Brett and Sarah’s Adventures

The day was May 15. The time was around noon. We were anxiously pacing up and down the airport terminal. Finally, we heard the news: the flight had landed. Our anxiety turned to sheer excitement. We crowded around the exit with our eyes scanning the faces of the passengers. All of a sudden, we saw her. Sister Peterson was home!

Sister Peterson!

We were SO excited to see her! Waiting for her to come was the hard part. Lincoln was so intent on seeing Ashley’s plane that he climbed on Nana to get a better view.

Lincoln climbing on Nana

Ashley gave a great talk in church the following Sunday about her mission to Winnipeg, Canada. She talked about the things she had learned, some of the hardships she faced and seeing the Lord help her through the hard times. It was inspiring. After church, Karen took some pictures of her 4 beautiful children.

What a good-looking bunch of kids!

When Lincoln heard everyone saying “cheese” and smiling for a picture, he thought they wanted to take a picture of him. So he stood in front of everyone saying “cheese” over and over again until someone took his picture. I happily obliged!

How could you say no to a face that cute?

Lincoln loved playing outside and finding the gnomes Karen had in the mulch. I think he thought they were real. At first he would crouch down really low and look at it, point with his tiny finger and say “gnoooooome!” It was precious. Then, he took his little pointer finger, and touched the very top of the hat of one of the gnomes and said “ding!” I was going crazy with the cuteness of this kid! Finally, he overcame the idea that it was real and picked it right up and out of the mulch!

Gnome!

The next event that day was Kelly’s high school graduation. Kelly was an outstanding student who not only got a 4.0, but also tutored and encouraged freshman in their classes. I was so proud of Kelly Jo when her name was read and she was recognized for all the hard work she put into her schooling so far. Now, Kelly is off at BYU enjoying her freshman yeer (notice how far behind I am at blogging…) Best of luck to her and Ashley in the coming school year!

Brett and I went to Disneyland at the beginning of May. We found a cheap hotel a mile away from Disneyland and drove down to Anaheim on a Friday after work. We got up early the next morning, ate a fast (like one tiny muffin fast) breakfast and practically ran to Disneyland. People looked at us like we were weird because 2 grown adults were acting more excited than a lot of the kids walking with us! We didn’t care. We were on our way to Disneyland!

Brett & Sarah at Disneyland!

We went on a lot of the rides including Buzz Lightyear, where Brett was excellent at defeating the evil Zurg.

Brett getting ready to defeat Zurg

We also rode on the Star Wars themed Star Tours. Brett was excited to see some of the characters like C-3PO.

Brett & C-3PO

We rode Pirates of the Caribbean, so of course we had to act like pirates while we waited in line.

Pirate Sarah

We went to Tom Sawyers island, which holds a special place in Brett’s heart (I think its because he kissed a girl there in one of the caves..ooh la la!) He was happy to reminisce, climb all over the rocks and explore the passageways in the caves again.

Brett exploring the caves

Of course at the end of every ride, we walked through the gift store and looked at all the fun things.

Mr & Mrs Mickey Mouse

Sarah & Chewbacca

Brett surprised me for lunch and took me to a really fancy restaurant called the Blue Bayou. We walked by it a few times earlier in the day and Brett told me how fancy of a restaurant it was and how anyone who wanted to eat there needed a reservation because it was so popular. I thought, “Oh ok. Cool. So where are the churros?” Then at lunch time, Brett walked right up to them and said “Reservation for two under Peterson please.” I was so surprised! After all that talk of reservations and fanciness I thought we would be eating churros or other cheap park food all day, but we had delicious Louisiana style blackened Salmon and potatoes. I can still remember how good it tasted! What a great surprise!

Brett & Sarah at the Blue Bayou

We bought Mickey hats that we wore most of the day. It was so cute to see our shadows with Mickey ears.

our cute shadows

We had a great time at Disneyland riding the rides, going through the gift shops, eating delicious food and laughing at our cute Mickey shadows but mostly we were excited to just be there. It’s a magical place!

Excited! We're in Disneyland!

The next day, we went to church at Brett’s old ward. It was a HUGE chapel. I think Brett only recognized a few people there but it was still fun to go.

Brett's Anaheim 10th ward building

After church, we stopped by some places that were meaningful to Brett since he grew up in Anaheim. First we went to his old house. When Brett was younger, he lost an arrow from his bow and arrow set in a nearby bush and has never forgotten it! Being at his old house brought back memories he hadn’t thought of in years.

Brett's Anaheim house

We stopped by Brett’s elementary and middle schools next. It was so fun to watch him as memories came flooding in and he would tell me everything he remembered. I loved visiting places that had significant meaning to Brett growing up. It was a great trip!

Brett's Elementary School

Brett's Middle School

Well,  as we are about 5 months behind in blogging, we decided to do some posts in quick succession to catch-up. Stay tuned!

April 2009

Back in April, Brett and I went to San Francisco to see Wicked at the Orpheum Theatre. Grandma & Grandpa Rosenlof bought us tickets to see it for Christmas and we couldn’t wait to see it. On the day of the show, we went up to San Francisco a little early so we could go to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown. There were tons of vendors selling homemade jewelry, scarves and many other cool things. Here is an example of what it looked like.

Typical Vendor

We grabbed some food, said hi to some celebrities and then headed to the Orpheum Theatre to see Wicked.

Me with a celebrity

Brett & Sarah in front of the Wicked poster

The show was fantastic! I thought the actors did a great job and the singing was phenomenal! I highly recommend seeing it. Thank you G&GR for treating us to an experience we won’t soon forget.

Also in April, Brett and I went up to Sacramento to help Grandma & Grandpa Rosenlof with the 30-year reunion of their La Sierra Ward. There were festivities throughout the weekend including an open house after church at Grandma & Grandpa’s house. Brett, Karen and I helped get the food prepared and set up so Grandma & Grandpa could be good hosts and socialize.

Karen & Sarah in the kitchen

We had a great time keeping the kitchen in order, the drinks filled and the food supplied. It was so fun to see old friendships renewed and stories shared over a piece of delicious chocolate cake. The Sacrament meeting at church was very unique and meaningful to me. The speakers included many of the former Bishops of the La Sierra Ward. It was remarkable to hear these great men share stories about their service and leave the congregation with their testimony. I was really touched by the testimonies of such strong members of the church.

Brett, Sarah, Grandma, Grandpa & Karen