Pittsburgh: The road so far...

I am in Pittsburgh for a little bit and loving it. It is a much needed vacation.

I got here saturday and Eric and his sisters and friends picked me up from the airport. It was very fun to have a welcoming party for me.

     We came home and they cooked a yummy dinner for me. Then we headed over to our friend's house where the YSA(young single adults) were doing a cookie party. We Just wanted to see the Johnson's so we sat in the living room and chatted and ate cookies. Now I have to admit one of the coolest Pittsburgh traditions is this idea of having cookie parties. They do it for all types of events and the cookies are heavenly!!!

     Anyways... after the cookie party we decided to go to the park and light flying laterns into the sky. We all took a lantern and wrote a wish on it. Then we let it go. It was beautiful. The first few attempts were not as good as the last few. One of them did not stop burning before it hit the ground so Ana jumped a fence and ran out to make sure it did not burn anything down. Luckily we realized there was no harm the fire just went out and everything was ok. But still we were unsure if this was okay to be doing or not so we kept joking that a fire truck was going to appear. Around our 6th or 7th lantern we saw what seemed to be a fire truck pull up. We all booked it to the car and drove away. Out of breath we decided we should drive by this fire truck... we did so only to realize it was in fact not a fire truck but a trailer pulling up to the farm  that was by the park. 

first lantern of the night

Getting them ready

This picture doesn't even begin to show how cool it was

Eric explaining the Lanterns to us

So excited!!!

We had fun :)

Getting ready to launch

Getting ready....

.

Here we all are!

Our wishes for the baby

      We decided to go to another park and light off the last few. It was beautiful. Everyone decided to write a bunch of wishes on the lantern for baby Wahlstrom. We titled it TO: BABY WAHLSTROM   LOVE: YOUR FAIRYGODMOTHERS

It was adorable. It was really neat to watch that lantern float off into the sky. I was filled with such love and excitement for this baby girl. I also felt such gratitude that my baby is coming into this world with so many people that love and adore her and want the best for her. It makes me so happy to know that she will never have to wonder if she is loved. 

A silly wish Eric wrote on a different lantern

Eric was in charge of lighting each lantern

Getting ready to launch!

Holding on 

Waiting for the right moment

Last three of the night :)

     Sunday we went to church. We were welcomed by the wonderful members of the ward there and I felt so at home. Everyone is so kind and loving in this ward here. It was wonderful to see people who I am blessed enough to call friends now. The meetings were wonderful and I felt the spirit so strongly. 

     After church we ran off to a band banquet for the girls followed by a piano recital. 

My sisters are so talented. all the kids who played were it was so impressive. I was mostly just amazed at how much patience, practice and time goes into these pieces. It was so beautiful and enjoyable.

I was so grateful to be able to see my sisters preform. They did such an amazing job and have such grace and beauty. They are such amazing girls.

At the band banquet.. I asked them to smile... They all refused. haha

Beautiful girls at their recital 

Monday was a fun day too. Eric and I spent the morning at a golf course. He called ahead and asked if his 7 month pregnant wife could ride along while he played 18 holes. The lady was so nice and agreed. When we showed up she said, "OH there is the sweet beautiful pregnant lady!" Every time we passed the pro shop she would come out to chat and ask how we were doing. It was so fun and sweet. I really enjoyed watching Eric play. I also loved how beautiful PA is and how serene the course was.

me in the cart!!!

Watching were his chip went

Putting

Later we got the girls and shot off a model rocket Eric had built. That was a lot of fun and I was suprised at how high that thing went. The second time we launched the rocket, it went into the neighbors yard but she was so nice and thought it was so fun what we were doing!

We ended the night having family home evening. Eric taught us a lovely lesson about the Atonement and we played scatagories and listened to courtney play us a beautiful song on the piano. What stood out to me most about this was that the girls did not argue or complain about having Family home evening. They were excited and wanted to help. When Eric gave the lesson they didn't complain that it was too long or try to leave, they sat and listened and gave input. It was so awesome to see such young girls so willing to be with family and talk about God. I hope that my daughter is like her beautiful Aunts. Because they are truely special and amazing girls. I am so glad I can call them sisters. 

So I have a few more days here. I look forward to what they bring. :)

I am so glad to be here and to be having such a nice relaxing time.