I Left My Heart in San Francisco

I now Know what they mean when they say "I Left my Heart in San Francisco". Danny and I just got back from an amazing vacation to San Francisco. We left all the kids home, packed our carry-ons and were on our way. We arrived on Thursday morning and didn't come home until Sunday.
This is one of my favorites. We are at the Golden Gate Park inside the Conservatorium of Flowers. We had walked lots and lots this day and it was nice to sit down for a minute.
This is us on the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a little windy on the walk back.
Here we are at the bottom of Lombard Street. We walked there from our hotel which was about 1/2 a mile away all UP HILL! It was worth it though.
This is my favorite picture of Danny and Chris. They look like they are having lots of fun!
This picture is of me and Danny on the wharf. It was a gorgeous day and we had just gotten done eating at Bubba Gumps Fish house. Yummy Yummy fish and Shrimp! The Wharf had tons of shops and good places to eat.
We went with a friend of Danny's from UPS and his wife, Chris and Linda. This is a picture of all 4 of us at the Golden Gate Park at the Conservatorium of Flowers. When we first arrived they told us to get a bus pass and it was good for all of the cable cars, buses and trolleys.
We had to get our picture taken in front of the sea lion statue. There were real Sea Lions all over down by the wharf. We loved the noises they made. The Sea Lions made us think of Dylan for some reason.
This is at the top of Lombard Street. This street is in the Guiness Book of World Records. It also had an awesome view at the top. It was fun to see the line of cars just waiting to drive down it. We also got to meet the man who takes care of the street. It is not owned by the city and is totally funded by private donations. It was beautiful.
Here are all four of us at the Golden Gate Bridge. This was one of my favorite parts. We walked all the way across the bridge and then all the way back. It was so amazing. We saw huge ships go underneath and of course the bridge is very busy with cars. It was 2 miles one way. They also have phones all across the bridge telling people to call if they need crisis counceling. I don't know how people could even think of jumping cause I could barely look down over the bridge without being scared out of my mind. It was so much fun to just walk and talk and be able to hold Danny's hand for almost 2 hours straight! Maybe that was why I liked the bridge so much.

The last day we were there we went to Alcatraz. This was also tons of fun. We took the audio tour and learned so many interesting facts. It was really amazing.

Danny loves Chinese food so he kept telling us that we had to go to Chinatown and eat "REAL CHINESE FOOD". So we take the bus and just get off somewhere and start walking around. Everything is in Chinese and is kinda dirty so we just kept wandering hoping something would look good to Danny. Then we saw two American's and decided to ask if they were locals. They said yes so Danny asked them "Where is the best place to get good Chinese food?" There answer was "NOT IN CHINA TOWN" So needless to say we were all ready there and decided to tough it out and eat somewhere since we were starving. We saw a sign that said "all you can eat Chinese buffet for $5.99" so we were sold. The funny thing was once you got in there, there was also a sign that said "There is a charge of $5.99 for Wastage of food." The food was terrible so we were all trying to sneak our food into the garbage so we didn't have to pay. It was funny. But at least Danny can say he ate in Chinatown.
One of Danny's favorite parts was riding on the Trolley cars and hanging off the side. The conductors called this riding in "First Class".
I guess it wouldn't be San Francisco without all of the street peddlers wanting money. San Francisco has the largest homeless population in America. There were all kinds of people from all walks of life. This one was one of Danny's favorites. He was senile and was playing a violin that did not even work.

The trip was amazing and we had so much fun. We were so glad that Chris and Linda went with us. I think the best part was just spending time with my amazing husband. He really is the best and I just realized more and more how much I love him!

Handprints

We just got a brand new Stake Center so we have had many activities going on to celebrate the dedication. Daniel sang in a youth choir on Friday night and then on Saturday morning all of the Primary Kids got to go and put there Hand prints in cement at the new Stake Center. It was a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Grandpa & Mexican Night

Wednesday Feb. 11 was Grandpa Hawks' 59th Birthday. He came over for an icecream Cake and so we could sing Happy Birthday. I know my dad never looks at blogs, but I just want to tell him that he was the best dad ever for me. I love him so much and I am so thankful for the wonderful example he is to me and my family. Thanks Dad so much for all you do!
These next pictures are all from our amazing MEXICAN NIGHT. Brice planned an amazing night of all mexican food and then Grandma April had us playing Valentine games all night long. It was too much fun and too much food.

This was the blindfold game where we would blind fold one person and then go up and say "I love you" Then they would have to guess who was saying it.


Brice made the BEST turkey and chicken enchiladas. I did not know that he could cook, but these enchiladas were like professionals! I could not get over how good they were!


This was our licorice eating contest. I think Ryan won! He was quite fast with his mouth!

Here is Terry and Diana just chilling on the couch doing the licorice game. They are always so supportive of us and such good sports. I think there favorite game though is the quarter game.

This is Danny and Daniel playing the quarter game. If you haven't played, please come down and visit and I promise you will never forget it!

This was just a perfect ending to a perfect day. We had so much fun and we are looking forward to our SCOTTISH Night next!!

Demmy's Baptism WOW!!

I know that everyone is amazed that I have finally posted again. I really don't know what happened. I would always think to myself"I really need to blog" but never did. Then Derrik said "No -you know what happened-You have six kids". That is very true that they do keep me very busy, but that is no excuse for not blogging. So I am going to try and not get so far behind and keep on blogging. (Besides I really hate being at the bottom of everyone's list of blogs!!!!)

Okay so this post is really going to be all about our adorable daughter DEMMY ARIANNA!
Demmy turned 8 years old on January 10. She was baptized on January 31 and confirmed on February 1. Demmy was baptized and confirmed by Danny. It was fun to see because he dunked her way under!! It was one of the best weekends ever! Lots of our amazing Families came down to help us enjoy this great event. We were so grateful for the sacrifices that they all made to get here! I know it was a long ways to come for some and not having a car or money makes it even harder so I just want you all to know how much we love you! The day started with Pancakes in the shape of an eight and ended with Demmy getting her ears pierced.

This is Great Grandma Faye talking to Demmy. Demmy loves her so much and loves doing stamps with her every Tuesday. I think Demmy might get her eagle when Daniel and Derrik Do!!!!!(Just kidding Boys! I love you!)

Here is all of the family. I always say that it is nearly impossible to have 8 people all smile and have their eyes open all at the same time! I think I was actually just happy that all of the kids would stand together for this picture.


Here is a group picture. Our family that was there were: Grandma and Grandpa Hawks, Great Grandma Hawks, Grandma and Grandpa Polad, Josh, Traci and Ian, Brandi, Heston, Decklin, Dalin and Kate, Kallee, Chad, Moises and Jay, Ryan, Megan, Torstan and Bryson, Terry and Brice. My camera of course would not take a picture when everyone was standing together and smililing so I just hurried and took this one when everyone was starting to move. (Danny is in the process of asking me if I got a good picture!!!)

This is the beautiful baptism girl in her brand new dress that Grandma April made for her. She felt (and looked) like a princess and didn't want to take the dress off! Demmy was the very first one to be baptized in our brand new Stake Center in Diamond Valley. There were 5 other kids baptized that day too.

This is Daniel trying to watch Dylan while Derrik takes a picture.

Grandma and Grandpa Polad came down to share this special day with us. They had to come in a rental car, but that didn't stop them! They also gave Demmy her very first Book of Mormon which she treasures! She reads every morning in her new scriptures and just loves them!

My boys just hanging out. We arrived at the Stake Center very first and were about 40 minutes early. We were very excited. It was such a great weekend and we were so happy to spend time with all of our amazing family. Thanks so much for being apart of our lives. We love you all so much and couldn't do it without you! And Demmy you truly are the best! We love you so much and are so glad you decided to get baptized!