Dia de Muertos

After church Rylee and Avynlea decided to carve some little pumpkins we had outside. I got a picture of Rylee with her cute little Jack-o-lantern but failed to get one of Avynlea with hers. I am glad I was able to at least get Rylee since I didn't do so well with pictures of her the day before.

I had my ofrenda all set up and we were ready to celebrate Did de Muertos. Since Halloween was on Sunday this year I decided that we were going to celebrate day of the dead that night instead of November 1. Also mostly because Avynlea had cheer practice Monday night and it would have been hard to celebrate around her schedule.

We were not trick or treating but we were not opposed to handing out candy so we watched the movie "Coco" downstairs while we ate our ancestors favorite treats and had to pause it a lot to answer the door. I am grateful that we are able to celebrate this Holiday and to use it as a time to remember loved ones we have lost. I love the movie "Coco" and all the feels that it gives me and the message to always remember our loved ones who have passed on. I am glad we were able to have our little celebration and I think it is fast becoming one of my favorite holidays.

top picture: Grandma Marge(chocolate covered almonds), Grandpa Farrell(Pineapple upside down cake), Grandpa Lutes(pumpkin bread), Grandma Lutes(chocolate cake)

bottom picture: Grandma Ware(popcorn balls), Grandpa Max(fig newtons), my Dad Jerry(pinwheels)

 

Halloween Parties

I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to do our 8th Annual Peterson Halloween Party this year. Looking ahead to October there were so many events going on within the Peterson family that I thought we would probably skip this year rather then cram one more thing into our October schedule. But then some things got cancelled and I was hearing from family how much their kids look forward to it every year and so I decided we would be able to make it work. I did the party on October 30th and we did it at 1:00 so that those who had trunk or treats or plans for that evening could still make it to those. Mikell's family was sick all that week and couldn't make it but we had Kelsey and Brit's family, Trevor and Michelle's family, Dustin and Whitney's family, Andrew and Kylie's family and Bob and Alison. A smaller group but still enough kids to make it fun.

back row: Qiana(Nerd), Asher(Snoopy), Joshua(Cow), Brielle(Cat), Rylee(Alien)

middle row: Sadie(Fox), Caleb(Captain America), Xander(Charlie Brown), Tayvia(Rapunzel), Madison(Witch)

front row: Amelia(Vamperina), Dillon(Superman), Lainey(Fairy), Garrett(Captain America), Hazel(Woodstock), Kinsley(Cat)

We had a nacho bar with everyone providing toppings or treats and the food was yum! The games we had the kids play were smash the pumpkins, which was just them stomping on and popping orange balloons and wrap the mummy. For that one we had them divide into three teams and then they picked one person on their team to be the mummy and they wrapped them with white crepe paper. Sadie, Hazel and Amelia were chosen to be the mummy and their teams wrapped them really well. 

After the party Kefford, Rylee and I met up with Avynlea at our Wards Trunk or Treat. Kefford wandered around while Avy, Rylee and I handed out candy from the back of Rykers pickup and then after a while Rylee went ff with her friends to wander around. I thought to take a picture at a point when Rylee wasn't there and wish I would have thought of it when she was with us. Avynlea came from work where she dressed up as a cute cowgirl and I enjoyed having the cowgirl nest to me handing out candy.

In Rexburg Kenedy dressed up as Lilo and Stitch with her roommate Taylee for a Halloween party and then dressed up as the Once-ler and The Lorax from the Dr Seuss Book/movie The Lorax with her roommate Lacey for a different party. She looked beautiful in both costumes and I know she had a lot of fun with her roommates.

Later that night Avynlea dressed as an Angel for a Halloween party she was going to. I wish I would have thought to have taken an individual picture of Rylee dressed as the Alien but it was another Mom fail.

I bought material this last week to make a table runner for Dia de Muertos and I was able to finish the binding the night before. I have never done a binding the hand stitch method and as I was watching a youtube tutorial on it I had the thought to just take the easy and lame way out and hot glue the binding on but then I told myself I could do it the right way and I did and it looks amazing and I am so proud of it. It turned out perfect and I immediately put it on my ofrenda so we could celebrate the day of the dead.

 

Dance Costume Week

 It's the week of Halloween and that means its wear your costumes to dance week! With my hurt back I didn't even think before hand about what I would dress up as and so this morning I thought I could dress up as Minnie Mouse like I did last year but then I thought of my Monsters University skirt and tank I have and decided to wear that and put my hair up in buns to look like horns. On my way out the door I spotted the green fairy wings we have and I grabbed those to wear as well and I called myself a Fairy Monster from Monsters University. 

I really tried hard to rest my back over the weekend and was hoping that I could last through my Monday dance classes. I did sit a lot during my first class but I couldn't do that during my second class because my second class is my two's class and they are wild on a good day and there was no way I could let down my guard with them for a second. Both classes went better then I hoped and I was not in too much pain, I was happy to have gotten through the classes without hurting myself more. 

Elizabeth, Raegan, Emily and Eva

Everleigh, Presley, Annaleigh, Violet, Kate, Ashley and Elizabeth

By Thursday I was feeling a lot better and was able to teach pretty much like normal. My first class only had two girls there today, I have three on the roll sheets so it wasn't too different, so far my classes are on the smaller side but I hope they will grow as the year progresses. 

Elizabeth, Madeline and Scarlett

My second class I was missing two dancers and I had one trying the class so I had 4, they were so much fun and I really loved seeing everyone in their Halloween costumes. I wore my mermaid socks, my Ariel sweatshirt and my Ariel ears and was an Ariel fan. I wanted to be a little more comfy and cosy. 

London, Rylan, Emily, Mae and Elizabeth

Elder Peterson's Phone Call Home

 

Ryker called home today and it was good to talk to him and to be able to see him. He and I were able to talk when I got home from dance and then he called later in the afternoon so he could talk to Rylee and Avynlea. He started off talking to Rylee and then Kefford patched Avynlea into their conversation when she got home. Avynlea had way too much fun playing with the filters and it was nice of her and Rylee to take screenshots of them all talking.

Elder Peterson Week 8

What a week! Last Wednesday we went to TLC(Teaching Like Christ). It's a training intervention thing for the new missionaries. I really enjoyed it, I learned a lot about teaching others and how I can improve my techniques. After TLC I got an interview with President Larkin (right after, in the same building). It was nice, I asked him some questions and he asked me some questions. It went well and I really like him. He's a super knowledgeable man and he is really easy to get along with. After TLC and interviews we began driving home (a one and a half hour drive, in which Elder Westover got 60 speeding violations from our car's "teen driver" system). On the way home we stopped by Buc-ee's (the biggest gas station in North America), per Elder Paulsen's request. It was super cool. Huuuuge gas station with super cool stuff. I ended up caving in and buying a blanket as a souvenir. I don't regret it though, it is super soft.

The other night Elder Paulsen and I were leaving an apartment complex, the one Gerald lives in (he didn't answer the door...) and we found this mug on the ground. For some reason Elder Paulsen felt it his responsibility to claim this "street mug" and now it sits on his desk. I also found a frog after we found the mug. It was the third frog I've held this month. Super awesome, I'm sure everyone thinks I'm weird, but hey... frogs are cool.

Today we carved pumpkins for some holiday that's coming up. The name slips my mind, but I don't think it's a super popular holiday. Hollow Wing or something like that. We're also just hanging out together (us two broadway districts) because next week is transfers and some of these missionaries won't be here anymore (Our Zone Leader is going home).

Other than that stuff, I seriously can't remember what's happened the past couple of days, it's been business as usual. Keep Monica in your prayers, we haven't heard from her in a couple days and she didn't show up to church. We're worried for her. We might go knock on her door later today. Also Jada, her pregnancy is not being good to her.

I've been studying the "spirit of prophecy" a lot lately and I've learned some interesting stuff. For starters, all who have a testimony of Christ and share it are prophets. That means all of us!!! Obviously there's a huge difference between us and the Prophet/President of the church, but still. Proclaim the testimony of Christ to all people and the spirit of prophecy will be known within you (that probably doesn't make a lot of sense, sorry). Another thing is that all spiritual gifts are available to us as worthy members of the church. Seek these gifts and you will receive many blessings in the process.

I pray for you all, have a good week! 

-Elder Peterson

Rylee Gave a Youth Talk!

Kefford is in charge of finding speakers for sacrament meeting this month and s he was looking at the youth to see who has given a talk recently and who hasn't he saw that it has been a couple of years since Rylee spoke so he asked her to give a talk. She was not thrilled about it but she said she would and she started preparing her talk. Even though we are back to meeting in church we still have our meetings broadcasted for those who can't be there. I let my family know the night before that Rylee was speaking and sent them the link so they could watch if they wanted to. Most of them were able to tune in and it was so nice to know that my family is able to be a part of our lives in this small way. Rylee did such a great job and my only critique is the she talked way to fast. I told her the night before to try to slow it down as she spoke but her nerves were too great and she sped through her talk. Heather took a screen shot of Rylee and I love that she did, it's fun to have a photo of her speaking.

I was asked to speak on how Jesus Christ is an example to me of serving others. Christ’s entire life was spent serving and helping others, so there are so many different stories that I could tell you, but the one that I chose, because it is an example to me is when Jesus blessed the Nephite children.  

After Jesus said a prayer with all the Nephites, he wept and then took each child and blessed them, and he wept again. It says in third Nephi 17, verses 21 and 22, “And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them. And when he had done this, he wept again.” After he blessed each child, he told the people to look, and they saw angels and fire surrounding their children. It says in third Nephi 17, verse 24, “And as they looked to behold, they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angles did minister unto them.”  

This is an example for me when serving because Jesus took time out of his ministry to help each child with what they needed. Serving isn’t always the most entertaining thing to do but it will help others and leave you with a great feeling. I have received service from others many times, and it has helped me feel the love of Christ, and I want others to feel that love too. 

Although I can’t necessarily bless a bunch of children like Christ did, there are many different things I could do to bless others, for example, doing baptisms for the dead at the temple, or baking cookies to give to a neighbor. It can be something super small, but it will still make somebody’s day that much better. 

What Jesus said was so great that it couldn’t be recorded. He was able to bless so many lives that day, even more than just the children. He was able to bless and serve the people that got to witness and see the angels and hear what Jesus said. I have been able to witness service toward others in need and it is an awesome and spiritual experience for me. I see how it can help them and how it strengthens their personal testimonies, along with the people who are serving them.   

I would like to bare my testimony that I know Jesus Christ was perfect in every way, and I should strive to be like him. One of the ways to become like him is service, and him serving has helped me and is an example to me in many ways. I know that service is a great tool that Heavenly Father wants us to use to become more like him. It will truly help someone, and it will make you feel wonderful. I try to be more like Christ, and I know that serving is one of the ways to do that. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

That night I was looking through instagram and I came across this photo and it made me think of Rylee, I could totally see her having a set up like this to read her books at night:)

Pumpkin Bread

Oct. 17: I made French bread on Sunday for dinner and I decided to take my newly learned pumpkin shape making skills and made the loaves into Pumpkins. I thought they turned out great and looked as good as they tasted!

 Mikell's Bishop used to be in our ward and is a friend of our family, he sent Kefford a text Sunday morning letting him know that Mikell was speaking in their ward and he sent the link if we wanted to watch. Kefford had meetings and couldn't tune in but I was able to watch and I am really glad I did. She spoke on her personal conversion to Christ and I really enjoyed hearing it and hearing her stories. She did an amazing job!

Tuesday I was sewing a lot of the day, working on a quilt I started with Alison 23 years ago. When I was first married and living in Nyssa she thought I should learn how to sew so she took me every week to a sewing class at the church where we would sew together quilt blocks. We got all of the blocks done but then between moving away and having babies the quilt pieces got put away and not thought about again until we moved to this house and I found the box of material. I have had it sitting in the craft room for the past 5 years and decided this week that it is time to finish the quilt so I started. Wednesday I was having some back pain, pain that I normally have off and on through the years so I didn't really think twice about it. I didn't sew that day, just took it a little easier since my back was hurting. That night I went to bed early and woke up at about 10 when Avynlea came in to ask me a question. I was trying to roll over and I was in so much pain that I couldn't so I tried to sit up and again that was really hard because of the pain. I was half laying half standing and I couldn't move so I asked Siri on my phone to text Kefford to have him come down. When he came I told him what was happening and had him help me lie back down and I asked for a blessing. I didn't want anyone to come over so he gave me more of a blessing of peace rather than a healing one and then I tried to go back to sleep. Thursday morning I woke up and when I tried to get up the pain was worse and I had to have Kefford help me up so I could go to the bathroom. When he did the pain was so intense that I could feel all the blood drain from my face and I started sweating really bad and needed to throw up. It was a nightmare and I wanted to die, I hurt so bad. He had to go to work so I had him help me to the couch and I sat there hurting, not as much but still pretty bad. Kefford got me in with a chiropractor in Emmett and I was able to get to the car and drive myself and met him at the Chiropractor office. He gave me a neck adjustment, a hip adjustment and since my right leg is longer than my left he gave me a leg adjustment. I have never been to the chiropractor and was really nervous about all of the bone cracking he did but I survived so I guess that's good news. He also hooked me up to an electric shock/stimulator to give my lower back muscles a deep massage. Once he was done I made an appointment for the next week and I went home. My back is better, I still have pain but I am able to move around without wanting to die so that is good I guess.  

 Oct 22 Kefford and I along with Avynlea and Rylee went to Wal-Mart to get some things. I was feeling better and felt like I could move some but I made sure to get a cart while we were there to have something to lean on if I needed it. While there, Kefford found a minions mask that he really wanted Avynlea to wear. She was a good sport and put it on but she did not like it, hahaha.

Kefford wanted to check the top shelves to try to find a certain Bat Mobile and so he pulled the cart over and half stood in it to make himself tall enough to search the top shelves. he didn't find what he was looking for which was disappointing to him but Rylee managed to catch a good shot of him looking.

Later that night Kefford went with me to the football game. Meridian was playing Centennial in the first round of the state playoffs and they won! It was a great game and was fun to see Meridian do so well, the final score was 35-0.

I brought a heat pack for my back and it was doing ok but by the end of the game I was starting to feel the pain. Since Meridian was so far ahead and I did not want to get caught in the crowds we left a little bit early so I could get home and rest my back.

Friday night Kenedy went with Mia and Taylee to Utah to go to FrightFest at Lagoon. She had a great time at the park and with her friends the trouble came when it was time to head home. Taylee's car had a flat tire and so they put a spare tire on but instead of driving straight back to Rexburg they met McKoy in Salt Lake and stayed at his hotel. The next morning they were able to safely get back to Rexburg.

Mia, Kenedy and Taylee

Oct 23 Avynlea came to the door of the TV room to ask us if she could go to her friends for a little but. She was being weird and only looking in halfway so I told her she needed to com all the way in. She didn't want to and since she was being so sketchy we told her she couldn't go to her friends unless she did. She finally showed us her full face for a second and that's when we saw she was stopping a bloody nose she had with a tampon shoved in it. So funny! I wanted to take a picture of the tampon in her nose but she absolutely would not let me do that and I let it go and let her go to her friends. :)

Elder Peterson Week 7

Yep, still alive. 

Last Tuesday the youth in our small ward had a spaghetti cook off. Sisters Lake and Masson and Elder Paulsen and I were judges. I didn't tell anyone except Elder Paulsen that I hate spaghetti. But I am also always down for free food. We got there and there was a mess of kids and tomato sauce in the kitchen as these juveniles attempted to cook the unsavory noodles. They actually did a pretty good job though. I believe I judged pretty fairly considering I disliked both dishes. And to no one's surprise, the young women won. And the young men had to clean up the mess in the kitchen which was 99% theirs. And then at the end of the activity, while I was playing kickball with a bunch of the primary kids (a couple of them had pretty foul mouths, it was hard not to laugh) Elder Paulsen acquired a full bag of spaghetti. It is still in our fridge today. I want to throw it out, but he keeps saying he'll eat it... I don't believe him.

On Wednesday we played the school kids at volleyball again. We came prepared this time...

The first game (of 3) was actually pretty close, but we pulled through in the end and Westover snatched the win with his awesome serve. It was hilarious, two of the kids both called it and then both stepped back and the ball just smacked the ground right between 'em. In the end, they beat us the next two times, but that fact remains that the "church league" beat the team that practices everyday at least once. And the other two games were still very close.

Time for an interesting story.

Last Friday, I think, me and Elder Paulsen were street contacting out in a very sketchy place. We got yelled at by a random hobo that called us some pretty ugly names, but when I looked over at him, he was staring at a wall. So... maybe it was the wall that offended him, I don't know. After a while, we were heading back to our car when a lady at a gas station yelled at us. She asked if we were Mormons, so we kindly corrected her and told her what we prefer to be called. She just smiled (pretty creepily actually) and said "I love the Mormons!!!" She then asked us to pray with her because she was cursed by some crazy transgender voodo he/she from Louisiana. We agreed and she had us pray twice. The weirdest thing was that she kept switching from bawling, to cackling, to very serious. She was quite possibly literally insane. But she said that the other person had been putting blood in her drinks, so we did what he could through prayer. Eventually we got out of there, but it was a very interesting encounter.

I'll finish off with another short testimony. 

I've seen some very interesting things this past month and Texas is constantly reminding me of how blessed I've been to grow up in a stable home with a gospel centered family. I've seen what the absence of Christ does to people in an extreme way, and it is very depressing. I've come to greatly understand that without the light of Christ in our lives, we cannot make it through the darkness that is mortality. I know that as we search the scriptures, serve others, and strive to follow the commandments, we will be blessed in so many ways. I promise all of you that are reading this that if you earnestly strive to make Jesus Christ the center of your life, you will find that your burdens become lighter and your life becomes more blessed. Jesus Christ is the Savior and the way. The only way.

I love you all and I pray for you. Have a great week.

Elder Peterson

Trista and Jacob's Wedding

Saturday Trista married Jacob in an outdoor ceremony in Bob and Alison's backyard. I didn't take any pictures during the ceremony because ewe were told not to and after the only pictures I took were the ones my kids wanted with Amelia and Trista. Amelia was the flower girl and she looked pretty cute walking down the aisle throwing leaves out of her basket. fall wedding equals Leaves instead of flower petals, I liked it. Avy and Rylee wanted a picture with Amelia and like every kid at that age she gave crazy eyes with her crazy grin.

I did Trista's hair and I thought it looked really pretty. I wanted to get a good picture of it once she had her wedding dress on but wouldn't you know it was windy and her hair got a little wind blown. Ah well, best of intentions like always. Kenedy got her picture with her Aunt Trista and then Avynlea and Rylee joined her for a couple more.

Trista brought her karaoke machine to use during the ceremony for music and also so the guy officiating could use the microphone. Once my girls saw it they were super excited and wanted to do Karaoke but Trista was adamant about there not being any karaoke at all. You know my girls eventually wore her down and once the wedding was over and a lot of the guests had left they got to do karaoke. They were loud and a little obnoxious but they were having fun and including their little cousins and I loved every bit of it. I love that my kids are not duds and that they like to have fun. It reminded me of how I would be if my sisters were around, we know how to have fun for sure. The karaoke got shut down when Bob came over and turned it off so he could have the girls help get chairs and tables loaded and put away. I got the moment he came and turned it off on video and it is so funny, it cracks me up every time I watch it.

After everything was done and cleaned up I was sitting at the table playing with Sophie, Dustin and Sara's youngest. She is so cute and this was the first time I saw her all day, there was just too many people around I think. She was having me take pictures of her with Trista's bouquet and was really just adorable.