Maddox Seibert, PhD -- Amazing Reader!

Max has really really turned into a pretty amazing reader. He's worked so hard to get to where he is and I'm really proud of him. He can pretty much read anything we put in front of him now. He speeds through chapter books (he'll often read one or two while Tyler takes them for runs). He did such a great job reading that he was one of the top readers in first grade! He earned his "PhD" in reading! (He really thinks he's about equal with Tyler on that one). He got his award in front of the whole school at an assembly last Friday. He also had a cute little speaking part for the skits the students put on. He did a great job with that, too! Even though sometimes it's hard to get Max to sit still and do his schoolwork, he really is a great little student, and if he's anything like his dad, he'll be amazing one day!

Where It All Began

Tyler and I decided the perfect way to celebrate our 10 year anniversary (on June 27th) and the fact that he is FINALLY DONE WITH SCHOOL (for the first time ever in our marriage) was to go back to where it all began -- San Francisco and Berkeley. Tyler and I had our first "date" (date is in quotes because at the time I didn't realize it was a date, unlike Tyler, who did) in San Francisco. We rode the  BART over and went shopping and then went back to Berkeley for dinner and a movie with friends. But neither of us can go to San Francisco without thinking of that first date, and the spark that started between us. Both San Francisco and Berkeley feel like a special kind of home to us -- it's the birthplace of our love, our marriage and our little family.

We spent the first night in The Fairmont -- a super swanky hotel where the presidents stay when they come to the city. We had dinner at Pizzeria Delfina, walked around Market Street and then rode the cable car back up to our hotel.

The next morning we got up bright and early and had breakfast at La Boulange. Then we headed over to the Ferry Building, walked around a bit, sampled some fruit from the Farmers Market and picked up some lunch. We headed out to The Palace of Fine Arts to eat where we shared a bench with a guy who rolled a joint, lit up, smoked it, shared it with the homeless guitar playing man on the grass behind us and then rode away on his bike.

We tried to go to Baker Beach but it was just too foggy on that side of the city. So we drove up to The Legion of Honor to see if there was a view and the fog was too thick again so we decided to just head out to Berkeley to beat the traffic.

We stayed at the Berkeley City Club, another really cool hotel right in the heart of Berkeley. It's got a really cool history and the architecture is just beautiful. The view from our room was amazing -- sixth floor with a full panoramic view of the Bay. We walked around campus for a bit and decided to have dinner at the food ghetto. I tried to relive my college days and order the "combo plate" from the Vietnamese restaurant there. It made me feel just as a I did when I was 18 -- satisfied and disgusting all at the same time. Ah, memories!

The next morning Sally met us at the Oakland Temple (she was working there that day) with the kids and we took them to hang out in Berkeley for a bit before we had to drive home. (Our plan was to stay a bit longer but we had found out Max was getting a special reading award at school and we didn't want him to miss it.) We went up to the top of the Campanile -- something I had never done! The view was amazing. We walked around campus for a bit, had lunch (Fat Slice for Lia and Top Dog for Max and Tyler) and then we each got a new Cal shirt and stopped at Berkeley Bowl before we got on the road to drive home.

We didn't get home until almost 10pm that night and the next morning Max was SO tired he could hardly get out of bed. Poor kid. But we made it and we had a wonderful time! I wish we could go to the Bay Area all the time. Maybe someday! For now I'll take what I can get.

Jessica's Baptism

Our niece Jessica turned eight! I am still in shock that she is eight already. Because she's eight she made the decision to get baptized and we were lucky enough to be able to go. Tyler had the time off and it was a three day weekend so we decided to pull Max out of school for a few days to extend the trip a bit. We wanted to celebrate our 10 year anniversary (later this month) and the fact that Tyler was graduating from med school so we snuck in a little overnight to San Francisco (more on that later).

The kids were pretty excited to take a road trip! They know they get lots of treats and movies in the car. We're lucky that they are pretty good on long car trips.

We got to Molly and Nick's house late Sunday afternoon and got some good cousin playing time in. Lia was obsessed with Jordan's guinea pig Butterscotch and has been asking for her own ever since.

Practicing for Jessica's baptism.

It was sweet to have the whole family together for Jessica's baptism. It was such a lovely day, too. Jessica is one of the sweetest girls around and I'm grateful she's such a great example to Max and Lia.

Beautiful family of 6 -- soon to be 7!