Tacos Al Pastor!!!

Okay so, a little explanation is needed. When I was on my mission in Mexico, I discoved my most favorite food in the world...Tacos Al Pastor. Basically it is a type of BBQ'd pork they would rotisserate with a pineapple on a spit. Then the Taquero would chop some off the side of pork and grill it up for you and serve it on corn tortillas. If somebody were to offer me one meal of anything in the world, I would have them fly me to Merida, Mexico for Tacos Al Pastor and an Apple Soda called Manzanita Sol. So you can imagine my excitement when one of the ladies who works with Amber, (and who is also from Mexico originally) told her about a new Mexican Restaurant that was opened at the Junction in dowtown Ogden which served as close to authentic Tacos Al Pastor that she has tried in the U.S. I had to take a picture of them. This is what they looked like served in Mexico. They weren't as good as eating them in Mexico, but they also did not disappoint.

More Updates Since our Move back to Utah...

Easter 2009:

Amber and Sienna on Easter Sunday before Church. (Whistling)

This first picture, below, is pretty funny because Rusty would get so excited to go on Easter Egg hunts at his Great-Grandma Sheffield's house, but he doesn't even like candy. He just liked to open the eggs and then leave the contents on the grass. We go through the same thing at Halloween. Not that Daddy complains about having to eat all of his candy. Sienna on the other hand seems to have received her share and Rusty's share of a sweet tooth. What a kid!

More Updates Since our Move back to Utah...

I am determined to finish this update. I find that this blog is turning out to be more and more like my journal. That is to say, when I go to write in my journal, I am at least 6-12 months behind and I have to recap what has been going on, so I miss out on writing all of the little details that makes a journal informative, all in a effort just to catch up. Okay, that was a rant, back to the task at hand.


Okay, so one of the great things about being back was to get to see some of my buddies from B.C. again. We all got together at Brandon's house in Syracuse for a BBQ and then a trip to the park for "our kids"....Whatever! Where there are monkey bars, there will be men who think they are boys and think that they can do the things that boys used to do. Case in point....

Brandon didn't last a chance once I got a hold of him. At least it's not as long of a drop to the bottom like we used to remember it.

You forget how much 20 years and and at least another 150 pounds more can make a kid a really weak.

Brandon and Jess in their home with their baby Rebecca. Also Ben and Li.

Josh and Matt. You know, I am always thankful that while my buddies my change over the years, getting smarter, getting jobs, etc. They still don't change from the way that one used to know them growing up. These were a solid group of guys and they still are. I think I would have ended up pretty screwed up if they hadn't been there to anchor me all those years. Thanks guys, for being there, especially during this particularly difficult time for me. Here's to the old "Senior Six."

Family update continues. . .

After settling back into our home in Utah we spent a lot of time with family and friends! I can safely say that the grandparents were happy to have their grandkids close again. Fun!!

Family Update cont. . .

Family update continued. . .

Before our move back to Utah we took the opportunity to see the Portland Zoo. It was amazing! We saw all sorts of animals we didn't see at the Zoo in Utah. We even got up close and personal with a few of them. One of our favorite animals was the sea lions, they swam right up to us in the underwater tank. It made Sienna and Rusty laugh. We also liked seeing the orangutan exibit. When we walked up to see the orangutans, this male orangutan came right up to the glass to stare and Sienna and Rusty. It was really neat!

We were so fortuate to have Mandi (Zach's sister) come up to be with us as we were preparing to move to Utah. We showed her some sights in Washington and Oregon and we loved having her with us!!

Moving day! What a day it was!! 14 hours of driving, potty stops, eating all sorts of junk, and 5 very tired people. We pulled into Brigham City, Utah late in the evening and we were glad to have the trip behind us! We will miss Washington; the amazing friends (we miss you and we love all of you!), beautiful scenery (I miss the trees, Utah does not have huge evergreens), great people, and fun times. We hope to visit in the future.

Family Update!!

Whew! 4 months has flow by and so much has happened to our family. Here is a re-cap of everything that the Peterson family has been up to. . .

I celebrated my birthday in March and it was great! Zach suprised me with Wicked tickets. Yeah! We spent the evening in downtown Portland and enjoyed this fantastic show!

Happy Birthday Sienna! We celebrated Sienna's first birthday this past March. It is hard to believe how fast she has grown! Zach and I are amazed at all she has learned and we love her so much! We had our friends the Yost's and the Fulkerson's over for pizza and cupcakes. It was a fun night and Sienna loved having so many people around! She did better than Rusty with her cupcake, but didn't like getting her hands dirty. Happy 1st Birthday Sienna!

Land of many waterfalls...

We kept hearing about all of the waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge, which is a stretch of canyon and river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Lewis and Clark trekked all along it during their famous expedition and their are landmarks everywhere marking their trek. There are alot of waterfalls in the area so we went to go see some of them. First we saw the Wakeena Falls...




But Rusty didn't like being so close because he was getting wet and it was cold.

There that's much better, isn't it Rusty

Then we went to the larger and more famous Multnomah Falls. This is the second highest, year-round, waterfall in the U.S. It's pretty impressive up close, these pictures don't give it justice.