Lucky Weekend

Well, I guess it started off a bit unlucky with a little earthquake on Friday night. When we felt it Rex and I were literally looking through an emergency kit we just bought. Ironic huh?

Here are a few reasons we had a lucky weekend:

I went running on Saturday morning and happened to go by a garage sale that had the train game (Ticket to Ride) sitting out on the table. We've played it a few times with friends and thought it was really fun so I ran home and told Rex to go get it. He came home and said he bought if for $1 and when we opened it up we noticed that the cards were still wrapped in plastic. It was brand new!!!

That afternoon we went to Walnut Creek and Rex and his classmates played in their school softball tournament. They won the first three games to get to the championship game. I guess the luck started to run out a little in the final game but they still won $1200 for their class for winning second place.

DPMs Class of 2011. Go team!!!

Today our primary class of six 5 year old boys (our one girl wasn't there today) did awesome in sharing time and in class. After church Rex had to run back in to return a bat we had used for Stake softball. I was sitting in the car and one of our friends came over and invited us over for dinner that night. Thanks guys it was delicious!

This afternoon my long lost friend/college roommate called me (she found me through my sister's Facebook account). She lives in Arkansas and we haven't seen each other for more than 4 years. While we were catching up we realized that we were both going to be visiting family in Utah the same weekend in a few weeks!

I guess we'll see how the rest of the week goes...

More San Francisco Fun

I know this is a little bit out of order. Sorry! On August 14th Rex finished his test so he got to join my siblings and I for the next day of being tourists in San Francisco. We found a good deal on a combo package to get tickets for the Aquarium at the Bay, the Wax Museum and the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. We started at the Aquarium which was very crowded but fun. When you go down in the basement you get to go through an aquarium with fish, rays, skates, and sharks swimming all around you.

Our next stop was the Wax Museum. There was quite a variety of figures and some were very realistic! I think the John Travolta figure was the best. They had a creepy section (which you can choose to bypass) with a fake electric chair thats pretty funny. I won't give any details just in case you feel like you want to try it out!

We ended up at the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum which turned out to be everyone's favorite of the three. The title of the museum is very fitting, it truly is hard to believe some of the stuff it shows you. We live in a crazy world!

The next day of their visit was my birthday which I already posted below. Then on Saturday we went to an Oakland A's game. They were playing the White Sox which was fun because when my brother Brandon was a little boy he idolized Ken Griffy Jr. He is getting old for a baseball player so we only got to see him bat a few times. (Some one else ran the bases for him). At least Brandon got to see him in real life and get a few pics. The A's lost but we still had a good time together. On Sunday they came to church with us and helped with our cute primary class. One of our primary kids (Nathan) looks just like Brandon did when he was a kid. So it was fun for Brandon to meet his mini-me. We had Sunday dinner with Matt (our cousin) and Mimi and their new baby Joshua. Then it was off to the airport. We had a great trip together. Thanks for coming guys and have fun up at BYU together!

San Francisco and the Redwoods

All three of my siblings flew in on August 12th and we drove up to Vallejo and went to Discovery Kingdom the first day of the visit. We had a great time but I didn't take any pictures. The next day we went to San Francisco and had a blast. Brandon came with some BYU friends before his mission, but Melissa and Scott had never been to San Francisco until now. Melissa seemed to LOVE everything about it. She wanted to see everything too, so we did the most we could! Our first stop was Lombard St., then Pier 39 to look at the shops and the sea lions, then on our way to Ghiradelli Square Melissa got her picture drawn by one of the street artists, and then we headed over to the jetty to take pictures of the bridge. However, Melissa wasn't satisfied with how far away the bridge was so we headed over closer and took a quick stop at the Exploratorium and Fine Arts Museum. Finally we found our way to where we could get out of the car and go walk on the bridge. We got our fill of pictures for the day!

One thing I want to remember about that day was that I set my sister up to get scared by the Bushman.
This guy hides behind tree branches and scares people that walk by. He has quite the audience on the other side of the street. So I made sure that we crossed the street at the right place and had Melissa walking on the outside so she would be right next to him. Sure enough he totally scared her and then exclaimed, "Last night I dreamed I would meet a beautiful redhead today!" It was great! Gotta love San Francisco!

If you think we did enough for one day you're wrong. After our photo shoot at the Golden Gate Bridge we drove over it and headed towards the Redwoods. We drove to Samuel P. Taylor State Park about 45 minutes away and hiked to the Pioneer Tree.

It was so big that all four of us climbed inside the trunk.



We were all exhausted by the time we got home but it was worth it!

Happy Birthday to me

On Friday (the 15th) I celebrated my 26th birthday with Rex and all of my siblings. They woke up early and cooked a yummy breakfast and set out some gifts for me. It was like Christmas morning! Next we headed to the Oakland Temple and Visitor's Center. Melissa loved to see the view from the temple grounds.

For dinner we decided to join the crowd at Zachary's for some yummy pizza.

Rex got me a keyboard and I'm so excited to have it! It was also a special present to have my siblings here to visit for the week. I'll post more about our week together soon!

Thanks everyone!

Brian Regan

Whoa! I didn't realize how far behind I got on posting...this will be the last one for today. On Friday night Rex and I drove to Saratoga to go to a Brian Regan show. He is Rex's favorite comedian and so I gave him tickets for his birthday in June. We got tickets with my cousin Matt and his wife, Mimi, and our friends, Jeni and Jared, who are all Brian Regan fans too. It was at beautiful outdoor theater up on a hill surrounded by a winery and a beautiful view. The show was hilarious. The best part for me was seeing how much Rex enjoyed it. He was laughing the entire time!

Waiting for the show to begin.


Us with Matt and Mimi (we couldn't use the flash so its blurry).


Brian getting lots of laughs. This picture makes him look farther away than he was. We could see most of his facial expressions. They are so funny!


Brian's biggest fan. Happy Birthday again!

I love Thai food!

I love Thai food and I have my dad to thank for it! He served his mission in Thailand and Thai food is the only thing my dad would ever cook at home so we ate it often. My friend Tina had her baby a little bit ago so I decided to make some to take to her. It's the mildest of my dad's recipes and everyone seems to like it. Here is the recipe for everyone who has asked for it!

Chicken and Baby Corn

3 T. oil
3 garlic cloves, minced or put through garlic press
2-3 chicken breasts, cut into strips
2 T. sugar
2 T. fish sauce*
2 T. oyster sauce*
1/2 tsp. fresh peppercorns (I just use regular pepper)
1 can baby corn, drained
1 can water chestnuts, drained

3 green onions, chopped
cashews

Pour oil in wok or large saucepan and turn stove on to medium heat. Add the garlic and when it is golden brown add the chicken strips. Fry until the chicken is close to being done and then add the sugar, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and pepper. Next add the corn, water chestnuts, and green onions. Add the cashews at the very end and don't cook them for too long so they are still a little crunchy. Serve over white rice*.

* I buy the fish and oyster sauces at Thai food supply stores. There is one on University Ave. In Berkeley called Tuk Tuk Asian Market that I've been too and there is one in Provo on 3rd south next to a Thai restaurant (Sorry I don't know what its called). Sometimes there are lots of brands to choose from. I use the Tiparos fish sauce and the oyster sauce I use only has Thai writing on it and a picture of a lady in a white apron. Here is a picture of it.

They both smell awful but don't be scared because they taste great! I'm also a rice snob so I have to tell you that Thai food is the best with Jasmine rice. I don't do minute rice! If you really get into cooking Thai food I suggest you get a rice cooker. I love mine, it makes rice perfect every time! Also you can get a good sized wok at IKEA for pretty cheap. Okay, I think thats it. Next time I'll post my favorite curry recipe. Tell me what you think if you try it out!

Stolen Purse

The short story is that my purse got stolen out of our car at our ward's Pioneer Day BBQ at the park. The one time I forgot to lock it in the trunk, the back passenger window got smashed and my purse was gone within 10 minutes of us being there. Frustrating! A friend from my ward saw the whole thing from her car and called the police. She gave them the license plate number, but unfortunately I don't think the police did a thing about it. The crazy thing is that the same thing happened to her in on the same street! Our car looked about the same as her car. Luckily they didn't make it away with her purse!