Crazy Weather= Fun Times

I didn't get to blog last night because of the, well, intense events that occurred, so I will hopefully (and probably easily) remember everything that went on yesterday. I got up, ate breakfast, loaded my things to the bus, and we took off. We left at about 7, and they told us we would be lucky to get there by 6:30 that evening, so I was prepared for another long travel day. I slept the first part, until the rest stop, then they played the movie "Dreamer" which is an ok movie. When we arrived in Council Bluffs, we stopped for lunch and to see the Winter Quarters Visitors Center and Pioneer Cemetery. We saw the Pioneer Cemetery first, and the missionaries taking us on the tour showed us the shackels the pioneers used to keep the horses from being stolen and the two-hanger-water-finding trick, except they used it to find graves. Then on to the visitors center, which was really cool because it had a bunch of displays about what it would have been like back then in the condition the pioneers were in and what they would have had. They showed us a cabin about the size of my bedroom and said it was about an 8-person cabin. Time rushed us out of there, and we were back on the road. We watched "Secondhand Lions" and I only saw part of it because I kept dozing off. We were in Grand Island, Nebraska at about 6:30, and the bus ride didn't seem nearly as long as they said it was. The hotel has a crazy set up, but easy to figure out. We had a decent dinner at the hotel, then we chilled in the halls and did whatever. Everyone decided they wanted to get on the internet and my laptop was widely used for that reason. Then Jamie, Brennon and I decided to go on a walk around, maybe stop at the gas station. We had a good time. It started raining on us and we just played in the puddles and got each other wet. I was running to get Brennon and instead of the water shooting from under my foot to him, it splashed all up my body and drenched me. The awesome thing was the lighting show. That was incredible. There were bolts going off left and right. We were drenched when we got back inside. We messed around in the halls for a little bit before we changed, and the funniest thing happened. Kallie Thomas is in a contest with her sister to see who can hold the most guys' hands. Jokingly, Brennon and I got on each side and added to her count. Right when Brennon and Kallie latched, the St. John's seminary bro walked by and it was very funny; impecable timing. Then I changed and visited with the others until we were kicked out because of curfew. But I ran into the St. John's boys' room and we partied for a while. The rain kept up and the lighting show was getting even more glorious, with brighter forks and louder thunders. They had a glass door that opened to an outside courtyard so we stepped outside to get an even better view. Just then, Bro Monson saw us through another window and asked me to go over to him. Apparently, the leaders knew I wasn't in my room and were looking all over for me... ha ha whoops. So I went back to my room to enjoy the show. We also have a glass door to the courtyard, and it was kept open most of the night so we could get the full effect if you could call it that. We also have an adjoining room with Rhett Peterson, Parker Poulson, Brian Waters, and Jeff Brown and that door was open most of the night as well. As we were watching the show, huge hailstones- just larger than golf balls- pelted from the sky, hitting the river that had formed outside and splashing. It was another amazing show. I stepped outside my room (sneaky sneaky) to see the other side of the hotel, where the parking lot is, and there were car alarms going off all across the lot. The hail stopped shortly after, but the storm kept pouring down. There were several guys with outside doors and we played in the large puddles and artificial river that had formed. It was such a good time. At about 2 in the morning, I went to Tuttle, Luke, Jake, and Brain Demille's room and we watched Man vs. Wild. Then at 2:30, Al and I walked back to our beds and fell asleep. I figured the blog could wait til morning.