Weekend Fun

Thanks to Andy and Marissa for finally getting married, because not only did we have a GREAT time celebrating with them, we had an awesome weekend in the bay area! It was really fun for Nate to be able to see many of his old San Jose friends and walk (or drive, I guess) down memory lane. It's hard not to be nostalgic about a place that has so many memories of good times and friendships. Nate's a great tour guide. He pointed out all kinds of places: where he used to live, his favorite restaurants and hangouts,and even swung by the headquarters for Yahoo!.

It was difficult just for Nate to decide where we should get lunch on Saturday because he had so many places to choose from! He picked a good one though, because we ended up at the Sonoma Chicken Coop. Nate's chicken carbonara and my quarter chicken with barbecue sauce were delicious. Simple food, but, oh so good! Just from that stop alone, I've realized that Sacramento really has some work to do when it comes to good eats!
Nate and I both agree that living in Utah during college spoiled us in at least one way: there's a pretty good milkshake to be found within a 5 minute drive from wherever you are. It's kind of like how I can drive past eight Starbuck's on my way to work, and it's only about a ten mile drive. Milkshakes can be found just about everywhere in Utah. It's just not the same here in Sacramento. As much as we've tried to settle for mediocrity, Dairy Queen blizzards and Wendy's frosties just don't cut it. Thanks to Nate's need to be reminiscent, on Friday night we hit the Palo Alto Creamery after a delicious dinner with Andy and Marissa's family and friends. What you can't see in this picture is the most amazing extra thick pralines and cream milkshake EVER! We also give two thumbs up to the banana cream pie. Wherever you live, it's worth the drive. We haven't made out last visit there yet, that's for sure!

On Sunday we headed up to Burlingame to go to church and spend time with one of Nate's BYU roommates, Russell, and his family. I feel like Russ and Betsy are infamous because of all the great, adventurous stories I've heard about them, and just their blog alone shows what a good time they are. Up until this weekend, my time spent with them was as long as it took for them to hug us and say hi at our wedding reception.

So, after church Russ made biggest sandwich I've ever seen, packed some snacks and we headed to an afternoon at the beach in Half Moon Bay. The weather AND company couldn't have been any better. We talked, laughed, played horseshoes and, I discovered I'm a miserable bocce ball player when it comes to having to throw that heavy ball farther than about ten feet. Thanks again Russ for taking my spot. I was totally dragging my team down!

All in all, it was a weekend full of memories, new and old, and fun. Nate and I just kept talking on the long drive home (an hour just from Half Moon Bay to Berkley!) how blessed we are to have so many friends that have entered and really affected our lives for the better. There are so many of them for each of us!

Stay tuned for more adventures. We leave for Africa in less than two weeks. Hopefully we'll really make this blog useful and be able to fill you in on our excitement and work there!