I have seriously been neglecting my blog since I moved to Utah and I have been postponing doing this particular post because of the ridiculous number of pictures I have to upload. But here goes...
Since my sister Brittany and her family are moving to North Carolina this summer, my family decided we needed to have a reunion of our immediate family before some of our number leave this coast for the other. So we all (15 kids and 12 adults) went back to the Bay Area over the Memorial Day weekend and had an absolute blast!
Saturday
The first order of business on Saturday morning was to practice our musical number for Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. Shelley had a nice choral arrangement of "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul" so Mom signed all of us up to sing it in our home ward, the Clayton Valley 1st Ward. It was so much fun to sing with all of my siblings and my Dad again (with Mom at the piano). After that, we had a picnic at Mitchell Canyon where we used to hike as kids. The kids enjoyed playing in the little creek and the adults (mainly me) watched them anxiously to make sure they didn't slip and hit their heads on rocks.
After that, we went back to Omi and Opa's and swam in the pool. It had been so long since I had gone swimming and I hadn't realized how much I missed it.
That night we played a game of sibling volleyball. Keeping the kids out of the line of fire was a challenge but I think I bore the brunt of the pain that night, getting smacked in the face by one of Kiel's jump serves. It was awesome to be able to play with them again!
Sunday
We went to church on Sunday and spent most of Sacrament Meeting corralling the kids. They did pretty well under the circumstances. Then we sang our musical number and people said it was great to hear all of the Christensens sing together again. We took pictures outside the church building until the kids could bear it no longer :).
We had dinner at Kiel and Melissa's house that night. I've really missed our family dinners since I moved to Utah so it was great to take part in one of them again.
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| All the kids (minus 8 month old Madden) in birth order. My nieces and nephews are the cutest! |
Monday
Our home ward has a Memorial Day Breakfast every year at Newhall Park. I'm so glad I got to be there this year! It's such a great tradition!
After the breakfast, Shelley and Steve's family as well as Lisa had to head home. It was sad to say goodbye. My nephew Jack was upset that he wouldn't get to play with his cousins anymore. He and Bruce became best friends over the weekend. Those of us that were left hung out in San Francisco for the rest of the day. We went to some of my favorite haunts in the city (except for the Sutro Baths but I guess I'll just have to go back sometime).
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| Ocean Beach - San Francisco, CA |
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| "This is the best day ever!" |
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| Polly Ann Ice Cream |
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| Moraga Steps - or, as I like to call them, the Stairway to Heaven |
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| Mom and I at Grandview Park |
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| San Francisco is a beautiful city! |
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| Kiel and Melissa's Family at Grandview Park |
It was such a great weekend! I grew up in the best place and I have the best family ever ;).
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| Leaving the beautiful Bay Area |
