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!