Mother's Day

Shout out to my man who made me a delicious Shepherd's Pie for dinner. He was up early with a horrid headache, but he prepped food, set up a delicious spread for our church sisters, cleaned it up and continued serving when he came home. He made a delicious meal and he did the dishes! He's a on-of-a-kind, outstanding man. Love you Kelly! Thank you for making my Mother's Day special.

It's November!

It's the month of Thanks! We started off celebrating Kelly's birthday on 11/9, and then attending our friend, Smith's, wedding to his new bride, Sara on 11/11. I wrote the following on Instagram on Kelly's birthday, "Happy Birthday to my superb husband! Kelly is one of the best men I have ever known. He is a partner in marriage, in parenting, in life. He is compassionate, selfless, funny, intelligent and most of all kind. If you know him, you know how awesome he is, and that there isn't enough we could ever say to express how amazing he is. When I married him, I suspected, but didn't really know, all of the many ways he would show what a stellar human being he is. Just can't say enough about him. Happy birthday to my one and only!"

Dutch Oven Chicken

For a combined Relief Society/Young Women meeting this month, we decided to do a Dutch Oven cooking class since the young women and their leaders will be cooking their own meals at camp. Kelly put together a great recipe with a whole chicken, a yummy rub and potatoes and vegetables. We tried it out the day before the RS Meeting, and it was so yummy. It was a complete hit at the meeting! We won't be able to do a whole chicken at camp, but the meal was delicious and the girls who participated got to see the process.  Kelly is amazing at figure this stuff out. I'm proud to call him my man.

Our Awesome Dad

These were some random pictures taken this month that show how awesome Kelly is. He loves hanging out with his daughters wherever either at home or out. He takes the girls (and friends) to Disneyland for spontaneous adventures. He's pretty much up for anything and just loves being wherever they are. I feel very, very blessed to have married such a good man. I knew he was awesome, but his awesomeness runs deep. Those are the things you don't quite know when you get married like whether they'll be a great long-term companion or a good dad. Kelly simply excels at it all.

Dutch Oven Cooking

New calling for Melissa! I will be in charge of Girls Camp food. Our Stake President wants the girls to do their own cooking. We are assembling a menu of Dutch Oven recipes, both dinners, dessert and a breakfast, and we bought an oven to start experimenting. This was actually Kelly's idea. It's how Petersons roll. He wanted to prep and find great recipes that the girls would love. Once we get some recipes, we'll create the menu. It's not his job, but I'm glad I have Kelly for support. He's getting the wheels moving on this project. We are starting with dessert--fruit cobbler!

Disneyland for Kelly and Heather

Daddy-daughter date!

My Funny Valentine

Valentine's Day was on Sunday, February 14. On Saturday evening, when many Valentines were out on dates celebrating, my Valentine and I sat in an ER waiting room. We had a rocking good time. Not! Kelly had been having pain in his chest and back and could hardly move. So, we played it safe since he has heart issues.  The masks were the best--Kelly wore his because he had a fever, and I wore one to keep from getting sick. Doctor ruled out heart related issue and guesses an infection of some type that may have settled near his chest. We ended the night at Jack-in-the-Box and Walgreens for prescriptions. An expensive date, but glad he's okay. On Monday, he bought me flowers. Not a typical celebration, but one that makes a good story. Haha.

Kelly's Birthday

Kelly--the man, the myth, the legend--turned 52 today. We celebrated with ice cream cake from Baskin-Robbins, favorite dinner and little gifts. We love our man.

Guys Hike Labor Day Weekend

Kelly's guy friends group hike this year was to Water Wheel Falls in Yosemite. They hiked in from Tuolumne and camped near the falls.  The group was small this year, but Kelly always enjoys getting a way and hiking in to the wilderness.  It was sure beautiful.

Annual Labor Day Weekend Trip

The annual Labor Day weekend trip with the guys was this weekend.  The group hiked to Thousand Island Lake in the Sierras.  What beautiful country!  The group of guys was great, the hiking and scenery were divine, and the fishing was amazing.  Kelly really enjoys this get-a-way, and the group is already looking forward to next year.

Kelly's Weekend Hike - San Gregonio

Kelly planned a hike to San Gregonio this weekend with some friends and their sons.  This is a tough hike due to the elevation, but not a problem for this group.  Sariah went a long and had fun too.  I don't know if she knew what to do with the snow at the top, but it was pretty cold at the summit.  Congratulations to this hiking crew!

Mt. Wilson Hike

Heather and Kelly took Sariah and hiked the 19-mile trail to Mt. Wilson today.  That is some feat!  Heather did well, and Sariah was a trooper!  Sariah maintained her exuberant energy until they got back to the car where she promptly fell asleep.  I am continually amazed by my husband and my children.  This was a mighty goal, and both Kelly and Heather were excited to accomplish it.  If I only had half of their energy!

Mia Maid Activity - Homemade Bread

Our Mia Maid class decided to have an activity where we would learn a new and helpful skill.  The Davis family makes bread on a weekly basis for their family of 9, and we heard the bread is phenomenal.  Kelly makes fantastic salsa, and the girls decided to combine the two skills into one night.  Karen and Cora Davis taught us to make homemade, half wheat, half white bread.  Kelly and Heather taught us how to make salsa.  The girls wrote the recipes down, and then recorded what they learned in the Personal Progress books.  The bread was so delicious, and the girls loved the salsa too. We can't wait to try making this bread at home!

Kelly Turns 50!

We had dinner at Marie Callendar's for Kelly's birthday.  No, that isn't his favorite restaurant, and yes I may have blown that part, but the choice was well-intended.  I reserved the dining room that seats 10-12 and is very secluded.  Then I secretly invited four couples who I thought Kelly would enjoy spending time with, and the surprise dinner was on.  Unfortunately, one of the couples couldn't make it, so I invited a two other couples just in case.  Those last two are very busy families, but I did what I could to fill the party.  We arrived at dinner and saw one of the couples walking to the door which kind of looked suspicious.  Then the waitress wouldn't seat us until "more of the party" arrived.  Ugh!  Surprise much? The cat was out of the bag.  If they had just taken us back to the dining room, the girl would have seen that there our friends were already seated.  Oh well.  We lost another couple right after that via text, and just as I was contemplating giving up the dining room for a larger party (and feeling bummed that my surprise flopped), one of the guys from the last set of couples I invited walked in.  Yay!  He left his wife to hold down the fort so he could run over.  About ten minutes after that, another guy from the last set of couples invited walked in.  He left his event for a few minutes so he could run over and say hi.  Then the couple that canceled via text was able to send her husband over.  Our table ended up being full, and I was so thankful to these guys who left their busy evenings to come and show Kelly he was important to them.  My husband IS important, and I hope he felt the love.  Now I'll have to spend a few weeks planning date nights at his favorite restaurants to make up for my restaurant blunder, but that's fine.  We need some more date nights anyway.  As for presents, Kelly has a new iPhone that he digs, so the girls and I got him a couple of funny gifts.  We're Duck Dynasty watchers and have laughed over the antics of the crazy uncle, Si, so I picked up his book.  The t-shirt was a find in our hotel gift shop in Zion.  Perfect for an "old guy" who's young at heart.  We hope to have him around for another 50 years.  Happy Birthday honey!

High Adventure Day 4 - Sportsmanship

The plan for the last day of High Adventure was to take the guys fishing and shooting (target practice). But these young men were tired! Kelly had a hard time getting them out of bed and by the time they hit the lake, a storm had rolled in.  The photo above is blurred from rain.  It was cold and miserable, but some of the scouts stuck it out long enough to catch a few fish.  Kelly thought they would enjoy shooting practice the most, but not one of the boys was interested.  They wanted to go back to the cabin to hang out an relax.  The adults went ahead with the plans and had fun while the young men rested.

High Adventure Day 3 - The Narrows in Zion National Park

Day 3 of the High Adventure was the longest hike for Kelly, his varsity scouts and their leaders.  They hiked The Narrows in Zion National Park.  It's a 16-mile hike, most of it in the river.  Normally it's a beautiful hike with clearer water, but there had been so much rain that the river bottom was completely obscured by muddy water.  The hike was slower (eleven hours) due to the frequent slipping and tumbling over the unseen boulders and rocks and having to take things more slowly, but Kelly said it was still beautiful and very worth it.  

Oh, and this last shot is one of the items that hiked the narrows...a rain jacket plastered with dried mud from the water.  I won't mention what color Kelly's underwear ended up.  Hee, hee.