Sweet Weekend with Snow on Top

This past weekend was a blast! My brother, Andy, flew in on Thursday evening. We picked him up and brought him to our apartment where he was given the "grand tour." We didn't stay up late because we both had to work in the morning and David had to get up to work during the night as well. Friday I went to work and he worked from his room at our place. After work David and I went to the Salt Lake Temple with our friends Nick and Chelsea. It was a great experience (We'd been before but they hadn't) but it ran longer than I expected and we didn't get back until around 7. Andy was, of course, very hungry (as were we) so we went to Red Robin for dinner. Andy was most unimpressed by the fry sauce and we all had a good laugh about our waitress' accent (North Dakota-ish) as well as her complete confusion when Andy told her not to bring him "Utah Dr. Pepper" a.k.a. Caffeine-free.

Saturday David was working until the afternoon. I ended up getting called into work in the morning and so I took Andy with me to show him my office. We went around 10 am and were there about an hour. I just showed him around and he watched me count money. After that we went to the bank and then up to Riverdale because Andy wanted to eat at this New York deli-style sub place called Gandolfo's. I had seen it but never eaten there before. We got subs and then went back and ate at the apartment with David. They were pretty good; I'll probably go back someday when I have money.

Not long after that we left and drove down to Provo to pick up Heather's brother, Robi (I think that's how his name is spelled....) who is a freshman at BYU. We then took him back to Draper with us where we met up with one of Andy's former roommates, Aaron, at the Mayan (a really cool Mexican restaurant). Andy and David got fajitas and the sour cream was frozen solid! It was funny but kind of gross at the same time. Overall dinner was fine--we all agreed that people go to the Mayan more for the atmosphere than the food (there are cliff divers), although our table was between light fixtures so it was quite dark. After dinner David had to go back home to get to bed so Aaron graciously agreed to drive Robi back to Provo and Andy went with them. The plan originally called for me to go meet Andy in Salt Lake sometime later to pick him up, but he was out very late and ended up borrowing a friend's car instead. I heard he got in around 3:30 am or so. I have to admit, I was pretty excited about not having to drive to SLC in the middle of the night; I was ready for bed!

Sunday we went to church and I was actually kind of embarrassed. There is this part of me that knows that Andy has lived in Utah and understands the culture and also knows that just because my ward acts a certain way doesn't mean I'm that way, but I was nonetheless unimpressed with the way the ward treated Andy. Not only did no one introduce themselves or even say hi, but in Elders Quorum they didn't even acknowledge him as a visitor. Even our friends in the ward would come and say hi to us but not say anything to Andy. We tried to introduce him to a few people but even then it was like a quick hi and bye. I just wish they could have made a better impression. Anyway, the funniest thing happened in Sunday School. We were sitting in the back row and this guy in front of us is telling this story about following the spirit and how he gave a blessing on his mission as a greeenie and was able to speak the language fluently for the blessing. As he finishes his story he says something along the lines of how the Lord needed him to do what he did and then he says "I guess I was a tool." Had he said "a tool in the Lord's hands" or "an instrument" it would have been a completely insignificant memory, but he just stops right there. Had Andy not been there I might have been fine, but I looked over and Andy and I both knew what the other was thinking and just started laughing. Of course this guy is sitting directly in front of us so we're trying really hard not to laugh out loud; I'm feeling horribly guilty because I'm pretty sure he can hear us and he's embarrassed, but I couldn't help it! I was laughing for a while after that. I opened my scriptures and tried to calm down but every couple of minutes I'd just start laughing again (you know the silent, hold-it-in type laughing I'm talking about). Oh man, I can't tell you how hilarious that was.

Anyway, after church we made calzones then Andy went to have dinner with his friend and his friend's parents. Then we met in Salt Lake to pick him up and came home, where we talked until 3:30 in the morning! It was good to just sit and talk. I texted my boss and told him I would be coming in late to work the next day because I knew I wouldn't be able to wake up in time to be at work by 7 like I usually do. So I woke up around 8ish and left for work just before 9. I found 3-4 inches of snow on the ground and terrible road conditions. Half of the traffic lights between home and work were out and I slid off the road and hit the curb on the way. I called Caleb and told him it was bad and he decided to go home and work remotely. I went to the office and got the paperwork I needed then also went to work from home, fearing the storm would trap me at work if I stayed. It ended up getting better, but not before one of our drivers had to come pick me up and take me back to work to open the safe for him. Fun stuff. We left for the airport a few hours after I finished with work and stopped by Brenda's on the way although only Rick was home. We had a good visit with him, though. Luckily the snow cleared up enough that his flight got out OK.

I realized that we didn't get any pictures together, so we snapped this at the airport to prove we really did see each other. I'm not sure when I'll be able to see him again, but it was cool to have him around for a few days. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have Heather there, and/or Jon and Katie. Thanks for a great weekend, Andy! I love you!