Hamburglar

If you can believe it, Tristan has never ever eaten a hamburger before. He's a chicken nuggets kind of guy.

So I thought it was time he gave it a try. We stopped by McDonald's and got him a hamburger. He ate it and exlaimed that it was the best thing ever!

This was about three months ago and he hasn't had one since.

Strawberry Days

It was a cold Saturday morning. Overcast. Not sure if we'd see much sun. Headed up to Strawberry Reservior with Mike Bergquist, Chris Lambert, Api Tuia and the young men in our ward for some winter fun.

Since Api was the ice fishing king, he found us a spot on the lake and started drilling holes through 18 inches of ice.

Mike brought his 3 snowmobiles and we took turns racing across the ice and nearby foothills.

We didn't catch any fish, but had plenty of snacks on hand. We even grilled hot dogs.

This was the last activity we spent together as a YM Presidency. Soon after Chris moved out and Mike was released.

Cut It Out

You'd think by this picture that Tristan was auditioning for a leading role in the next Batman movie, but you'd be wrong. This is the look of a child who is not happy with getting a hair cut.

But throw in a movie to watch and you've got a captive audience. Makes things easier. Besides, getting a hair cut at home is cheaper.

Now taking appointments.

Christmas 2009

Milk and Cookies. Who can't resist that. I hope Santa's hungry. We made chocolate chip cookies and set them out before we went to bed.

Since this is the first time that Santa actually came to our house in Christmas Eve, Tristan forgot about it and didn't even check for presents under the tree. Instead, he woke up to watch cartoons. So we got his attention and looked under the tree together.

Here Tristan found presents that Santa brought for him and also found that Santa ate the cookies we made for him.

Tristan got a learning video game system.

I don't think he was expecting anything since he already got a lot for his Birthday and Christmas celebrations at Abuelito's house.

This Party's Off the Hook!

Aaarrrrrgh! This is gonna be good.

I got to make a Ginger Bread house at Aunt Cindy's Christmas Party. I was so proud of it that I didn't want to eat it.

My birthday started off with a bang. We got to beat up a Transformer Pinata in the garage.

All of the cousin's took their turn.

Even Emanuel.

Once the candy fell out, everyone hit the floor grabbing as much as they could.

We then headed to the living room to open presents.

I got Transformers, and clothes. Clothes are boring...

But this shirt is cool!

There were also presents for the cousins to open.

Showing off my loot.

It was then time for cake. Just got to make this wish first.

Then out go the candles.

And in goes the cake (into my mouth!)

All of the excitement got me pretty tired.
So I'm off to bed in my new Sponge Bob pajamas.

The BIG 30

Wow....really? 30 years old! We celebrated with a birthday cake from Granite Bakery. One of the best I've ever had (that wasn't chocolate). It was a white cake with bavarian cream and strawberries in between the 4 layers. Covered with whipped cream and blackberries. Mmm, mmm, good.

We had dinner at Angelica's house. Lily's mom made Pierna Adobada. That is pork in a spicy red suace. It was very good.

We sang happy birthday to Lily and opened presents.

As is tradition in Mexico, we open presents the night before Christmas. So all the kids got to open presents from Tia Geli.

Tristan liked his Transformers.

But wasn't so appreciative of the framed picture he got. Can you tell?

It was a good time!

Roughin' It

Tristan has been wanting to camp for some time. But since it has been so cold and snowy outside, we setup the tent in the living room.

We roasted marshmellows on the stove top and watched Tom & Jerry cartoons on the computer inside the tent. It was a lot of fun! Even though I had plenty of blankets, I learned the floor is too hard for me. Next time I'll bring an air mattress.

San Francisco Treat

In November I had an opportunity to travel to San Francisco for work. They needed my help inspecting units for a large group with Cirque Du Soleil.

The work days were long, but gave me a chance to see the city and a few of the properties that we work with.

Some of them had amazing views in the downtown area. You can see the Oakland Bridge in the background.

This is a closer look at the bridge. I stayed at this property for the first week. This is were I worked most of my visit.

This is the roof deck of the 2nd place I stayed at on Mission and 4th street in downtown.

I had a place on the 29th floor which had amazing views.

I only had one day off after working many long days. And what would you expect I do? Rent a bike, of course. Since Lily and I had visited San Francisco earlier this year, I was a little familiar with the area.

So off I went. First to the Embarcadero. I rode out onto one of the fishing piers and got a decent view of the city from there.

I came across an outside market and found a spot to ice skate in the city. Notice the palm trees in the background. You don't see that everyday.

I made my way down to the overcrowded Pier 39, filled with restuarants, shops, and street performers. Since I've been there before, I decided to pass it up and continued my ride along the beach and parks on my way to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Here is a spot, which was up a steep hill from the base to the top of the bridge, where I could look back and see just how far I'd gone. Great view of the city and beach I rode along to get to this point.

Here I am at another tourist spot. Bus loads of people looking for spots to get a shot of this famous landmark.

There are a two ways to cross the bridge. The bay side allows pedestrians and bikes at certain times of the day. The ocean side allows only bikes. So I crossed under the bridge to get to the bike path and found a dirt trail that follows the shoreline. I followed this for just a bit to get a look at the Pacific Ocean before turning back.

Bike traffic accross the bridge was busy. A lot of recreational cyclists hurried by. I found a lookout point and took a moment to enjoy the views. After crossing to the north side of the bridge, I made my way down a winding road into the town of Sausalito. This was a fun, but chilly downhill ride. I couldn't help but think how challenging the ride back up would be.

But it was definately worth it. I was on my way to a joint simply called "Hamburgers". They have a turn table grill in the window which gets your attention. You can see by this picture that the space is limited and the menu is just as small.


But the burgers are BIG on flavor.

I ordered mine to go and made my way over to the dock.

Here I sat and enjoyed the view of the city accross the bay. It was getting dark fast and I had to get the bike back before the shop closed. So I finished eating and made my way back up the hill, over the bridge and dodged traffic on Lombard Street to get back just after the sun had set. Overall trip was 25 miles. Not bad for a casual ride on my day off. The guys at the office thought I was crazy to go on a bike ride after working everyday all day. But for me, it was a treat!