Not so lost in the crowd.......

I had my concerns coming to Utah. I was excited for the beauty, all the LDS history and things to do, and my friends that lived here, but I was really worried about "finding my place" in our new ward. Not having ever lived in Utah, I asked around.  How my friends liked Utah, what did they think, etc. I got a lot of the same answer......don't let yourself get lost in the Utah crowd. Don't become a wall flower, and don't take it personally if the ward isn't that friendly.  You'd be worried too, right?  I was so comfortable in our Missouri ward (miss you guys!!!!!!!) and knew exactly what my place was there, and felt valued and like I really contributed. I was worried about that coming to Utah. With so many strong members and huge wards I really thought, will I have that much to offer that isn't already there? I was worried and nervous about it. But too my surprise (sorry I doubted you new ward!) it has not been that way at all. Our ward is not huge. I'm guessing its our location and if the base were in Provo it'd be totally different, but our ward here is smaller than our ward in Missouri! And I have to tell you......we have been welcomed with open arms. The sisters in my ward have really made me feel like they are excited I am here. I am greeted with warm smiles and invitations to go do things, and just a warmness and friendliness that honestly, I didn't expect.  I know this a blessing and a testimony to me that my Heavenly Father hears my prayers and knows my heart and what I needed to make this transition. I can definitely see some wonderful friendships forming in this ward and I am so grateful for that.

We have found ourselves so busy! Sam has family here and between them inviting us over and our friends that already lived here, our new friends at church and running into Sam's old mission companions....we've already developed quite a social life!!!  We are having a blast and even though I don't want to admit it, I really really like it here.  I won't say love yet...we will see when the newness wears off and the kids start school and we get into a routine, but I really am liking it here a lot. 

So, tonight I am feeling blessed and grateful that I am not so lost in crowd. :)

Hail and Farewell and a musical delight

This after noon Sam's squadron had a hail and farewell family picnic.  It was nice meeting the people in his shop. They all seem pretty friendly and family oriented, which is nice. They had bouncy castles and we were right by the big splash pad.  They introduced everyone new in the squadron and bid farewell to those leaving. It was nice and we had a good time. 

Tonight our friends the Cliffords invited us to go to the MoTab Pioneer concert with them. We went to this yummy cheese steak place downtown. It was delicious. Kathy knows all the good places to eat and hasn't let me down with her dinning recommendations! They had scored these hard to get concert tickets from a friend who is as singer in the choir. They were great seats and it was awesome!!  We were sitting there talking and then all the sudden everyone stood up and went silent. We quickly realized someone important was coming in. It was President Monson! You have to understand I've never lived in Utah, so seeing any of the Apostles is exciting....but Pres Monson...thrilling! He was so cute and waved to the crowd before he took his seat.  The concert was amazing. The guest performers were great...in particular Nathan Pacheco.  He was unbelievable!!!!!  What a gorgeous voice. Man, I could have listened to him for hours. After we walked a little around City Creek. What a cool place! We had an awesome time.  We sure love those Cliffords. 

**let me just say......the built in babysitter stage is amazing. Sweet Aileen is a great babysitter and of course, she loves being" in charge"  :)**

Treehouse Museum

Today we went to the Ogden Treehouse Museum with our new friends. We had so much fun. During the summer it is free for the military, so I'm sure we will go back. :)  Parker is the perfect age for this place, and even Aileen had a good time. There were dress up clothes at about every area. There was a huge treehouse in the middle and then fun little houses representing different countries.  They had a section all about the United States with a little Oval Office, a craft center, a castle with puppets and a giant chess board. There is a farm where you could ride horses and milk a cow (pretend of course). They have these giant interactive floor maps that quiz you! It was The kids ran around and just played their little hearts out. It was so fun and we loved hanging out with our new friends. Here are some pics!

President Parker

Cowgirl Aileen

She's a natural

He put on this Indian outfit about 14 times. He loved the tee pee.

This looks about right. :)

Rodeo Man

They only look like they know what they are doing.
Now I really want to learn how to play chess. :)

Cute little field journals they made at the craft center.

And my favorite pic of the day.......these boys were cracking me up.
They were fascinated. :)

Awesome FHE

Tonight for FHE we decided to go to downtown Salt Lake. Good decision! We went intending to got to the Church History Museum and walk around Temple Square. We went to the history museum first and it was pretty neat. They had a kids section that Parker really loved.  We walked around Temple Square and went in the tabernacle. It was small!!  I loved the history of it and the wooden benches and seeing how close you were the Prophet and Apostles when they gave conference talks. How cool. We walked around the Temple and I took some pics. A lot, actually. :) I love taking pics of the temple.  I really like taking pics of temples with the American flag in front of it. We decided to walk over to the conference center just to take a look. We walked in and a sweet lady asked if we wanted a tour. We knew it was getting late and we hadn't eaten dinner, but we decided we'd get a "shortened tour".  We ended up getting the whole thing! It was amazing. Parker loved it. Our tour guide totally catered to him and let him feel like he was in charge. She was amazing and took so much time with us. We went up on the roof and it is gorgeous up there. How smart to make it so gorgeous. President Hinckley was a smart, and inspired, man! Its awesome up there. She took us all over and showed us everything. I loved all the art. All the paintings are the originals. All the original Book of Mormon pictures are displayed there and so many other beautiful paintings, sculptures and art. This was such a neat tour and I am so glad we decided to do it. It was my favorite thing of the night. So many fun FREE things to do for FHE here. Pretty awesome.

**on a side note.....there are so many "beggars", for lack of a better term, around Temple Square.  I wonder if they have found mormons are more generous....especially if they catch them coming out of the Temple......interesting**

New calling

I've had some awesome callings. YW president definitely being my favorite so far. Those girls forever changed my heart and I will always love them.  It's exciting moving to a new ward and wondering where you will be needed. I have been called to be the primary pianist! I've never had this calling and am excited. I've never really spent much time in primary. It does makes me a little nervous because I mostly play by ear. I can read music, somewhat.....but it's work for me. I'm pretty stocked that this will force me to be better.  I've been practicing songs all week and can already tell a big difference. I love the primary songs and am excited for this new opportunity. I know I'm going to be the one benefiting from it the most. :)

Fish and Chips and a real Brit......

I've mentioned before about how Sam's favorite mission companion, Barry, and his family live in Provo. Tonight they came out to our side of the valley.  We went to this little fish and chips spot they knew about in Layton called Taste of Brittan.  Barry is English and knows his fish and chips and said this place was pretty good......for America. :) It was!!!  The fish was delicious. The "chips" were just regular fries, so they were ok. They had minty peas, which I have heard Sam talk about how nasty they were for 15 years, but I'm adventurous, so I tried them. I really liked them!!!!  They were a mashed potato consistency and didn't taste like American green sweet peas. I really liked them. It was yummy to dip your fries in them.  Of course you had to drench your fish and chips in vinegar, which I loved!!!  It was great.  They came over and hung our for a while after and they told mission stories.  Barry's wife, Brittany, is American, but served in Scotland with Sam and Barry as well. So, it was fun to hear them talk about old times. I really like them, a lot, and hope we get to spend a lot more time together. :)

I MIGHT like Utah....maybe......

10 Reasons I MIGHT like Utah.....maybe......I haven't decided yet ;)

1. Temple Square

2. I can go to Target, Costco, Seagull and Dessert Book whenever I want.  Oh and Ikea...can't forget Ikea.

3. A real movie theater (like 6 of them)

4. I can choose which of the 8 or so Temples I want to go to on any given day

5. Think I will make some great new friends in our new ward.....super friendly ladies

6. I can take a beautiful drive through the mountains when I want

7. Every restaurant imaginable!

8. So much family friendly stuff to do

9. So many people I have known at different times in my life now live here....yay for built in friends

10. Chick fil a

The jury is still out.......I'll keep you posted.