I said

I said I would write more about Iowa and I didn't. I said that I hate growing up and I still do. I said I would write more about Manti, so here it goes:

Day 2

I woke up to the sound of my chicken friends and some horses down the road. The sun wasn't up over the mountains yet and I didn't want to miss it. Mom was already up and I could hear Grandpa outside. I got up and got dressed to go for a run. I ran down Main Street and towards the temple. The sun came up while I ran and by the time I got to the temple it was shining down perfectly on the spires. I ran back up the hill to the house feeling really great and looking forward to the day.

I ate breakfast and got ready for the day. Today was date day. Grandma was taking the girls out on the town! Our first stop was Walmart to get some really delicious grapes and pick up Grandma's pictures. Next stop: Aunt Magdalene's. Magdalene is my grandpa's oldest sister. She lives in Mt. Pleasant and I've never met her. I'm so glad I finally did. She is so precious. She gave me a big hug when I met her and brought us inside. As soon as we sat down she wanted to show us her latest batch of pressed flowers.

Here's a litte bit about her before I go on: She is at least 85 years old and lost her husband in a logging accident when she was a young mother. She never remarried and raised her family all by herself. She has lived in Mt. Pleasant for a long time and is so good at having little projects to keep her busy. Now on with the show:

One of Magdalene's projects is gardening. She has a really nice garden (apparently, I never saw it but I heard a lot of great things about it). Another one of her projects is pressing flowers. She collects fun little leaves and petals from her flowers and arranges them on wax paper and then decoupages tissue over them. Then she makes them into the cutest little cards! She was so

excited to show us her latest batch and I was so excited just to see how excited she was!

We left Magdelene's to go to lunch. I was so excited for lunch because Grandma promised me her courtship story. Lunch was at the Snow Dragon, Grandma's favorite Chinese place. Grandpa doesn't like Chinese food so Grandma was excited to take us. Then, my favorite part, the courtship story! I loved hearing their story. It was so funny and sweet and has a happy ending.

Grandpa took my mom on a date that afternoon. I stayed home and typed up my Grandma's personal history. She's been handwriting it over the last several years and I offered to type

it up for her while I was in Manti. During my break, I took a bike ride down Main Street and got a snow cone. Grandpa and Mom returned for dinner and the rest of the night was spent chatting with Grandpa and watching a movie.

Tomorrow brings the last day of the Manti trip and possibly my newest idea for future posts.

Get excited.