I have an owie!!

I miss him so much!

Funny girl!

My friends created a great "distraction" for me on Friday night. We went to dinner and then to a hotel for "girls night"! It's pretty hard to be sad and lonely with these girls around! We started the night by listening to "Ladies Night" by Cool and the Gang. Davey burned it for us and we listened to it and car danced all the way!

These are the kind of friends to have when you need 'em! We seriously laughed for about 5 hours straight!

We played Mad Gab and approximately 200 rounds of Apples to Apples. It was so fun - we had pedicures and just about as much junk food as 5 girls can eat!

Thanks G-friends for all the love, laughs and support! Let's do it again soon!

XOXO

Hi, I'm Elder Petersen!

As hard as it was to let my boy leave for 2 years, our day at the MTC was the best!

Alex smiled from the time he got up yesterday morning to the time he turned around and waved his last good-bye!

We just had a great day.. no stress, no anxiety, just enjoying each others company.

We took some photo's at home, and then headed to breakfast at one of our favorite places - Johanna's. We'd gone there a lot on Satuday mornings, and it was great just to sit and talk in anticipation of a special day.

The MTC is extremely organized and they really have a smooth process for on-boarding approximately 250 missionaries each week. When we arrived, we were instructed where to park and where to take our luggage. As we dropped off our luggage, Al was instructed to remember the number where his luggage could be located. It was number 23 - this was a great start to his stay at the MTC, because 23 is his lucky number... Why 23? Anyone that is a basketball fan knows that this was Michael Jordan's jersey number when he was on the Bulls. And for a kid who hopes someday to work for ESPN - this was a great start!

Next you are instructed to enter separate doors, elders through one door, family & friends through another. However, you do meet inside again.. whew!

After a few more photo's we entered the chapel were the boys and parents are both given counsel and instruction. The congregation also sings "Called to Serve" and the spirit is so strong. It was so amazing to look around and see all those clean cut, happy boys that had prepared themselves to be there! They show a couple of video's, say a few words, then a quick hug and good bye - Elders to the right, families to the left.

As I watched him walk off to the right after we had said our good-bye's, he was in line behind another elder and started up a conversation with him. I watched him extend his hand to this other boy, and say "Hi, I'm Elder Petersen"...

I could not help but think, that was the first of many, many times to come over the next two years that he will make that introduction to a stranger.

I'm so proud of him!

My husband is a freak!

Yesterday when we were getting ready to leave for the MTC, I wanted to take a couple of photo's before we left. I told Kenyon to come downstairs so I could take some pictures, and he said "ok, hang on". This is what he looked like when he came down the stairs.

He's so great to make an emotional moment funny! Alex and I both loved it and we got a good laugh.

731 more days

In 6 and 1/2 hours I'll do one of the hardest things I've ever done! Drop Alex off at the MTC.

He was set apart as a full-time missionary last night and so far we all seem to be hangin' in there!

It makes it a lot easier on mom's when the boy is so excited to go! There has hardly even been a moment of anxiety with him - HE'S READY!!

I woke up at 4 a.m. (hmmm, wonder why) and laid in bed for an hour, trying to get a grasp on what I was feeling - finally I got up, and as I was making little notes to hide inside his shoes, journal etc. at 5:30 a.m. I decided to check his mission website.

It's no longer counting down the days til he goes to the MTC, now it says... "There are 731 days until Elder Petersen returns home." yeesh! That seems like alotta days!!

Can I count today as day 1 - even if he is still asleep in his bed at home?

Can I have a little cheese with my Gladiator?

So - I'm one of those people who said "I hate reality tv" and every advertisement for reality tv, i'd say "that looks like the stupidest show ever", or "who would do that?" or "yeah, that's not staged!". I never watched shows like "American Idol" or anything of the sort - and to be honest, when friends were all hooked on it I was like "hmmm, weird waste of time".... until now!

I now realize that it is not a waste of time AT ALL, but totally mind numbing fun! There is nothing better on a high-stress day than coming home to the "reality zone".

I have four favorites, but only 3 of them are on during this time of the season - so I'm really only wasting 3 hours a week! I'm not sure what the national average of time wasted in front of tv - but I'm gonna guess it's higher, especially because 1/2 the population are male, and MOST (not all) waste countless hours a week on sports, and when not watching sporting events, they are tuned in to ESPN to hear a summary of every sport ever invented.

Here are my fav's - important to note that they in order by weeknight, NOT by favorite:

Monday - Fall - Dancing with the Stars
Monday - Spring - American Gladiators (no, I'm not joking..here is my favorite intro from last night "You've heard of Heaven, but what about "Hell-ga".
Tuesday - The Biggest Loser - I don't care what they say - it's totally a game of strategy.. I'm cheering for Jillian's team!
Thursday - Celebrity Apprentice - Holy cow, did you see last week? BTW, I don't love Omarosa... git already! But I luuuuu..huvvvvv Trace!

As embarrasing as it is to say - these are my fav's! Tune in and you'll see why!

This entry sponsored by NBC, ABC.

"Adios" Elder Al P.

Alex's farewell was on Sunday, February 10th. What a great day! So many friends and family came to support him. It was unbelievable to see the building so full of familiar faces and so many people that we love and that love Alex.

Here are my top ten favorites from the day!

1- Jordan's non stop grazing for 12 hours straight
2- Wendy and I shoving stuffed mushrooms as hot as lava into our mouths
3- Seeing my boss and his family
4- Kenyon's hospitality... he's such a good person he blows me away
5- Being only one of two people that know that the "lil smokies" recipe calls for grape jelly...
6 - Listening to Alex talk about his buddies and what an influence they have been in his life
7 - Alex's friends that are girls
8 - RaNae and Lauren's song
9 - Sitting on my bed talking to Kenyon and Alex about the day til 11:30 p.m.
10- Having Al P. call me his best friend

I love you Al - you are my favorite missionary!

Sweethearts...

A couple of photo's of Al P. and Lu on their way to the "Sweethearts Dance" tonight
Happy Valentines you little sweethearts! I love you both!

Is it weird?

A few weeks before Christmas I asked Alex what he wanted, and considering the circumstances he didn't have a long list of wants... So... I decided to take him to Disneyland for a few days... just the two of us!

Now you... like some people at my work might think that is weird.. But... when I asked Alex, 2 days before we left if he thought it was weird he said "no, if it was just any mom - it would be weird, but your cool"... Good answer bud! Plus, it's not unusual for us, because we've done it before!

We had so much fun! It was still January, so the park was relatively quiet on Thursday and Friday, but when Saturday came, it might as well have been June.. it was really busy.

We skipped most of the lame-o rides, and went on our favorites Over, and Over, and Over for 3 days.

One of Alex and my favorite things to do together is people watch.. ok, and "people mock". Besides Lagoon, and Dr's offices, there is no better place for this activity. These were some of our highlights

- 2 nerds on DDR, and the one nerdy guy almost falling... he was like "whoa" but caught himself at the last minute.

- the tough guy playing boxing on a video game.. oh my did he look lame in front of that girl.

- The "heavy set" guy in the floody, tight jeans.

- The super tall cowboy bobbing his head back and forth to the yodeling music at the Materhorn.

- The super tall cowboy's super tall sister! She was him, but her.

And finally, Al P's favorite... the macho guy sitting on the curb after the parade... so picture this.. he is sitting on the curb as if he has a skirt on.. like both legs tucked to the side, feet together.. Tell Al to show you... it's so funny! We went walking by - saw him and both burst out laughing.

Enjoy the slideshow, but don't be mad if you don't get it! We do!

It's a "Non-Party" for the "Non-Farewell"