That's What Friends Are For!

Our good friend's the Jasperson's gave the J's these blow-up sumo rings for Christmas.  The funniest part was my girlfriend, Kristen, apologizing BEFORE the gifts were opened;-)

John's polar bear plunge

The water was a little cool in Phil & Caroline's pool.  John was the only one up for doing the polar bear plunge:-)

Bolthouse Boys' Thanksgiving Song

A California Thanksgiving

 Thanksgiving day started with a hike around Phil and Caroline's house.  Thankfully, Sarah and Caroline stayed home and were able to rescue the hikers with the mini-van:-)

 Jacob nodded off before the big turkey dinner:-)

Aunt Caroline collected Turkey feathers from their yard and helped the boys make these festive head dresses.  She cooked an incredible meal too:-)

 Pre-dinner family picture!  After 8 days traveling together, we're still smiling!

 The boys put on a Thanksgiving performance before dinner.  They sang "Have you ever seen a turkey".  Too cute!

We're blessed to have such a wonderful family!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 6 - 9: San Francisco Area with Family

 Nothing says November like the beach!  We had wonderful weather in San Francisco.  Sunny and warm.  It was perfect for chasing the surf....and the surf won:-)

 Jacob was bitter about the surf winning and resigned to playing in the sand with his cousin Nolan.

 Darin and I escaped for a night on the town with his brother Todd and wife Deanna.  We went to dinner in North Beach before seeing the show Beach Blanket Babylon--what fun!

 No trip to SF could be complete without a ferry ride!  We took the ferry from Sausalito to Fisherman's Wharf. 

 This little beach at Fisherman's Wharf provided great fun, and wet shoes:-)

 Uncle Phil has a daily ritual of changing the flag on the hill in their backyard.  Jacob was his assistant during our stay.  They just raised the Netherlands flag in honor of the Bolthouse family heritage. 

 Look at all those boys!  Two of the three Bolthouse brothers and all four Bolthouse grandsons.  Grandma Bolthouse is a lucky lady!

 After lunch in Novato, we walked down mainstreet in search of dessert....we found candy and this turkey!

 Cuddling with these cuties during the ferry ride. 

 We embraced our touristy sides and had lunch at Bubba Gump's on Pier 39 in San Francisco.

Todd and Darin on the Ferry ride back to Sausalito.  You can see the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

Day 5: Yosemite

 Yosemite started with a selfie!  This park wasn't what we'd bargained for!  It's the type of place where you need to stay on site.  There's a commuter lot with a shuttle system.  The first hour was filled with confusion and frustration.  Once we got our bearings, we started to relax and enjoy the scenery. 

 Kenny....less than thrilled to be posing:-)

 There were all sorts of boulder fields along our hike--amazing!

 This is the lower Yosemite falls.  The water levels are so low that the falls actually stopped the week before we arrived!

Day 4: Sequoia National Park

 We entered the land of giants in Sequoia National Park.  The parking lot was located at the top of the trees, and the path led us down until we were at the base of the trees.  Pretty amazing!  Here we are with the General Sherman Tree (largest tree on earth).

 The boys thought it was pretty cool to walk through a tree.  This tree had died and fallen.

 There were a lot of trees with fire damage.  We learned that the sequoias are fast growing trees and also have super-thick bark, which protects it from fire and disease.  John explores a "cave" created when this tree was damaged by fire.  It was still living!

 This one wasn't so lucky:-(

 It was tough finding a lunch spot in the sun!

The boys promptly fell asleep, which left us with a quiet drive to Yosemite and the chance for a selfie at one of the peaks in Sequoia.

Day 3: Vegas Baby!

 Vegas was almost the halfway point on our drive from Zion to Sequoia.  We stopped to stretch our legs on the strip and eat lunch.  The Bellagio's conservatory was beautiful and decked out for fall.

 We had to burn some time until the Bellagio fountains started. 

 Bumble Bee and Optimus were an exciting discovery!

 Kenny and John were brave, but Jacob wasn't so trusting of these characters:-)

 Jacob's attempt at a picture!

One last picture before hopping in the car....Paris Hotel is in the background.  Next stop.....Sequoia National Park in California!

Day 2: Zion National Park Angel's Landing

 It was a cold start to the day.  We started hiking around 9, bundled up with hats and gloves.

 It didn't take us long walking uphill before we started peeling off the layers.

 John liked this giant cactus (but didn't touch it:-)

 One of the prettiest points along the hike.  This lookout was amazing....and a little scary.  It was a straight drop....and no fences!

 This shows how steep the trail was.  The boys amazed all the hikers we encountered:-)

 Once we reached the top, we cut into a canyon.  Beautiful change of scenery.....

 .....and caves!

 We made it to the top!  We lunched on a huge rock.  The boys quickly made friends with the little squirrels that were trolling for morsels of food.

 Our lunch spot.  It was another 1/4 mile to Angel Landing along a rocky cliff with just a chain fence to hold onto.  We were prudent and decided to turn back early:-)

We love Zion and can't wait to go back!!  (Hampton Inn just outside of the park was a great place to stay.  Big rooms....awesome lobby....and incredible outdoor heated pool and fireplaces:-)