Our weekend in Kirtland

We had such a fun and busy Labor Day weekend in Kirtland with Grandpa and Grandma! We spent two very full days--Saturday and Sunday--seeing all we could see and trying to digest the wonderful time it was in Church history! My favorite part was hearing over and over Grandma and Grandpa's testimony of "the work". They are great missionaries! On Saturday, we watched a movie about Kirtland at the visitor's center, then drove out to the Johnson farm. This is where the prophet Joseph Smith lived when he was tarred and feathered. It's a long way from Kirtland, it took us almost an hour to get there. It's a beautiful old home, just the size we need with lots of bed room for guests. Then we drove through Amish country and saw all the horses and buggies driving down the road, as well as some really beautiful quilts and some cute children's toys. All very expensive. We shopped at the Amish stores and had a lovely time. Then we went to Nelsen Ledges (I think that was what it was called). A fun hiking and exploring place. We ended the evening with a trip to Lake Erie.

Sunday, we got a personal tour of the historical sites in Nauvoo. The school of the prophets in the Newell K. Whitney store was by far the best. Not much to see, but, oh so much to feel.

Grandpa and Grandma had a change of plans for Monday morning and needed to work, so we left after visiting the Kirtland Temple so Marquie could take lots of pictures. It really takes 6.5 hours to get there from here, or to get here from there. That included 2 stops and all of Pennsylvania being under construction. Along with the mega tolls, of course.

Here are some of the beautiful pictures mostly Marquie took. We highly recommend a trip to Kirtland while Grandpa and Grandma are there!

A good laugh for you

Marvel vs Disney

For any of you who care and those who don't, this is just plain funny. Really it's the titles more than the descriptions. Enjoy!

Marvel/Disney Crossovers We're Looking Forward To

Mary Poppins vs. Dr. Strange: The Cloak of the Vishanti vs. A Spoonful of Sugar! The Faltine dimension vs. the racetrack full of penguins! “Abracadabra” vs. “Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious”!

Spider-Man vs. Jiminy Cricket: Seized by arachnid instinct, the way-out web-slinger craves cricket meat! Will an enchanted umbrella be enough to shock him back to his spider-senses?

Hercules vs. Hercules: The battle the public domain laws demanded! Not a dream! Not a hoax! Not covered under the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act!

Br’er Rabbit vs. Cyclops: Two brilliant tactical minds, fighting for the future of their outcast friends! They’re ready for anything – are you?

Power Man vs. Uncle Remus: The righteous fists of Luke Cage stand ready to drop a slaveship’s worth of pain on The Man’s favorite sharecropper – until a wise bluebird reminds him that we’re all brothers under the skin.

Black Panther vs. The Lion King: When Wakanda goes to war with the Pride Lands, only one big cat can be left standing in the circle of death! The two-pawed battle epic that shook a continent!

Galactus vs. Pocahontas: She laid her head down on the soil – and a doomed world was saved! But can she lead her new master on a journey that turns his hunger… into love?

Colossus vs. Pinocchio: The building materials who walk like men! Who will triumph: Italian wood… or Russian steel? There’s no flesh in this supersaga – but plenty of blood!

Esmerelda vs MODOK: Can a hideous creature designed only for killing discover the beauty in himself through the love of a gypsy girl designed only for compassion?

The 7 Dwarves vs. The Fantastic Four: When the last surviving members of a race of woodland demi-humans hold a naive princess hostage, the original super-team springs into action! Whistle while you clobber!

The Hound from The Fox and the Hound vs. Rachel Summers from Days of Future Past: “Turn in your best friend,” the humans said! “You have no choice!” As you cry in your cage at night, can anyone truly know the depths of your loneliness?

Wolverine vs. Tramp: One is a scruffy loner with heroic instincts and a heart of gold! The other has giant adamantium claws! Who will win the good girl’s heart?

Bambi’s Mother vs. Uncle Ben: “With great power comes great responsibility” – or, “If you’d just been a better kid, I’d still be alive.” The neuroses of tomorrow begin here!

camping

Yep, we were crazy enough to go camping this week. Needless to say, by the end, it was quite an amusing trip. I figure pictures tell the best story and we all like pictures.

Ethan is just thrilled to be outdoors. He pretty much ran around the whole time.
Everyone went fishing after we set up. I think this was their favorite part. As you can see, the fish weren't much to jump about, but Collin did anyway. He just like to throw them back. Usually they bounce off the shore a few times before making it to the water.
This was fishing again in the morning. Yep, they are still in their pjs. There was hardly anyone there, since it was a Tuesday. We really like the site. I would love to show you a picture of our roaring fire, but we never had one. They said they had bundles of firewood, but didn't. Scrounging for firewood here is a little different than in Utah. Everything is still green. The pickins were slim.
This was evening around the fire. It looks all cute, but they were just trying to keep me warm.
Doesn't this look fun. Due to the ridiculously cold temperatures for camping (40 degrees), by 3 am everyone was in bed with me. I actually really appreciated it. It was the only time I was warm, so I slept. The kids were not so keen on the idea of sleeping at this point. We actually had a wonderful middle of the night laugh. About 30 minutes or so later, everyone was asleep. I love family time. While it was crazy, we will never forget it.

Reflections on Marriage

I know I am new at this whole marriage thing, but a thought struck me the other night that I would like to share.

We've been married for 1 year, 3 months and 12 days. When I think back to when we first got married (yes, I realize that someday I will be referring to the current time as "when we first got married") I remember how hard it was. It was hard to get to know each other, to love the things about each other that we didn't even know were there beforehand, and life wasn't always fun. When I think about that time I realize that a year ago I had no idea what level of satisfaction in marriage was possible. I didn't know what it was going to feel like in our happy times that we have now. In thinking about how much changed and how much happier we've become I can't help but think about how much more our satisfaction with each other can grow! What a happy thought that is. If I had no idea what level of satisfaction I could have with our marriage only a year ago, it thrills me to think about the levels of satisfaction that are ahead of us.

It's times like these that I awe at Heavenly Father's plan for his children. He only wants happiness for us, true happiness and no fake substitute. The only way to find true happiness is to work hard and live your life in harmony with His commandments. Happiness is so much more frequent and so much greater when we're living our lives with exact faithfulness. I don't think that's a coincidence.

Petersen Family Tradition

I'm sure that Heather's already spoken of this to some of you, but I also wanted to share it.

One of my fondest memories as a child watch watching XMen The Animated Series. I read the comics. I studied the characters. It was awesome. The children and I, about 2 months ago, started reliving my childhood through the cartoon again. Every morning, usually when Heather is asleep, we watch one episode. On Saturdays we get three. Woohoo! There were 5 seasons that originally aired. I was able to download all five seasons onto DVD. We are now watching them in better picture than I even remember.

In honor of this momentous occasion and tradition, I bring you the XMen (and all other superheros and villains which Marvel created) I'm curious...How many can you name?

Family Home Evening

I originally titled this post "No News" and proceeded to explain that there was nothing worth taking note of in our lives, but then I remembered our FHE last night. I was in charge...which usually means it is not as creative, nor as fun. But last night, I did alright. We made a quick dinner together, then grabbed the Ensign and headed up to the base of Y Mountain. There are multiple wildfires burning in Utah, and combined with the strong inversion so common to Utah Valley, the sunset was beautiful, and the view of the valley exquisite.

For our reading, we chose Elder Kevin W. Pearson's "Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ" from the Saturday afternoon session. As we set out on our exploration of the this address, we were very impressed by the simple way Elder Pearson taught us about faith. He helped us understand two different levels of faith: 1) faith that comes from desire, hope and belief; and 2) faith unto POWER. He emphasized that the latter (faith as a principle of power) comes from our being obedient. Power can never come if we are not obedient. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so simple. Obey. Simple, right? And so we have determined to increase our commitment to live more obediently to the simple counsels we receive, namely regular family scripture study, and daily morning and evening family prayer. The blessings of doing so are clearly evident. Life is rich and full when founded on obedience.