San Francisco Bay Area

Dear Friends:

Two weeks ago (I'm a little late writing this), I spent three days in the San Francisco Bay Area.  The trip was a really fun combination of business, family and friends.

I began the trip with a series of business meetings.  No pictures or stories from these meetings - they weren't unique enough to mention here.  The real fun started after all the business was taken care of!

I met up with my oldest daughter, who lives in the Bay Area.  We decided to own up to our true nerd selves and go see the opening of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens".  We grabbed some decent Japanese food, and then proceeded to stand in line for almost 4 hours ; )  While we both were really, really excited to see this movie, the best part was just hanging out with each other for several hours.  I would highly recommend it for any parent.

There were a ton of people that had dressed in Star Wars costumes.  It was just fun to participate in such a huge cultural event:

The next day, I participated in a few more meetings.  Luckily, the day ended a little early.  I grabbed a late lunch at one of my favorite places.  It's a tiny little hot dog place that I loved while growing up here.  I've mentioned it in blog posts before - it's called Casper's.

I then had to run a big errand, which leads me to the next reason for the trip.  You see, my best friend's daughter was getting married that weekend.  She's such a delight, and I'm really excited for my friend to experience this as a father.  My heart is full of so much joy, as I watched both of my older kids get married to such great additions to our family.  Watching both of my older kids grow, and prepare for such a big life event, really makes you thank your Heavenly Father for the opportunity to guide these children in their lives.  You come to the point where you have to trust them and the decisions that they will make with their respective spouses.  It's such an amazing experience.  I can't wait for my friend to feel it, too.

I headed straight to the mall, to buy wedding gifts for the couple.  I received help from my wife, over the phone, and managed to check this errand "off" the list:

I had dinner that evening at a lovely restaurant called Cuisinett.  It's a small French restaurant that specializes in French comfort food.  Nothing fancy, just delicious and heart-warming.

I had a delicious pork chop, bathed in a champignon sauce with mushrooms and bacon.  The "comfort" was the peas and carrots that added a simplicity to the meal.

The next day was the actual wedding.  I left my hotel and drove over to the East Bay, all the way to Castro Valley.  This is where I grew up, and have lots of great memories.  I decided to grab a bite to eat before the actual ceremony.  I stopped by a childhood favorite - Lucca's Deli.

The interior has changed a bit, over the years, but it remains very familiar.  The counter where employees prepare sandwiches doesn't look like it's changed one bit in forty years:

I ordered a turkey sandwich on Dutch Crunch bread. I thought everyone knew what this kind of bread was like.  Apparently, it's very much a California phenomenon.  I can't find it anywhere in Texas or the East Coast.  It was delicious!

I then made my way to the Oakland LDS Temple, nestled in the Oakland Hills.  It turned out to be a beautiful day...and such a beautiful temple:

The view from this site is incredible.  On a clear day, you can see the entire Bay Area.  Such a lovely experience to have:

It reminded me of the moment that I knelt down and proposed to my wife.  It was on this corner of the upper temple grounds.  It make me miss my wife, and wish she was with me.  We won't forget that special moment:

The actual wedding took place inside the temple.  The interior of the temple is very sacred to us, so no pictures are available of the actual ceremony.  We believe that marriages last well beyond our mortal existence, so members of our church that are married in our temples, are married for time and all eternity.  The ordinance was delightful.  Afterwards, we headed outside, to await the newlyweds.  I hung out with the bride's sisters...some really amazing daughters of my best friend.  I love them and they have a fantastic family.

The newly married couple finally emerged from the temple to the cheers of all who were waiting.  They look absolutely adorable together:

Emma looked lovely, and the joy on her face was infectious.  As I said to my wife, it made me want to cherish her even more.  That's a pretty good bonus outcome from the wedding, no?

i was able to get the bride and groom to sit still for one last picture, with a pretty spectacular backdrop ; )

We then headed to a small, private luncheon at the Claremont Hotel.  This is a beautiful place, that I've seen while growing up.  It's all white, set against the green hills of Oakland.  A classic structure that was a perfect location for this family dinner.

Once the late lunch was done, we headed over to the location of the reception.  The Piedmont Community Center was the site of a beautiful reception.  I was able to help out with some of the more simple decorations, like this artificial tree with wedding favors attached:

I couldn't stay for the entire reception, because I had to drive back over to San Francisco, to catch a flight home.  Overall, it was such a short - but fantastic - trip.  The time spent with my daughter was priceless, as was the time spent with my best friend.  My heart is so full of gratitude and joy, in watching my friend experience true contentment on his daughter's wedding day.  I loved every minute of it!