So, some exciting happenings include going to Park City. I had never been to Park City before so, it was super awesome to go and visit. It was amazing. Really pretty. So not Utah that it was almost refreshing. We walked around the stores, sat in the grass, went outlet shopping ( I got a nice pair of gap jeans for 17 bucks which was awesome).
On the way home, we were hungry and craving fried chicken so we stopped at KFC. I had wanted to try a double down sandwich for a while now, so I went ahead and tried it. It was way delicious and filling. They could have put more bacon on it, but other than that, it was awesome.
Pioneer Day weekend was busy as well. For those of you who are not from Utah, Pioneer Day is on the 24th of July and commemorates when Brigham Young and the first settlers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. On Friday, our good friend Rachel Davis had her wedding reception. It was way nice. Very simple, but elegant. They had a cheese bar which was good, with fruit and chicken. Instead of cake, they had cupcakes. The raspberry ones were the best.
It was probably the best wedding reception I had ever been too. Rachel made sure she spent a lot of time with us which made me feel loved. Probably the most loved I had ever felt at a wedding reception. I’m grateful for awesome friends like her and wish her the best in her marriage with Brad.
Then on Saturday evening I went to the Spanish Fork rodeo. It was impressive. The bull riders were actually able to stay on at this one which was nice. The fireworks were a perfect ending to a perfect day.
The last weekend in July found me on a road trip. My friend Abby has a sister in Logan, and I told her if she ever goes to visit I would like to go with her. So, she went and so did I. We left at 9:00 on a Friday morning. We made a couple of stops including at that Super Europa Market where I was able to pick up some food from Europe including peach juice, Milka Bars, cookies and Kolbasz (aka Hungarian Sausage). Then we drove up to Logan, which was a really nice and not-so-long drive. We met here sister at Rumbi Island Grill, which was really delicious. I had never eaten there before but it was really good.
After lunch we went to the Logan Aquatic Center, which is a really big pool with a couple of slides. It was a lot of fun. I haven’t spent a full afternoon swimming in the longest time. The best part was the fact that we used SPF 70 sunscreen. Needless to say, I’m just as pasty as I was before. Good time with good people.
After we got cleaned up, I went and met my favorite mission companion Elder Wilkins. We spent 18 weeks as companions and really had a lot of fun serving with each other. After some fruit soup, we took a ride up to porcupine reservoir to meet his family, who was having a family reunion. They made me feel like part of the family from the very beginning. They had an amazing dinner of hot dogs, hamburgers and Dutch oven potatoes, which were amazing by the way.
Then after dinner, we spent most of our time around the campfire making smores. I got to hear a lot of really funny family stories. It was a good time. They also had a cot for me to sleep on. I was amazed at how well I slept. I don’t think that I can go back to sleeping on the ground. In the morning we woke up and had pancakes and bacon. So good. Wilkins had to work and I didn’t feel like being outside all day, so we came back to Logan and I just hung out at his apartment for a while and got some reading done that I needed to. I took a walk around Logan got some bagels for Lunch, visited the Temple and did some looking around. This was one of the funnier things that I saw. Who knew they had parking spaces specifically for Utards?
Once Wilkins got off work, we just kind of chilled. We played cities and knights and ate our Kolbasz, which was so good. The next morning we woke up and moved all of Wilkins’ stuff out of his apartment and to his parents’ house. I was glad I could be of service. Then we had Church in the afternoon. It was nice not to have to be in charge of anything, and I really could just enjoy the meetings, which was nice. The funniest moment was the fact that the lesson in Elder’s Quorum was about Finding Joy in the Journey. After church, we went back and had some hotdogs. Then we just kind of hung out until Abby came and picked me up. Wilkins’ family was so nice. They really made me feel like I was part of the family. They sent me home with fresh squash, green beans and poppy seeds. So delicious. I thought this picture kind of summed up the weekend and our companionship for that matter.
Overall, it was an awesome July. Finals are coming up and then it is off for family vacation. This is the first real family vacation since I got back from the Mission, which has been for two years, by the way. Anyway, it should be good.
