Valentine's Day Plus

I'm nearly caught up on this blog--yippee! I know the only one who really cares, but it's gonna feel great to have Valentine's Day blogged before St. Patty's Day arrived. Heck, I might even make it before Pi day!

For our family, Valentine's Day is pretty synonymous with Cupid's Crazy Cafe. This year was extra fun because we were able to celebrate with Ben, Christy, our friend Melanie, and the Wilhoits at my parents' house. The more the merrier!

Can't you feel the love? By the way, this is the lips tie that my Dad wore the first time he met Jason and family.

Filling out our special menus. Would you like to order snugglin, huggin' or smoochin?

This year we went for a classic Italian theme.  Tortellini soup, lasagna, Italian cookies, garlic bread, kale salad, Italian sodas, roasted veggies, etc. So tasty!

Plus, we had the BEST servers. Eli, Anders and Eila did a stellar job filling all the orders.

Love you all so much! Thanks to everyone for keeping this Valentine tradition alive.

And since I love being caught up on the blog almost as much as I love Valentine's, here are the rest of our photos.

More skiing! Because let's face it--next to God and his family, skiing is Jason's greatest love.

Of course, Eli adores skiing nearly as much. This day was extra fun because Brooklyn and Talia joined us!

Four friendly Wilhoits flying on a lift.

From left to right: Jason, Brooklyn, Kara, Eli, and Ben. I love how Jason's hunched over to better fit in the line-up!

Eli, Jason and Ben braved the crowds to make it up to Brighton on the best powder day of the season. They ended up having to hike more than a mile to get parking, but they assured me it was well-worth it!

As for me, this was my golden ski day. Joy!

Of course, the blue bird day I spent skiing Snowbird by myself was pretty epic as well. Great snow and no crowds. Only thing that would have made it better would be family or a friend!

But hey, plenty of family here! Thanks for skiing with us, Wilhoits. Hanging with you is so much fun!

Of course, the only way to get great skiing is to get great snow.  We had an epic mini-blizzard where the snow fell SO hard and fast but only for a couple hours. Per Murphy's law, Annika felt sick and called for a ride home right during this interval. It took me more than an hour to make the 12 minute drive to her school. Cars were sliding off the road everywhere. I passed a couple dozen fender benders and watched three or four happen in real time. Gotta say--I've never felt so grateful for our snow tires!

Safe at home, here's Annika trudging in the door.

Gotta admit, snow looks pretty good on our home.  Too bad today was a high of 66 with even warmer weather predicted next week.

 

As sad as I am to see ski season end too soon, I can't complain too much. After all, my heart's love is hiking. Here are some favorite pictures from some of our recent adventures. Most of these were taken in the Foothills near our home.

These photos come from the Living Room hike up near the Natural History Museum. This steep jaunt is perfectly situated for a quick hike on the way home from school drop off.

Just a girl and her dog.

Except for when it's bathtime--then Zion is all Eli's. Muchisimas gracias, mi hijo! You are a gem. We love you!

San Francisco: Drive (Or Fly) Until the Map Turns Blue

Last weekend Jason and Talia flew to San Francisco where she was playing in another Ultimate Frisbee tournament. There was a little hiccup with Jason's flight (as in, I forgot to buy it), but fortunately we were able to get them both on their Breeze flight headed West.

I'd found a room through AirBnB for the two of them. While a bit quirky, the surroundings were beautiful.

That night they drove out to the Golden Gate bridge. Unfortunately they discovered that it is closed to pedestrian traffic after dark.

Still, the city skyline was stunning.

Judging from their photos, they ate some pretty fantastic food together. Gosh, I'm craving burrata!

Jason went for an 8 mile run their first morning, then came back to enjoy a "snail" pastry with Talia.

They also discovered the Rodin sculpture garden at Stanford. The last time Jason came here, he was also a BYU freshman getting ready to serve a mission. And if I remember correctly, there was some Ultimate frisbee play happening as well.

This Indian food was their tastiest meal.

That afternoon, the team gathered for their first games.

This photo is so tender. Talia's coach asked her to go be with a teammate who was upset after dropping the disc on an important play. As Jason wrote, "I love that. Talia is the best, and so empathetic, and people can see that."

I'll let Jason's journal explain the rest.

I slept well for the first part of the night last night, but my sleep was much more fitful for the last few hours. I got out of bed with my alarm at 5:45, took a shower, then woke Talia up so we could head down to Stanford for her games.

They played four games, of which they won one and were close on two others. Talia had several really great plays and I was glad to be here to watch that happen, and to cheer her on.

The best part of the day though… was this evening. After the games were complete, we walked through Stanford’s campus, then gave the Golden Gate Bridge another try—this time successfully. It was super busy, but a car was backing out right as we pulled into the parking lot. Serendipity didn’t stop there: the afternoon light was gorgeous as Talia and I walked, then jogged, across the Golden Gate Bridge and back again. There was a massive cruise ship leaving the San Francisco Bay that passed right under us as we were at the center span of the bridge. Probably something close to a thousand people were up on the lido deck, waiving at all us pedestrians above. 

And it just kept getting better.

Once back to the car, we drove across the bridge into Marin County, then headed west out onto the headlands. The entire area appears to have been set aside during World War II for military use. There was a cluster of old barracks we passed right after going through a mile-long tunnel under the hill, some of which appeared to have been converted into permanent residences. Later we drove by multiple sets of concrete pill boxes, their hulking masses hugging the earth, with wide slender window bands tucked under the concrete eaves for monitoring the entry to the bay. Circles of sawed-off bolts hinted at the old artillery equipment that surely must have been mounted there. Amazingly, the land is all open now for public use and recreation.

We drove to the top of one of the hills, then entered a one-way section of road that wrapped around the headlands. The parking lot was filled to bursting at the pass, but we found a shoulder to park on halfway down the other side and decided to get out and hike (I.e. run) back up to the top. We summited just in time to see the last of the sunlight lighting the Golden Gate Bridge, far below us but not too far distant. A million panes of glass spanning from downtown San Francisco across the bay to Concord and Oakland reflected the setting sun back at us like so many flashlights. The quick hike up left us breathless, and the panoramic views of bay and city and bridge and ocean did the same all over again.

It was getting late, and growing dark, but adventure kept calling. We stopped two more times as we continued our drive—first, for some photos from one of the pill box sites (despite the sun having dropped below the horizon, the ocean had turned a brilliant shade of purple in the light reflected by the clouds and was practically begging to be photographed); and second, to hike out to the light house at Bonito Point (?). Talia had homework that was due by midnight, but she was fully in favor of the diversions. She kept squealing in delight over the beauty of everything around us, at one point saying, “I dunno San Francisco, you’re making a pretty solid case for yourself,” and at another, “This is definitely a top three sunset, in my entire life.” Despite living more than twice as long as she has, I found myself in full agreement.

Top three. 

And while I’ve seen some other beautiful sunsets, I’m not sure that I can pinpoint any of them as well as I’ll be able to pinpoint tonight’s. Maybe it was the sunset. Maybe it was Talia’s infectious enthusiasm. Or maybe it was just getting to spend time with her, one on one, the last few bits of sun setting on her childhood, and the brightness of the future that still awaits reflected in her eyes.

 Love you Jason and Talia! So glad you could create these memories together.