And then head home for the baptism of a special young man in your ward...And then head up the canyon to roast hot dogs and marshmallows! At least that is what we TRIED to do! After driving up American Fork Canyon and heading down the other side...and not finding one open picnic spot...but lots of beautiful scenery....
We ended up at Sundance and decided we had driven far enough! We bagged the campfire idea and headed inside to the restaurant for dinner! We were told that it would be a 45 minute wait... but the guy behind Dan in line was cancelling for his party of 6 and told the hostess to let us have their place! (We were a party of 5 with McKenna's adorable friend Mallory along...) So we only had to wait a few minutes before being seated!
As we walked to our table, seated nearby was Stephanie Nielson with her sweet husband and another couple. (If you don't know who she is, check out her blog.... the nieniedialogues.blogspot.com. She and her husband were in a terrible plane crash and survived. They are an AMAZING couple!!!!!) Not to long ago for a family home evening we watched "Mormon Messages" and their story was on it! I have read her blog for quite awhile...after my sister told me about her... and was really impressed with her courage and strength and testimony. After we sat down, Courtney told me she really wanted to go tell her hello. Since they hadn't been served their dinner yet, I told her it was okay. She walked over and tapped her gently on the shoulder and Stephanie turned to look at her. Courtney proceeded to tell her that she thought she was amazing and that her story inspired her to want to be strong. Stephanie slid her chair out, stood up, and wrapped her arms around Courtney and gave her the biggest hug ever! She then asked her where her family was, and they BOTH came over and introduced themselves to us. They showed so much love, and kindness, and were so gracious. We are HUGE fans of the Nielson's! They waved goodbye and told us how nice it was to meet us as we left. What an amazing experience that was!!!! (And my pork chop was WAY better than a hot dog!!! Win Win.)
As we headed outside after one of the coolest dining experiences ever, the girls noticed that the ski lift was running... they asked if we could go for a ride. It was about 8:45, but we figured why not and bought 5 tickets and jumped on... The three girls were on the one if front of us... perfect!
A view of Timp as we headed up...
Have I overcome some fears or what?! I called my sister from the ride to tell her about meeting Stephanie and she laughed when I told her what we were doing. I wouldn't have done this 5 years ago... no thank you! But it was AWESOME!
Come to find out, they do what they call "Moonlight Madness" where they open the chair lift when there is a full moon... The line was HUGE by the time we got back!!! We had no idea... thank goodness for no open picnic spots... full moons... meeting a true "hero" in person and having them exceed your expectations... and for being spontaneous enough to allow it all to fall in to place!!!! What a great day! 
3 comments:
I'm glad you called me from there and I got to experience a little of it. Seriously, you are facing fears left and right the past few years. Good on ya!
Can't wait to see you in a couple weeks!
Haha! That explains it! I kept hearing you laugh when I was talking with Dan about the backpack. I wasn't sure why you thought Dan was so funny (he is, but not this time!). You were talking with Cheryl!
What an awesome adventure!! It is like I told you on the phone...I think I will come and live with you so I can go on all these neat adventures you seem to stumble in to!! Just kidding...but it does seem like they fall in to your lap! I am so glad you had the fun experiences of that day...and got to meet that incredible American hero...Stephanie, the survivor! And her hubby!
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