Sometime in January I decided I was going to General Conference in April this year! I have never been and have always wanted to go, just never found anyone to go with. I talked to a couple people and the trip was set! It was going to be me, Stefani, Jessica and her friend Melanie! It was all set and ready to go...I was SO SO excited!!!!
Well as time went on the group started changing, things started coming up and by the middle of February my group was gone and I was on my own. I had already set aside money and had my heart set on going so dog-on-it I was going!!!!!
After talking to Kindra she told me she would feel much better if I could find at least one person to drive up there with me because it would be snowing and its a VERY long drive. I racked my brain for a long time to figure out who to ask on kind of a short notice. UM DUH I HAVE TWO SISTERS!!!! lol
I asked Courtney first because she isn't working so I thought it would be easier for her to manage it into her schedule. She talked with Randy and he loved the idea...said it would be a great experience. We were staying with a long time friend of Kindra's that was ecstatic to see us. After talking to Kindra about my plan, I could see that she was excited for me and Courtney to take this "sister's trip" but deep down she wished she could go. One night while talking about it I said, "Kindra! you HAVE to come! it's not a sister's trip without you! Go tell Vaughn, he will understand!" Her face lit up and a smiled grew so big! At first she tried to come up with excuses like "who would watch my kids?" "i cant leave ren for that long, he is still little" "Vaughn will be sad that i am leaving" blah blah blah! lol I made her go down the hall right away and ask him what he would think. Being the wonderful husband and brother in law that he is, he looked at her and told her that he thought it was a great idea and an opportunity that wouldn't come around again for a long time! She came back down the hall SO excited and it was set! The three of us girls were on our way to SLC!!!!
We decided not to tell Aimee that Kindra was also coming, I figured it would be so much more fun to see the look of shock on her face when not only Courtney and I walked in her house but KINDRA TOO!!!! lol
Our plan was to leave at 4 am on Friday morning to get there in the before dinner that night. I woke up at 3, took a shower and made sure my bags were by the door. Kindra was going to leave her house at 3:45 to pick up Courtney and they would be to my house shortly after that. I was ready to go by 3:50. At 4:10 I sent a text to Kindra asking if she was on her way...no response. hmmmm. At 4:15 Courtney called me and asked me if I had heard from Kindra. This was not good! Court said she would call and let me know when she knew something. Ten minutes later I decided to call myself because I was READY!!! lol I called Kindra and the voice on the other end was one of a grizzly bear waking from hibernation! SHE HAD SLEPT IN!!!! lol She laughed and said she was changing and walking out the door. They showed up at my house at about 4:40 which meant after getting gas and getting on the road it was already 5!!! My plan was not working out so great! But we were now on our way and that's all that mattered :)
We were making great time and made it to Filmore, Utah about 1:30 pm...about 3 hours away from our destination! The ground was covered in snow and it was beautiful! We were making our way up the hill, around a mountain when all the sudden I saw red lights...not back lights but brake lights. OH NO!!!! another delay! Traffic was completely STOPPED! Not even moving an inch! After a few minutes emergency vehicles came by the side...we counted 3 ambulance, a few police vehicles and 2 fire engines. This was not good. We were stuck on the side of a mountain in the snow with no idea how long we would be there or how far up the accident was. Conversation started...we laughed and laughed and found things out about each other that we would not have known if we were not sitting in the middle of nowhere with snow all around us lol. It was actually quite fun and something that I will remember for a long time. Finally after about 45 minutes traffic started moving, very slowly, but moving!!! The accident scene was about 2 miles up the road. Five cars!!!! A mini van, a truck, and three sedan style cars all spread across the highway. I couldn't help but say a little prayer of thanks. If Kindra would have been on time and we would have been on the road an hour previous...we could have been in that accident!! Tender Mercies for sure!!
After passing the accident we were once again on the road and that much closer to being able to get OUT OF THE CAR! lol The rest of the trip was quiet as far as traffic. We got to Aimee's house in Orem at about 7:00...a couple hours later than we hoped but still in good time considering the hour and a half accident delay.
We got out of the car giggling about how Aimee still didn't know Kindra was with us and guessing what her face would look like when she saw her. We walked in the house, me at the head, Courtney behind me and Kindra taking up the rear. Aimee smiled when she saw me looked behind and saw Courtney and then got a look on her face that we were not expecting. Mind you she thought Stefani was coming. She hasn't seen her since she was probably 10. After about 2 minutes her facial expression changed...a HUGE smile came to her face and a SREAM came out! She was so excited when she realized who it was. She then admitted that she looked at Courtney and thought "wow the fallbeck girl changed a lot!" and then looked and Kindra and thought "wow Courtney looks so much more like Kindra than I ever thought she would!" lol Immediately we began reminiscing about the "old days" when we were all little and the things we got away with and things Aimee remembered about us that we didn't.
After a little bit we headed out to meet up with my friend Megan who had met me in Utah from Idaho. We got her, went back to the house and continued to talk until we all couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. We headed to bed to prepare for the reason we made the trip...CONFERENCE! yay! I had never been so excited for conference weekend to be here.
We woke
up the next morning with enough time for four girls to shower, do their hair and makeup and be out the door by 10. We got in the car and drove the 30 minutes from Orem to Sandy to catch the TRAX into Salt Lake. We figured that was easier than driving the hour to SLC and trying to fight through town to get a parking spot. We got there a little earlier than we thought we would so decided to use that time to take some pictures in front of Temple Square in the snow.
these pictures are kind of small but they will have to do.The first one is Megan and I on the TRAX on the way to SLC. The second is us again standing in front of the Temple.
While walking around outside we were shocked at how many protesters there were. They were saying they thought this year would be bad because of Prop 8 that had been trying to pass. Honestly from witnessing the Easter Pageant at the Mesa temple I thought they were pretty even. It was the weirdest thing though. You would walk from one end of the gates having people screaming at you calling you ignorant and shameful to the other side of the gate's opening to seeing smiling faces of fellow saints singing hymns to bring the spirit back to the experience. Courtney thought this was the coolest thing a
nd stopped quickly to take a picture. We walked into the Conference Center and found our seats. They were in the second section from the pulpit just off to the left of the stands. it was AMAZING!!! Here we are waiting for it to start WAY before the room filled with people. We had to laugh because that lady was sitting until right before the lady taking our picture snapped it so she looks pretty shocked and funny.
After a few minutes the room got full and people were all talking amungst themselves. All of the sudden, with no warning, the room got silent and everyone stood. I looked to the right and saw President Thomas S Monson walking in the room. Chills ran down my spine and this feeling of peace and calm came over me. There was no warning that he was coming in when he did but its like everyone just knew. He took a seat in his big comfy chair and all at once everyone in the conference center sat and the hush stayed there until conference began. The only sound you could hear was the faint sound of hymns playing through the tv broadcast screen in the front.
After conference we headed back to the TRAX station to meet up with Aimee and her sister Susan for dinner. Along with the hundreds of other conference attendees we filed on to the train as soon as it pulled up. Courtney and I were together. As we turned around we noticed that Kindra and Megan had kept walking. They made it to the next door right as it was shutting...quickly they turned to run back to the door we had gone in as it closed too. Yes they got left behind. It was so funny and scary at the same time. Watching their face as the door closed again was priceless. There were two boys sitting next to the window that saw what was happening and knew we were with them. They tried pushing the button to open the door again but to no avail. Court and I just looked at each other in disbelief thinking "wow did that really just happen!?" The two boys just laughed and waved and Kindra and Megan as our train started off. We quickly called Kindra to make sure she was not freaking out. She kind of laughed and said they were getting on the next train and would be right behind us. Feeling a bit better we sat down and just laughed about it but feeling thankful that they were together and that it wasnt just one of us that got left behind. When we finally got back to car and met up with the other two, we found out that they got on the wrong train! They took the one that was headed in the wrong direction and had to get off and switch to come back! lol It was the funniest thing ever and made the day that much more exciting.
We met up with Aimee and Susan and went to a little mexican place for dinner. After dinner we went back to the house and chatted it up about Kindra and Aimee's high school's career and how fun it was to remember. We stayed up late talking and laughing dreading the trip back the next day.
The trip home was less exciting and seemed a bit longer...probably because we were all exhausted and ready to just be home lol.
This experience was amazing! It is now my goal to go once a year. Next time I will go to the October session just for a change. I probably couldn't tell you what the talks were about or who said what but the feelings I had were unforgettable. Im so glad I got to spend the weekend with my sisters...just the three of us! Something that had never happened and something that probably wont happen again for a while.
nd stopped quickly to take a picture. We walked into the Conference Center and found our seats. They were in the second section from the pulpit just off to the left of the stands. it was AMAZING!!! Here we are waiting for it to start WAY before the room filled with people. We had to laugh because that lady was sitting until right before the lady taking our picture snapped it so she looks pretty shocked and funny.After a few minutes the room got full and people were all talking amungst themselves. All of the sudden, with no warning, the room got silent and everyone stood. I looked to the right and saw President Thomas S Monson walking in the room. Chills ran down my spine and this feeling of peace and calm came over me. There was no warning that he was coming in when he did but its like everyone just knew. He took a seat in his big comfy chair and all at once everyone in the conference center sat and the hush stayed there until conference began. The only sound you could hear was the faint sound of hymns playing through the tv broadcast screen in the front.
After conference we headed back to the TRAX station to meet up with Aimee and her sister Susan for dinner. Along with the hundreds of other conference attendees we filed on to the train as soon as it pulled up. Courtney and I were together. As we turned around we noticed that Kindra and Megan had kept walking. They made it to the next door right as it was shutting...quickly they turned to run back to the door we had gone in as it closed too. Yes they got left behind. It was so funny and scary at the same time. Watching their face as the door closed again was priceless. There were two boys sitting next to the window that saw what was happening and knew we were with them. They tried pushing the button to open the door again but to no avail. Court and I just looked at each other in disbelief thinking "wow did that really just happen!?" The two boys just laughed and waved and Kindra and Megan as our train started off. We quickly called Kindra to make sure she was not freaking out. She kind of laughed and said they were getting on the next train and would be right behind us. Feeling a bit better we sat down and just laughed about it but feeling thankful that they were together and that it wasnt just one of us that got left behind. When we finally got back to car and met up with the other two, we found out that they got on the wrong train! They took the one that was headed in the wrong direction and had to get off and switch to come back! lol It was the funniest thing ever and made the day that much more exciting.
We met up with Aimee and Susan and went to a little mexican place for dinner. After dinner we went back to the house and chatted it up about Kindra and Aimee's high school's career and how fun it was to remember. We stayed up late talking and laughing dreading the trip back the next day.
The trip home was less exciting and seemed a bit longer...probably because we were all exhausted and ready to just be home lol.
This experience was amazing! It is now my goal to go once a year. Next time I will go to the October session just for a change. I probably couldn't tell you what the talks were about or who said what but the feelings I had were unforgettable. Im so glad I got to spend the weekend with my sisters...just the three of us! Something that had never happened and something that probably wont happen again for a while.
2 comments:
Love ya sis! Thanks for the opertunity!!
It was awesome wasn't it!!
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