Utah-Temple Square

We spent the next day on Temple Square. 

Every Sunday morning we watch Music and the Spoken Word, so our kids were so excited to be at Temple Square on a Sunday.  We prepared Isaac and Grace beforehand that they wouldn’t be able to go to the actual recording because you have to be 8 years old to attend.  They were disappointed, but understood.  But when it came time for me and the twins to go to the downstairs theater, and Lee and Emma to go watch the choir, they were a little grumpy and sad.  I don’t think it helped that we got there pretty early and had to wait awhile.  I was a little frustrated with them by the time it started, but they perked up when the program go going.

Lee and Emma loved watching the recording.  They came out all smiles with all sorts of things to tell us.  I may have been a little jealous too!  

 (Lee forgot to pack a tie!)

After the recording we took a Conference Center tour.  The kids and I have done it before, but Lee never has.  That building is huge, interesting and beautiful.  Our tour guide was a little chatty and the twins got a little restless, but we still enjoyed it.  

We each chose our favorite painting in the Book of Mormon hall.

All the artwork in the Conference Center is so beautiful!

After the tour we went to the visitor centers, the Tabernacle, the Assembly Hall, and just walked around Temple Square.

Grace was obviously a little upset about something.  I had to laugh when I randomly ran across a very similar picture the other day:

Grace loved the stained glass windows in the Assembly Hall.

Lee used the cut out model of the temple as a teaching tool for the kids.  He’s a good dad.

The kids were especially interested to see the engraving on the temple since they love the movie Only a Stonecutter.

What a nice day we had, even with a few grumpy moments!  I love the spirit on Temple Square.

Once we had our fill we were on the road to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  This happened pretty quickly, but Isaac insisted he wasn’t really asleep. Ha!

We were all so happy to be at Covington Ranch.  Lora’s newest dog, Cookie, was especially popular.  We were looking forward to the next few days with all of them.

Utah-Road Trip & Ensign Peak

We hit the road in mid August for a trip to Utah. 

Road trips with older kids are so much more enjoyable.  We watched movies, listened to books, and read The Long Winter.  It was kind of funny to be reading about the Ingalls’ super cold and long winter while we were experiencing some really hot weather!

We stayed in Salt Lake the first night.  After getting settled in our hotel room and getting some dinner we went to hike Ensign Peak.  To say our children were excited about that would be a lie. They were not happy that we were making them do this after they had been in the car for 12 hours.  But we persevered and attitudes changed and they loved it.  We got there just as the sun was setting and it was beautiful.

The view of the city from the peak is awesome. 

We also talked a little about the history while we were up there.

After our hike down we went back to the hotel and swam in the freezing cold pool for a long time.  We even went between the hot tub and the pool a few times.  Makes me shiver just to think of it!  It was cold!  But our trip was off to a good start (despite a few grumpies before our hike).  We were excited for the rest!