Thursday, July 17, 2014

Utah!--part I

Some vacations are so chock full of good memories and fun that it's impossible to document it in just one blog post.  It's also impossible to choose a favorite part.  Too many highlights packed into our two weeks in Utah, I tell you.

We arrived in Salt Lake City on a Saturday evening.  We'd been in the car all day--and by all day, I mean all day.  Though we would be spending the remainder of the next week at my Aunt Shauna and Uncle John's house in Orem, we'd decided to get a hotel room in SLC for that first night.  Jon booked a great room at a nice hotel with good reviews, but it also happened to be located in the heart of SLC's homeless district and across the street from one of its seediest parks.  Thankfully the outdoor pool was located on the third floor--well away from the bums on the street--because the suitcases had scarcely been hauled into the room before the kids started rummaging for their swimming suits.  A late night dinner followed and then we crawled into bed to rest for our Sabbath day on Temple Square.



First we attended sacrament meeting in the Joseph Smith memorial building.  When we arrived at the chapel we learned that Elder Oaks was presiding at the meeting.  The chapel was filling fast and as we looked for five seats in the overflow, Jon said, "Let's sit in that row right there by Elder Ballard."  Indeed there were some available seats directly in front of Elder Ballard and his wife.   

After the meeting, we explored all of Temple Square starting with a tour of the Beehive House.



We saw each of the visitor centers and watched the Joseph Smith movie before visiting the Christus statue.




Then we walked across the street to see the conference center.  

Poor Caleb's nose is like a magnet for the sun and extremely susceptible to deep shades of red.  Since the sunscreen had been left in the car, he spent the day shielding his schnoz with the sacrament meeting program.  

You know what else we forgot?  Belts.  Classy, right?  Jon also forgot his dress shoes but thankfully you can't see that fashion awesomeness in this picture.  Nice backwards tie, though.


 The Church History Museum was our last stop before heading to my aunt's house in Orem.  After a nice Sunday dinner, the kids relaxed in front of the TV while the adults went to the Marriott Center to listen to Laura Bush as the keynote speaker of the Freedom Festival's patriotic service.  It was a delightful end to a wonderful day.

So much fun and we were just getting started...

2 comments:

Erin said...

I am always shocked at the amount of bums I see in Salt Lake. WAY more then I ever seen in the city! In any case, looks like a fun start!

Michelle said...

I don't know what the Beehive house is, but it sure is beautiful. Kind of has a Southern Charm to it. I never would have noticed the beltless men had you not pointed it out. Now the shoes... I probably would have noticed that one had they been in the pic :)