Well, this evening we saw some very dear friends from San Francisco, the Blairs. They came into town, and we met them in Salt Lake at a family party. For some reason, we still cannot convince them, in their numerous SLC visits, to travel the extra eight houses up the street to our house. Funny, the Drews, the Ballards, Marisa and Bernie Hansen, among others, had no problem at all with a visit when they were passing through. We are beginning to get a bit of a complex -- what did we do? (OK, OK, so -- after much fasting and prayer, mind you--I drafted Eric to serve time with me and Steve Johnson in the San Rafael II bishopric -- and that could drive anyone to bitterness, I guess, especially since they had to pick up the load for our dear "Brother Slacker," but can't we forgive and forget, people? That anger will gnaw at you, don't you know . .. ) But I digress. It was nice to see them even if we had to meet on Neutral Turf.
Seeing the Blairs reminded me that we never did post pictures from our early December trip back to the Bay Area, so here you go.
Even though we went for a conference in San Francisco, we could not resist staying in our beloved Tiburon. We stayed at the Water's Edge, which was ok, but mostly because it was home.
Here is a view of good old Tiburon harbor from our room.
The very first morning we went by to check out the old homestead, of course, and wow, were we in for a surprise. Here is what it looks like now:
Our good friend Barbara Major took us on a tour. Here is what it looks like inside:
This is where our kitchen used to be.
And here is the master bedroom where our living room used to be.
That hurts. A nice master bath and cool shower attached to the master bedroom.
And a kitchen like that would have been hard to leave. We almost could have stayed with a house like that (but not with what it cost to make the conversion . . .).
It was Christmas time in San Francisco during our trip, which made for a fun visit to Union Square.
We also managed to see the new California Acadamy of Sciences Building. We were shocked and appalled at the price ($59 for the two of us--how do you pay for a family?!?!), but it is really a cool place.
The roof is just amazing. Below is what it looks like close up.
Here is the underside. Very cool curves.
This dome was really cool. It had a mad aquarium, and was filled with tropical birds and butterflies.
The very best part of the whole trip, though, was going to the San Rafael II Ward Christmas Party, and seeing so many, very dear old friends (Even the Blairs!). All in all, it was a great visit.
The boys have been doing a lot of swimming lately, and really love how swim goggles open a whole new world of seeing under water. Bath time has become just another opportunity on that front.
Keegan is still working on it.
But Aldy is already a natural. 
Keegan does love to float on his back, though, and can do it for some time. He also loves holding his breath and putting his head under water just like his brother. While he looks positively pastoral above, the following two photos tell you more about him, and his attitude, than perhaps any others I have taken.
Kind of gives water pipe a new meaning . . .
'nuf said.
This one also says a lot about Alden's general approach to life, unless, of course, he has been watching Star Wars. Then there is this sudden transformation . . . .
Unlike bath time, bed time is a battle around our house. A real battle. Seriously. I always win in the end, but not before taking my share of blaster bolts to the face. Explains a lot, I suppose. . . .
And so it was, that the Master Jedi of the house finally prevailed against the forces of darkness and chaos . . . . not. I had to put in another full hour of maximum effort just to get them to the read story stage. Ugh.
