After a wild and cold storm last night, we awoke to some ice on our windshields, and, would you believe it- SNOW on the hills behind the YMCA!!!! 
It started melting pretty much the moment the sun came up, but at 8:15 there was still enough on the hills for me, and at least a dozen other drivers, to stop and gawk and take pictures. You'd think that we'd never seen snow before!!
Well we haven't...here, anyway.
These same hills were on fire a month and a half ago.
So much for global warming!
Last week seemed to be the unofficial atmospheric holiday showcase - a huge yellow moon, shooting stars, and incredible sunsets. On Thursday, I was making dinner and I happened to look up and see this:
Awesome! My jaw totally dropped and I stopped to gawk for a while. Can you believe the colors? It looks like the sky is burning. It totally lit up the water with color - I wish I had a telephoto lens to capture it more completely.
It is amazing what one can witness if one takes a moment to look up from chopping vegetables...
Erin ran the CIM today and she did spectacular! Carrie, Kirk, Ali, Jeremiah, Paige and Ben braved the fog and cold temperatures for a chance to cheer Erin on as she completed her 3rd (I think) marathon. Way to go Erin! The official results are as follows:
Erin placed 50th in her age group - Nice! - and 1396th overall. Her final time was 3:36:02, which is 4 minutes faster than her previous runs. Awesome! There were over 5000 people running the race.
Erin you are a superstar!
Tonight we had an informal dinner to celebrate Sara's birthday and everyone's safe arrival. Unfortunately, my camera was not operable (charged) in time to capture the actual dinner (made by Erin)/ birthday cake/singing/candles/gifts and everyone present, but I was able to get a few pictures of the aftermath (at which time Derek told me, "I had a lot of sugar.").
The kids all took turns getting wrapped up like mummies, then they wanted to be wrapped up ALL TOGETHER, like a burrito. That lasted about 5 seconds.
I think Carissa grew about a foot since I last saw her.
Grayson and his new best friend, "Eehwin."
He explained that he got hurt on the chin by a "wock." When we asked how, he said, "Deowwick." He seems to give that answer for a lot of his injuries...
Carissa is a good speller. Here she was spelling "transportation." I don't think I knew how to spell that at 7.
Too bad I won't be spending Thanksgiving here with everyone! Seriously, how did that work out??
One look in the full-length mirror was all it took for Derek to pronounce in a half whisper: " I look wonderful!" This costume was on from 10 am until 10 pm, and is now on again at 9 am Saturday. It may never come off.
Halloween started at Carissa's school with the parade and class party. The boys were initially excited to walk in parade, but opted out at the last second.
Carissa and her friend Pelagia waited patiently.
Then each grade took a turn parading around the yard.
There was food, music, cookie decorating, bracelet making, pumpkin decorating, more food, and then trick or treating through each department. Every show (Sponge Bob, Dora, etc.) decorated their offices in a spook alley/haunted house, and gave out handfuls of candy at the end. It was very fun.
Even Batman needs a juicebox once in a while.
Here are the kids with our friend, Ashley.
Then it was back home for some good, old-fashioned trick or treating around the neighborhood.
Grayson was hammered by this point and only lasted the length of our street before he completely melted down and was carried home.
Thank you for the nice letter and gifts. Brady was very happy about his new rattle.
And Evan was super excited about the Spiderman sunglasses. Ever since your trip, he's been obsessed with sunglasses. And now he has his very own pair!
Thank you Gramma and Grampa. We miss you!
It was Fleet Week in San Francisco this weekend and that means Blue Angels flying over my house! I don't know what it is about Fleet Week, but we always get the most beautiful weather on this weekend. It must be that God loves patriots and the military. Anyway, I went up on the roof to watch (along with everyone else in my neighborhood) and tried to take some pictures. It was hard to get great pictures with my pathetic little camera, but there are a few here that show how close they got. One of them flew directly over my roof at one point and it was LOUD, but very cool. You should all come next year.
You can view more pics here: http://gallery.me.com/erin73#100081
**LATE BREAKING NEWS**
I just went outside to the top of Russian Hill to watch a fire burning on Angel Island. It started at about 9pm and when I went outside at a little after 10pm, it had already engulfed most of the southeast side. I stood there and watched it with a bunch of other people in the street for about 45 minutes. My friend brought his telescope out and we could see some pretty massive flames and exploding trees. We'll see how bad it really is in the morning. I tried to take a picture but it didn't come out very clear.
This is at Leavenworth and Green Street, looking north towards Alcatraz with Angel Island burning behind it.
We also had rain last weekend, and it happened to be during the hours of the triathlon at Lake Lopez (the sky cleared and sun came out as soon as the race ended).
Tyler did an exceptional job, considering this was his first attempt at a triathlon (Olympic distance - 1 mi swim, 25 mi bike, 6 mi run), and considering the wet conditions.
They started the race at 8 am with the swim. Tyler finished in 23 minutes - 2nd fastest time in his division, 13th for men, and 17th overall. Definitely his strongest (and favorite) event.
Coming out after the first lap...
After a quick transition, he was down to his tri-shorts (i.e., hotpants), makeshift tri-shirt (UnderArmour shirt), and on the bike. I was worried because of the wet roads, but I think the spill he took on a 55 mile ride the Saturday prior made him slightly more cautious (you'll notice he has a hard time with the concept of "tapering"). Bike time: 1:19.
Off the bike, running shoes on, he hits the road for the last 6 miles. Tyler always had a smile when he came running by. Run time: 53:57
Way to go, Tyler! 2:42:28 (including transitions), placing 46th overall.
"Now get your crap and get outta here!"
