Home Sweet Home

Crazy to think it was almost a month ago when we went home! We love living in New York but we were SO excited to go home for the weekend. Especially because Lauren happened to get home from her mission that weekend! 

Clark and I even got in a day early, so I could spend some time with the family (while Clark studied for his series 79 exam). For our family day we went to John Muir Beach. It started off pretty overcast and cold (perfect kite flying weather), but by the afternoon it was sunny and warm and wonderful! I loved just hanging out with my siblings. I did miss Emily (on her mission) and David (helping out with his high school Student Gov.), but it was really fun to have some quality time with the younger monkeys... I mean kids.

It was so good to see my Mom!!! I wish I had grabbed a picture with my Dad too! We had such a fun time walking along the beach and talking :)

This handsome boy is getting way to cute and tall and grown up! 

Same with this awesome guy!!! For any of you who've read Calvin & Hobbes... Calvin = Andrew. Except Andrew is much smarter/a better student. But he's definitely as mischievous/imaginative! 

I loved having sister time with this sweetheart! She also happens to be the best pen pall while Emily and I are away. 

I GOT TO SEE MY PUPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  How cute is my little Holly!?! Makes me want a doggy here in NY so badly! 

John Muir Beach has lots of great tide pools and rocks for climbing and exploring. You can bet we took advantage of that! 

Master sand pit diggers! 

It really was awesome kite flying weather! 

Kites can also double as shields. Who knew?!

Another perk about visiting John Muir Beach - It's right near several hiking and horseback riding trails!

Luckily Clark didn't have to miss out on all the fun! He met us in the city for dinner at Bubba Gumps. Can I just say SF seems so tiny compared to NYC?! But don't worry, it will always be one of my favorite cities :) 

And no trip to SF is complete without a Ghirardelli's ice cream sundae! 

From SF we made our way over to the Oakland airport to welcome Sister Peterson home from her mission!!!! Sorry I was a little too excited to see her to remember to take pictures...

Clark was SO happy to see her! 

I love this big sister hug! 

We love our Laur!!!! 

The rest of the weekend was spent catching up and playing games and just enjoying this mini Peterson family reunion! It was so fun to have everyone there. I can't wait for us all to be reunited during Thanksgiving Break!

Impromptu soccer tournament! 

Opal Joy climbing around during family pictures! 

  Handsome Peterson boys! 

Why is it that the boys always get antsy during family pictures?! 

The gorgeous Peterson ladies! 

Eli is a little camera shy. But that certainly doesn't make him any less adorable! 

Our photographer was so sweet. And it was so fun to take family pictures right in the Peterson's backyard! 

Sleepy baby Rose! She is such a doll! And doesn't McKenna make such a cute mommy?!

Blurry but wonderful family picture! We had both sets of grandparents, Alison, and the Kings all there to listen to Lauren's homecoming talk. And the family dinner afterwards was incredible. You just can't beat family time.

It was really hard to leave CA and our wonderful family. Luckily we were coming back to the most amazing city in the world! 

Mission Prep for Emily!

So this post took forever... and again I don't feel like writing. Especially cause I want to get more current on my blogging (haha these posts are from June). But life gets in the way! Working kept me busy for the last 2 weeks, and now I'm also managing my little sister's mission blog! These posts were too important to skip though! We had lots to do to get Emily ready for her mission - here are some of the big events!

These pictures are from Emily's first time through the temple. Luckily so many family members, and a few friends, were able to attend. She had a wonderful first experience! I can't wait until the rest of my siblings have made their temple covenants too! 

                                     ^So many family members were there to show support!^

^Em & Tori! Life long BFFs who are both going on missions! Em to Texas and Tori to Italy^

^Proud Mom & Dad^

^We were so happy to be there for Em's special day!^

Before Emily left on her mission, we also wanted to take some family portraits. Luckily Whitney Justesen (link) was available to take some for us. She took us to the prettiest location near Beal's Point on Folsom Lake! I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. I can't wait to see all of Whitney's finished pictures!

Here are a few of hers: 

^Ah! She took these cute ones of Clark & I and I am dying to see the rest!^

^cute missionary shots for Emy!^

Some shots I took:

^The whole field was dotted with these neat rocks formations^

^Darling little Brie^

^Andrew's take on American Gothic^

^William turned into a little model, climbing and posing on every rock in sight^

^I've got the cutest sisters!^

^Hull Girls!^

^I also took several mission photos for Emily!^

^Emily gave her mission farewell a few weeks early so Clark and I could be there. She gave an incredible talk! And I will post her farewell talk on her blog soon, so check hermanahull.blogspot.com for it! It was an amazing meeting though - David gave a talk; Clark, David, Emily, and I sang; and Emily gave her talk! And so many of our family members were able to attend. It was marvelous.  After church we had a family lunch and then Clark and I had to say our in person goodbyes... because we flew to NYC early the next morning. I'm glad we were there for her farewell though!

^It was hard to say good-bye! But she is already having such an incredible experience. We are so proud of our missionary! ^