A Slab Good-Bye

I'm realizing that I'm not really a fan of growing up :( Especially when growing up means that friends graduate and move away. Erin and J.J. finished school in December and have left for Texas for the summer and then they will be going to school in Iowa. Yeah for them, boo for me. Before they left we wanted Allisyn and Addie to have one more chance to play and to see each other so we met for lunch at a newer (I think that it's actually been there for a year or two now but it was my first time going) place called Slab Pizza. It was really good and I would highly recommend it. There were so many different choices and it was hard to narrow it down so Brea and I got two different kinds- The Chicken Club and Rosemary-Potato Bacon and shared (they were both super yummy!). 

It was fun to watch the girls play, they were both ready for naps by the end but they were certainly having fun chasing each other in circles around the table. 

Jamie even returned from her mission a couple days before so she joined us to get as much Erin and Allisyn time as possible.

The Chicken Club....I may or may not have recreated it a couple of times at work this past week :)

The Rosemary-Potato Bacon...I thought that it sounded a little strange at first but it was really good.

They were really good size pieces. Because the place was right by campus Darrell came down and joined us for lunch as well.

Addie and Allisyn were so funny, Addie would lead and Allisyn would follow (along with my water bottle, both Alli and Addie love it for some reason and seem to think that it is theirs).

It's hard to believe that we have been friends for 5 years now, my how the time has flown!

Adios Hermana Williams

Last week Sister Jamie Williams entered the MTC, she will be there for 3 weeks and then heading to the Peru MTC!!! I'm so excited for her!

Zai Jian to Sister Peterson

On Wednesday my freshman roommate Erika entered the MTC here in Provo. She will be there for 12 weeks before going to TAIWAN!!!

She flew in early and Tuesday evening we had a good-bye get-together at another roommate, Chelsea's apartment. It was fun to be able to see Erika for a little while and get to talk to her a bit. I'm so excited for her that she is going on a mission and super duper excited that she is going to Taiwan.

Because I came at the end of the party and a lot of other people had already come and gone there wasn't lots of people in this picture but we decided to get as many 55th-ers as there was before the rest left. I love how close my ward is and that we continually gather in large groups and always want to take a picture of everyone that is there.

Erika and Chelsea

Katie and Erika, this guy in Chelsea's ward was super sweet and had written something around 6 pages of advice for Erika from his own experience on the mission. It was super sweet considering he didn't even know Erika...so she spent sometime reading that after everyone else had left.

By the time everyone had left we realized that we were all very hungry, especially Erika who had been standing close to 3 hours talking with people and not eating anything...so we made a trip to In 'n' Out Burger, my first real experience there.

Chelsea, Katie, and David---obviously all very distracted by different things :D

When we dropped Erika and Chelsea back off at Chelsea's apartment there was much time taken with hugs before we could leave.

I'm so excited for Erika with the adventures that she is going to experience and that she has made this decision to devote her time to serve Heavenly Father. The people of Taiwan will be very blessed to have her serve them, she will bring a spirit and love that only she can.

Good-Bye for Now

Several weeks ago Nathan and Sallee made a big move to San Diego, California. We were sad to see them go, but are excited for them and their new adventures, the chance to have a place to stay in California, and are better with the knowledge that we will see them for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

A couple of nights before they left we gathered for a dinner with everyone that was in the area. We ate at this super yummy Indian restaurant in Salt Lake.

With all of us there we took up 3 tables (with stuff on the benches on a 4th I believe)!

The view to the left of me...Ben, Sonia, and family at one table. Nathan, Sallee, Mom and I shared a table in the middle (so everyone could talk to Nathan and Sallee). It was a very relaxed dinner and fun to see everyone. Even though I live near-by everyone I don't always feel like I see people.

After dinner we walked to where Mom's and Libbey's cars were parked. Nathan ran to where his was parked first to grab Jacob's car seat (as they had brought Jacob to the restaurant). I looked up to see Nathan running towards us with the car seat in one hand and Jacob in the other. He got to us and explained that as they were part way there Jacob stopped and said "Nathan, I can't go any further...I ran out of gas!"

Grandma and baby Claire...who is becoming less and less of a baby!

A close-up of the cutie-pie, who that night they decided looked more like a Mathews...Sallee said that she has the Mathews' "eyebrows."

Jacob playing in the water...he managed to get himself very wet by the end.

Libbey

Sallee

Kyle

Nathan and Sallee walking away :(

Jacob wanted to follow them, so Uncle Kyle had to go grab him and bring him back to where we were standing and waving good-bye.

Good-Bye Dinner

The Goa's left this week to visit his family and then to return to America. We had been wanting to have them over for dinner before they left, to say thank you, good-bye, and just because they are awesome people that we like. We realized that last Sunday would be our last chance and invited them over, it didn't hurt that it was Mother's Day and we could give her the day off from cooking. Along with the Goa's we also invited the Sister Missionaries.

Alan and William were watching TV and it was a nice warm day so we decided to move the table out to our "deck," it looked really strange in the kitchen without it so of course I had to take a picture.

We're not used to making large quantities of rice so we had the Sister's check it to make sure that it was ok.

A lot (Funny story about Alot--you should check it out HERE) of people equals a need for a lot of curry. It was a little more challenging trying to keep track of such a large quantity cooking, I now have more of an appreciation for the cook who cooks for 50+ everyday)

Sister Goa and Cougar arrived a little bit earlier than Bro Goa and Hyrum so we had some just stand around and talk time.

This is Cougar's cool hat that he had made, #26 was his number at school and on the back it said "GO USA!"

The Sister Missionaries and Cougar (and his cool hat :D)

The were sweet and brought watermelon for dessert. It was super yummy (and the leftovers lasted until Wednesday- watermelon everyday...YUMMY!) and kind of weird to see red watermelon again (we always eat yellow watermelon at school)

Hyrum looking sweet and cute (you know that somethings up :D)

We will miss the Goa's they have been good friends while we have been here (especially Sis Goa translating for us in Relief Society- it will be an interesting remaining month and a half without her)