Here's Andruw Jones' 1st homerun of the game. He hit another homerun at his next at bat.

Here's the group that went to the game. In red is Amy, then Joe, his wife Karen, and then of course Ben. Fortunately for Ben, the Braves won the game 6-1. The others were fans of the Giants, but Ben wasn't a poor sport..... this time. :)

On Sunday, July 31, Ben & Beth's friends from grad school, Amy & Ed, came out for a visit. Actually, they had been in the area visiting Monterey and Carmel as a sort of "last hurrah" before they have their baby (Amy's due in early December). Though a very short visit, we took them to dinner and drove around a little bit before heading back to hang out in Pleasant Hill. Unfortunately, their flight was at 7AM or something crazy like that. It was great seeing them though! Congrats to Amy & Ed!

In Mid-September 2005, Ben's very good friend (see Florida-Kentucky trip), Chris, and his wife Jennifer, came out for a visit. Jennifer's cousin was getting married in Sonoma, CA, about an hour North of Beth and Ben's place. A great time was had as C & J were given the full tour of the Bay Area.

Here's Chris considering his many options while walking on the Golden Gate Bridge.

A cornerstone of San Francisco is the Cable Car. While quite the tourist attraction, it's also pretty dangerous. Not only was the car packed, forcing many to dangle dangerously by the outside bars, but when another cable car passed going the opposite direction, you'd better pull yourself inside fast. You really get to know the people on the inside when you're thrusting yourself practically into their lap. My lucky winners were from Dusseldorf, Germany!

Makes for quite a neat picture, and a lot of fun driving!!!

As luck would have it in early October 2005, Ben's brother, Jason, had a week long training class in Newark, CA, about 45 minutes South along the Bay. Unfortunately, work, traffic, and the before mentioned training class didn't allow for a ton of time, but Jason, Ben and Beth still got together a couple of times for dinner and navigating the SF streets. Here's Jason and Ben sharing a brotherly moment :)

In early December, 2005, Ben's softball team, Last Call, had a BBQ before one of their final games of the season. Everyone ran a little slower that game. Don't you just wonder what diabolical softball schemes are being concocted.....