years since George and I have seen him.

 To the right of Vonn is his wife, Kristin, whose father was the Mission President in Brazil when they served there. 
We always love to see Rhonda at the BYU games.  She feels like part of the family since she was roommates with both Amy and Natalie.

 Also, during half-time when the BYU Marching Band was out on the field, Amy ran down to get a picture of our friend in the ward's daughter, Morgan Smith, who plays tuba.  It was fun to see her and watch her perform!

I didn't get everyone there, but tried to get most of them.  As I say, bad game, but great fun together!

Tomorrow:  More Fun in San Francisco