Yay--another thing I can check off my San Francisco to-do list! Cable car caroling has got to be the best thing to do in San Francisco at Christmastime. I came home totally horse, yet so proud of being able to show off my lovely singing voice. I'm sure we were quite the sight--35 women (ranging in all--and I mean ALL--ages) singing everything from "Once There Was a Snowman" to "Feliz Navidad." San Francisco pedestrians sure were lucky tonight! 
The day after Thanksgiving it seems like the entire family was a little, or a lot, sick. Everyone except Grandpa, Blake, Max, and Jack. The sickness plus the lack of snow foiled our skiing plans, but we didn't let that stop us. Grandpa found a steal of a deal at his Black Friday stop and came home with two big wheels. The rest of the weekend we didn't need anything else--just the big wheels and someone to carry them up the hills and slow them down at the bottom. 
Slowly people started getting well enough that we could do things like watch movies and play some games. And then of course, there was the culminating event--decorating Grandma's tree. Both boys were pros and when it was all said and done, the best part of the entire tree was the "Max branch" which housed all of the ornaments Max hung on the tree.
Thank you, thank you family for a wonderful vacation. In this last picture we made all the single people sit on the small bench. No pressure to get off the little bench, Tony! We love our family!
I lived in Utah for three quarters of my life and it wasn't until last month that I learned the big game is commonly referred to as "The Holy War." And who was the person who informed me of this important topic? Some random employee at Disneyland who was taking the semester off from BYU to earn some money, who noticed Jack's BYU hat and started talking to me, and told me she was sad she wasn't going to be in Provo for the Holy War. (As a side note, I love when the boys wear their BYU hats to Disneyland. We constantly have people talk to us. One guy even came up to me and asked if I had my visiting teaching done for the month.) Of course I acted like I knew what she was talking about and then asked Blake about it later. And now I'm in the know. So, this year, I award Gage with the "BEST BROTHER-IN-LAW OF THE YEAR" award for getting us tickets to the big game. So much fun. I've decided that I need to go to a BYU football game at least once every seven years to keep up on all the latest football cheers. I had no idea about the new "Looks like another cougar...FIRST DOWN!" cheer, but was happy to see the band still plays "When the Saints Go Marching In" and prove to Gage and Blake (like I needed to prove it) that I still know all the words to "Rise and Shout" and can "Rah! Rah! Rahrahrah!" with the best of them. The game was so, so good. I knew the Cougars would pull through this year. Plus, we didn't even need to go home and rub it in my classless family's faces since Max Hall already did such a quality job for us. (I love you, family!) Go Cougars!
We started out our turkey day by going to the Feast with the Beasts at the zoo. The zoo was Jack's only Utah request. He really loves that baby elephant. It was so fun to have the entire family there; well except Tony, who opted for a Turkey Bowl with friends instead. I know, he has no idea what he's missing! 
We went home had a snacky lunch, naps, and watched some games before it was time to go over to our big dinner. We dined on the yummiest food ever, including these super cute turkey cupcakes. Other Thanksgiving activities included a ride for Max on the Rhino (thanks Ashton) and some quality time for the kids (little and big) on the slot machine. :) I think there was a total of 32 people there--we were only missing 7--and you can't believe how excited those 32 people were when I pulled out my camera. They've all been wanting to be featured on this oh-so popular bamsanfran blog, so here they are. Maybe now they'll leave some comments! Also please note the super cute (yet a little lopsided) pumpkins Bri and I made as placecards.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and when I count my blessings, all these people are at the top of my list. I am so thankful.
I am so thankful for my family. And it's just an added bonus that they love me enough to humor me with my crazy dress-up ideas. Happy Thanksgiving!
One of Max's vocabulary words this month is las hojas. It seems like every project he brings home has some sort of leaf glued on it. One problem--we can tell him all about the leaves falling off the trees, but it stinks that San Francisco won't show him. Luckily, Utah does! We visited Great Grandpa today and there were tons and tons of leaves just waiting to be played in. Grandpa and Blake couldn't keep the leaves raked up fast enough with the two pairs of little feet kicking them all over. 
After the destruction, the little boys were very helpful helpers. They even acted as the official leaf smashers--a very important job.
And it wouldn't be a visit to Great Grandpa's without him treating us to some yummy lunch. We just love him so much!
at least for this session! It's fun to see how much the boys have learned and also see where their interests are. Max has really loved tennis--he can tell you AND demonstrate what a forehand, backhand, and volley are and is starting to get a little oomph in his swing. His teacher made it so much fun for him (you get extra points if you hit the teacher with the ball) and keeps Max laughing. But I have to say, my personal favorite has been watching Max try to master things like running backwards and sideways and the very complex jumping jack. I go to tennis just for that.
In music class I learned that my children are probably not going to be famous singers, but they may just be famous instrument players. (Are instrument players called musicians or do they have a more specific name?) Max would mostly be obedient, and sing a long, but he got really excited when it was time for an instrument. Jack would not give the class the time of day unless there were instruments involved.
T-ball was also a success. Both boys love catching the ball in the ready position, but then chose to run their energy out in different ways. Max waited in line for his turn to hit the ball and run the bases and Jack chose to chase the birds instead.
In between the bird chasing, Jack came over to take a picture of their biggest fan. I already love going to all their little classes and I really love my boys!
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