Trip to Colorado - Nov 9-11

Al and I took a trip to Colorado to visit some friends and take a look at the academy. We got up on Saturday and met Al's friend Brian and his wife Caroline for breakfast. Then we headed to Colorado Springs to take a tour of Al's college:)

Here we are in front of the chapel, it was very pretty, and we had a beautiful day.
After a day of touring around Colorado Springs, we met up with a high school friend of mine and his wife, Eric and Elizabeth.

As we were leaving Colorado Springs we saw Pike's Peak, something we need to get back to CO and see, the main road had just been closed the weekend we were in CO.

Then we got to go and see one of my college friends and his family. Here we have Cameron, his wife Christine and their two kids, Mason and Lily.

Before we headed to the airport we had a chance to see one of Al's college buddies, Clifford and his wife Dara and their son Carson.

Our tirp to CO was very busy with seeing so many people but we loved it and we can't wait to go back, it is great knowing so many people in the same area!

Our First Fire

Al and I finally had a fire in our fireplace, it was great. We learned a few things to make it better next time. Of course we didn't have the right fireplace cleaning tools etc., so we had to go out and buy those the next day. Having a fire like this reminds me of MN and home. The temperature really does get cold here at night, nothing like MN, but chilly enought to want a fire!

A visit from Anna - October 12-15

Anna's flight was a bit delayed on Friday due to our wonderful weather here in CA, but she got in and we had some pizza and took it easy that night since we were going to Napa on Saturday!

Saturday we headed up to Napa and started at Flora Springs. After we had a great tasting at Flora Springs, we got some lunch. Then we visited a few more wineries before we ended at Domain Chandon. We had a great day, the weather was wonderful, a great day to have a glass of wine and sit outside!
On Sunday we headed into San Francisco, the clouds were not really cooperating with us, but we still had a great time. We took a tour around the bay that took us under the Golden Gate and back to Pier 39.
Here we are on the boat with the Golden Gate in the background. While we were getting our Bay Tour on the boat, we saw some dolphins swimming in the bay, it was great, the first time seeing dolphins in the bay!

We walked all over. At Pier 39 we had some lunch, bought some salt water taffy, and as we walked to Fisherman's Warf we enjoyed some of the street performers. Before we started for home, we decided on one more picture on the pier.
Anna had to go home on Monday, but we had a great time.

A Visit from The Hiltons - October 9th

Erin and Tony were in town for a family wedding and took time to have dinner with me. It was so great to see them. We ate at Fior, the oldest Italian resturant in America, it was great.

A Visit from the Sailor (September 28-30)

Dallas was driving through and stopped to spend a few days with us. On Saturday we went golfing, it was fun and a beautiful day! Here we have Al and Dallas at Tee Box 1.

Me and Al, I think we were on hole 6 or so, doing alright.
After a nice day out golfing, we cleaned up and decided to go out. Of course we had to take a picture before we headed out.

Me and the Sailor

Al and Dallas

Angie's visit to Oregon - September 21-23

Silverton, Oregon

I flew up to Portland on Friday and drove to Silverton to spend some time with my Uncle Mark and my cousins, Mirabai and Rita.
Here is the view from Mark's backyard, it is hard to tell but Mt. Hood is there:) The fog got in the way.
Saturday, September 22nd

I attended my friend Sheri's wedding. Sheri and I played softball together at Gustavus and I hadn't seen her for 5 years. The reception was held right on the Columbia River in Washington.

Me and Sheri

Sheri had a wonderful wedding and I was so happy I was able to make it up and see her and meet her husband, Ruben.

Kerkman/Miller Family Visit (September 1-8)

Adam and Sarah got in on September 1st.

We spent a little time at home celebrating Adam's promotion to Major.

Here we are hanging out playing some lottery games, Adam and Al have the winning ticket, well I guess winning was only $3.00 or something like that.
Mike and Andrea got in on September 2nd and we went golfing that afternoon. Here are the boys after 9 holes!

And here are the girls, it was warm out there.
Happy Labor Day, we spent Labor day at Muir Woods. We had a great time hiking around. As you can see Adam and Mike were pretending to fence!

The picture is a little dark, but it is all of us on a fallen redwood tree. We hiked for about 2 hours and had a great time.

Tuesday, September 4th we headed up to Napa. We started at Flora Springs with a great tour and tasting. Here we are at Flora Springs.

After Flora Springs we headed to Jospeh Phelps, here is a picture of Al and I with a great view behind us.

Wednesday and Thursday I was at work so I don't have any pictures from those days. Andrea and Mike had to fly home on Friday.

Sarah, Adam, Al and myself then spent the day in San Francisco, it was great. We started by hiking up to Coit Tower, it was a hike but it was a great view.

Then we headed to Pier 39 and had some lunch and watched the Sea Lions for awhile. Then we started to hike towards the Golden Gate. On the way we came across the Exploratorium, it was really neat. Below you can see a picture of the 4 of us with the Exploratorium in the background.

Then we found Chrissy Field, what a great place with wonderful views. Below is Sarah and I with the Golden Gate in the background.

Then we started the hike again, luckily we all wore tennis shoes since we hiked forever, but look at the views we got while hiking up to the bridge.

Then we got to walk across the bridge, well we didn't walk all the way across it, but we did have some wonderful views and a great time.