Oakland/San Francisco Day of Fun!

We had the most amazing time in the Bay Area. First of all how much better could one start the day than going to the Oakland Temple, it was my first time and Sawyer's first time in 5 years. It was decorated for Christmas and had an amazing view of the bay.



The Golden Gate Bridge was the next stop. We walked halfway across then walked back but it took us a good 45 minutes. Good thing we are not scared of heights! It was beautiful.


Our next stop was the most important of the whole trip, seeing the full house house (well the next important after the temple)! It took us a while to find it (like 2 hours) but we found it and it is not like they showed it in the 90's but it brought bake a lot of Tanner family memories. The last stop was the Fisherman's Wharf. We ate some good crabs and shrimp at Joe's Crab Shack and walked down the wharf to end the night. It was a fun one day trip needed to rejuvenate until Thanksgiving break.

This is the biggest donut we have ever seen! We got it in the one and only Santa Cruz Boardwalk. We were able to go because Sawyer's cousin Jane had a reception nearby so we spent the day there beforehand.




We rode a roller coaster and met up with Shannon and Richard and watched the surfers ride the waves. It was a fun day in the sun!

Finally we are updating the events that have been happening in the last few months. Maddie graduated from BYU-Idaho with a Business Management degree and Sawyer decided to treat her to a cruise! The cruise was five days and four nights, starting in San Diego and then going to Catalina Island where we went snorkeling and moved on to Ensenada, Mexico where we rented a scooter and toured the city. Maddie was stressed out when we went shopping because no one leaves you alone! Can't get enough chickles in that city. Sawyer loved speaking spanish to all the locals and telling them that he was actually from Uruguay and I'm his American wife. Bargaining for the already cheap prices was Sawyer's favorite part. The cruise was a ton of fun. Sawyer won us a bottle of champaine by shaking his booty in front of the whole cruise ship! We were called on stage because we made the mistake of sitting in the front row. He was in a competition with another guy in a "dance off" it was hilarious to say the least! The food was great and we both have finially lost the weight we gained from all steaks and lobsters. After sucking the ice cream mechine dry and taking in the rays for the week we went to Sacramento to visit family and then headed back to Rexburg.

Tolman Family Reunion

Maddie's brother-in-law is a police officer and has a lot of guns. The one Sawyer is shooting is a M-16 Assult Rifle. He looked like a kid at Disney Land while he was shooting it and looking back with a silly grin. Maddie is shooting her grandpa's 12 gauge right at the clay pidgen and not a bad shot I might add.

On the 4th of July we spent most of the day on the lake with all the siblings and all the kids. There was a huge three person tube that got drug around by the boat. Sawyer was able to get in a little bit of his wakeboarding and skiing fix. He still has it! Rock was unsuccessful in trying to throw us off the tube! The holiday was finished off with dinner and fun with the family.

The cabin is in Pinto, UT 45 minutes Northwest of St. George on a mountain side. We decided to climb to the top one day with everyone including my sister Joey's baby Britt. Sawyer was a gentleman and voluteered to have the baby on his back most of the way up the mountain. On the way down Britt fell asleep and his head was flopping back and forth but enjoyed the ride and slept through it.

One of our favorite things to do at the cabin was ride 4-wheelers. Every night we would end our day with a nice ride through the mountains sometimes riding together and sometimes on our own.
It was fun to be reunited with the whole Tolman family. Even though it was only a few days we had a great time and got away from our busy lives at school. Can't wait for next year!

The New Edition To The Family

The best event of the summer in Rexburg is a big hick fest of a demolition derby. The 10 dollars we spent got us an annoying drunk lady wearing half the clothes anyone would wear, that wouldn't keep her mouth shut about her boyfriend that was 8 years younger than her, while leaning back and practically resting on Maddie's lap! About half way through Sawyer looked down from the top bleacher we were sitting on and saw that the support underneath was bending slightly. He said to himself "oh, it will probably hold us but that's not good." Well one minute later the bleachers started falling sideways and Sawyer jumped off the side and helped me up after they hit the ground. The lady sitting next to Maddie got her foot caught and probably broke some bones. There is an experience we can say we had but will never do it again!


On a good note, we were able to go golfing at the local Municipal Golf Course and played nine holes. Sawyer did well for not playing since before the mission. We had a good time in the sun and Maddie learned a lot about golfing, including that eleven shots on one hole is not good!


The "New Edition" to the family is a 2007 DRZ-400sm. Sawyer found a good deal that he just couldn't pass up, well maybe we could have but it is a nice ride to school and not worry about parking and in a small town like this they're not too dangerous. We enjoy going for rides through the farm lands on the old farm roads and looking at all the potatoes grow ha. Sawyer has always loved motorcycles and has finally gotten one of his own and knows that it is only temporally and when children come, the bike goes.

Home Sweet Home!

We finally have our own home!! We moved in on April 20, 2009 in Rexburg Idaho, the arm-pit of the world because there is not much here but we are managing to survive. Our apartment has two bedrooms and one bathroom. It is just the right amount of space for the two of us and we love it! Rexburg will most definately not be our permanent home. Right now we are going to school so we can get out of here. Maddie graduates in July and she will get a job and put Sawyer through school for another year. We enjoy our time here in the summer when it is bearable outside. Sawyer is on a soccer team and we are both on a co-ed softball team with friends.

Easter 2009

We celebrated our first Easter together at grandpa and grandma Walker's(our home at the time haha). We of course went to church and celebrated Christ's resurrection and then came home and enjoyed hiding the eggs and playing with our nieces and nephews. Helping the little ones find the eggs was a lot of fun. Grandpa was very generous this year with the money eggs and the grand kids loved getting those. In the beautiful California weather we ate a great dinner with everyone there. We also dyed Easter eggs as a family(just the two of us). It was a very nice way to celebrate Easter with our family.

AMGEN Tour 2009

Last Saturday the 14th we attended the 2009 AMGEN Cycling Tour with Robby, Cami and the boys. It was a very cold and very windy day but luckily only a few raindrops fell. It was a pro-log time trial in downtown Sacramento and only covered a few miles of closed down street. It was enjoyable to walk around and stand feet away from the riders as they warmed up and also take free hand-outs from all the tents set up. A cyclist (like the Walker boys) appreciated the very expensive bikes that cost over $10,000 (like Lance's bike which was stolen that night outside his hotel). Lance Armstrong has returned to ride again and made the event very exciting. Although he finished tenth it was thrilling to see a national hero like him in person and ride. Robby and Cami's boys did pretty well considering how cold it was. It was a lot of fun and we look forward to going to the event in future years. In the photos are Lance Armstrong and last year Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre.