Weekend Getaway to Riverton

I got to go home with Lindsay and spend the weekend with her, and her family.  We had a BLAST!  They were absolutely wonderful, and I loved every minute of it.  It came at the perfect time, as it was the weekend before finals began.  The first night, we got into town and stopped by Lindsay's grandparents house.  We visited with them for a little while, and they were just adorable.  They reminded me of my grandparents. 

One bit of excitement I had: did you know that you can see THREE temples in one spot!!!!  The Draper, Oquirrh, and Jordan River temples!  Some people from Utah may laugh at my excitement, but when you nearest temple is two hours away, you would get excited too!  I attempted a photo of the Jordan River and Oquirrh temples, but this is the best I got.

Then, we drove to Lindsay's house, dropped our stuff off, and then went to Gardner's Village where I met Lindsay's Mom.  She works in a super cute shop there called "Up on the Shelf".  I really want to go back to Gardner Village when I have a lot of time and just look around.  It is a bunch of pioneer homes that they turned into shops.  From there we drove across the street and caught the Trax to down-town Salt Lake where we went and saw the lights.  

Seeing the lights on temple square is one of my favorite things to do at Christmas time.

The lights are a magnificent sight to see each year.  If only there was a way to not have so many people have the same idea, haha.  It was pretty crowded, but I did kindof get to see the replica of the Salt Lake temple.  It is simply AMAZING! There were so many people that I wasn't able to hear the little video they had by it, but that's ok...that just means I'll have to go back!...right Dad??? :)

Not even kidding: in the short hour that we were there,

3 couples got engaged.  I guess Lindsay and I

missed the memo, so no worries: boyfriends are on

the to-do-list for next year ;) ...just kidding.

But it was funny to be taking a picture and then

everyone would suddenly be cheering and clapping,

it happened in both of the two photos above.

We had a great time downtown.  There were some interesting looking people, but strangely enough I felt safe.  I think prayer has a great help with that.  While we were downtown, we stopped by the 2news station and called our parents.  We waved like every other crazy person that stands behind the newscast.  

It was a lot of fun.  Then, we had to head back to the Trax.  

Saturday we ate at Kneader's.  It is DELICIOUS!!! and they just built one in Logan!  So I'm super stoked, cause I can have sourdough bread when I'm craving it! :) Before that, we drove to Harriman and saw the "UP!" house.  It is an exact replica of the house in the Disney movie "Up".  If I could buy a house, I would totally buy that one.  Here are some pictures:

I didn't get a ton of photos, because my camera card filled up

and then my battery was dying...sheesh.

They had to put the tub in through the roof because it was so big!

Then, that night we went to the ward Christmas party.  As we pulled into the parking lot, I noticed a car with a 3C license plate.  I thought "No way...here I am all the way down here in Riverton, and I'll know somebody at the Christmas party".  We went inside and I didn't see anybody I knew.  While we were waiting in line, Lindsay's dad said that the person in front of us was from Idaho and that it may be his family.  They introduced me and then we asked if they had any family visiting.  He pointed to the couple behind him and said that they were his parents...low and behold, they are from Soda!  Their names are the Gniegtings and I recognized their name.  I told them where I was from, and who my family is.  They knew practically everybody, and are in my Grandma and Grandpa Petersen's ward!  It was so funny to actually run into somebody from Soda when I was clear down in Riverton. 

I love being from a small town.  Even though I didn't know them directly, we were able find connections and find that they actually knew who I was!  After the ward party, we came back to Lindsay's house and watched It's a Wonderful Life.  We ate popcorn with MnM's and hot tomale candy.  It was SOOOO good.  I swear, I gained 20 pounds that weekend haha.  I have had MnM's with my popcorn before, but never hot tomale's.  I think I have a new guilty pleasure, cause it seriously was chocolate covered cinnamon bears with my popcorn!!!  If you haven't tried it, you absolutely should!

Thanks for a wonderful weekend Lindsay!  You're the best!

A Phone Call...or two :)

Guess who called home today!?

Elder Stoor called from the airport tonight!!!!

He flies out from Salt Lake at 12:55, will land in Atlanta

in the morning around 6:30 and then catch another flight

to D.C. landing there around 9:00.

We wondered if we would possibly get a phone call

or not, but then the phone rang tonight and I saw Mom

with the tears in her eyes saying "...This is Mom...."

We had him call back on his old cell phone so we could

put him on speaker phone.  We talked for a few minutes, and

he is doing absolutely wonderful.  He sounds great, and is 

super anxious and excited to get to D.C.  I just can't believe

that he will be clear across the country in the morning.

Well, we hung up with him and about 15 minutes later Megan

came out with her phone saying "Turn off the tv! It's Seth again!"

He'd bought a calling card, and so he talked to us again for

twenty minutes and then used the rest of the time and called Dad

at work.  I can't wait to talk to him next week on Christmas.

We are hoping that he will be able to skype, but we'll have to see.

He was just sitting in the airport waiting for his flight at 12:55.

Then when they get there (about 13 or 14 missionaries), they

are going to the temple and eating at ihop.  I don't know if

he'll be able to sleep on the plane or not, he sounds pretty excited.

He said that it doesn't really feel like the Christmas season,

but that is prolly cause he has been couped up in classrooms for

the past two weeks.  But I'm sure D.C. will be completely

decked out and once he gets his Christmas package, he will

get into the mood...and if that doesn't do it, serving all of the

people there outta do it :)

He said that he likes his companion (we got to tell him hi),

the MTC food was alright, told us about his flight plans, 

asked if he had gotten all of the letters, and then answered his questions.

We can't wait to hear about his first week there, and 

hopefully he can send some pictures home soon.  But 

what a great early Christmas present in getting to talk to him! :D

I'm Officially Writing a Missionary

And that missionary's name is Elder Seth Russell Stoor!  (No...not what you may have been guessing. Sorry to disappoint!) My big, little brother checked into the MTC Wednesday (Nov 30th).  Many tears were shed as he left.  He kept telling me "It's not like I'm dying! Sheesh!"  I know he's not dying, but I'm sure gonna miss him.  I would have cried even more had he decided not to go.  I won't see him again for two years, but I am so proud of him for his decision to serve the Lord by helping others to receive the gospel.  

He has a strong support system at home and in Soda, so he shouldn't worry because he will have a ton of family and friends praying for him.

  

Why ever on earth he has to spin me around each time he hugs me, I'll never know haha.

I'm sure gonna miss you bud....I already have, like when something awesome happened and I went to text you about it....and then I couldn't.  I sure hope these two years go by quicker than the last week, haha.

Last pic before I left (Monday night), tears and all.

I only had institute and one class Monday, so I sluffed class and spent the day with him.  I swear I spent half the day crying.  I thought I did pretty good though, until right before I left.  Thank goodness he is my one and only brother, cause if I had to do this multiple times, I might not make it through.  Maybe that makes it harder, since he is the only one....I dunno.  It was kinda a weird thing for him to leave.  In our family we've there is this invisible buddy-like system....there's Mom and Dad, Megan and Shelby, and Me and Seth.  Being so close in age, us siblings have always had our buddy around...and now mine's gone for a little bit.  It wouldn't be that big of a deal...except things are going to change from here on out.  (Insert knot in the back of throat...commence tears).  The "normal" routine of our family will prolly never be the same.  I'd been thinking about that for a super long time (basically since Seth's graduation).

Then Dad brought up that point at "the last supper" haha.  We drove over and met dad in Thayne as he came home from work, to eat at "Dad's".  It was sooooo good!  I'd put Seth's leaving to the back of my thoughts, and then Dad said "Guys...think about it.  This is prolly the last time it will be like this...just the six of us at the table."  (Waterworks again!)  But Mom brought up the point that our family is going to get bigger and better from here on out.  It's kinda weird to think about that fact, but then I thought about twenty years down the road.  In-laws, grandkids...yeah, it's gonna be GREAT!

So there.  There's the post.  It almost makes it official to me that Elder Stoor is gone.  Even though I'm sad that I don't get to see him for two years (though we are crossing our fingers that he can skype on Mother's Day and Christmas), I know he is where he is supposed to be and doing the right thing at this time in his life. I'm so thankful that I have an amazing brother who is worthy, and following the commandments of the Lord. He is going to bring joy to so many people, and I know he is going to fall in love with all of the people he meets.  We have a blog set up, where we will share pictures and letters that Seth sends us and Mom put a quote on it that defines a missionary: "Someone who leaves their family for a short time, so that they may be with their families for ETERNITY".  How true that is, I love it.  I'm going to miss him a TON, but it is totally worth it!  Love and miss ya bud!  Here's the link to his blog: http://elderstoor.blogspot.com/