the d.m.k.s come to visit!

when the d.m.ks {my bro and his family} come to town, our entire house is transformed into a technology wonderland. our aging california duplex almost didn't have enough power outlets to hold all of the additional iphones that were used this weekend.

but, we don't mind when they bring presents like this {merry christmas to us!}

and this. 

friday night we made our way up to the oakland lds temple. the grounds were beautifully lit up and the visitor's center was a warm, dry refuge from the {refreshing, but wet} rain. the 50 minute commute turned into 2+ hours as we inched our way down 880. we crawled along a 1.3 mile stretch in 1 hr. 20 minutes thanks to what we can only assume was a major accident. the cars were cleaned up by the time we passed. but, we made it home. 

saturday dan and ryan cheered the cougs to victory and visited the confectionary operating systems statues at google while heather and i watched the kids at home. 

after naps, we again braved the rain - this time in san francisco. i rode in the penalty box {shhh!} so we could all go togther. ryan drove the dmk's new ford edge - which, i think only helped my case for a new car??? we were fascinated by the power locks and windows, among other features. 

we made our way to the golden gate bridge lookout, but saw no sign of the bridge. just lots of fog and rain, in true sf style. 

the rain subsided just in time for us to stroll along the wharf, eat dinner at allioto's, get some goodies at the candy store and enjoy an after-dinner snack at ghirardelli square. yum. and all without much of a crowd. apparently the rain scares away most would-be holiday tourists, but not us. we made our way home via union square to peek at the tree and the skaters on the ice rink {maybe next year}. 

our nights {both of them} were filled root beer and/or dr pepper floats, cuties and phase 10. 

it was a quick - but most definitely fun - trip. so happy to have family stateside even if it does end up taking them 9 hours because of a new baby. thanks guys! miss you already.