Thursday, November 25, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
SLC Town (part 1)
First stop on the Salt Lake City Express Tour: The Capital
I started off the day searching for a parking spot and wound up on top of the hill staring straight at the capital building. I found that directly across the street is a travelers info center with FREE parking--yay! Since we had the whole day to kill and since this is such a beautiful building we decided to check it out. Turned out to be a fun stop.
Kyle decided that he needed a little nap before heading to the conference center.
I have always Loved this fountain--inside and outside. The kids were as entranced as I was. We took a short tour of this amazing building. The kids thought it was so cool to be in the same building where they watch General conference. The Sister missionary also told us some neat stories about the inspiration which helped guide the building of this building. Such as the one where the master architect was told by Pres. Hinkley that each person that he hired would be entitled to personal inspiration over their particular projects. A non-member was hired to do some work on the project. He was speaking with, I think the architect, and he mentioned that he thought it would be really great if they could make an alpine meadow and gardens on the roof. The architect told him that the cost of something like that would be too prohibitive and so the idea was dropped. Later on the architect was reading Brigham Youngs original journal writings and he came across an entry describing his vision of SLC. He talked about seeing a very large building with gardens and fountains on top directly across the street from the temple. Of course there wasn't anything to discuss after that.
I started off the day searching for a parking spot and wound up on top of the hill staring straight at the capital building. I found that directly across the street is a travelers info center with FREE parking--yay! Since we had the whole day to kill and since this is such a beautiful building we decided to check it out. Turned out to be a fun stop.
Kyle decided that he needed a little nap before heading to the conference center.
I have always Loved this fountain--inside and outside. The kids were as entranced as I was. We took a short tour of this amazing building. The kids thought it was so cool to be in the same building where they watch General conference. The Sister missionary also told us some neat stories about the inspiration which helped guide the building of this building. Such as the one where the master architect was told by Pres. Hinkley that each person that he hired would be entitled to personal inspiration over their particular projects. A non-member was hired to do some work on the project. He was speaking with, I think the architect, and he mentioned that he thought it would be really great if they could make an alpine meadow and gardens on the roof. The architect told him that the cost of something like that would be too prohibitive and so the idea was dropped. Later on the architect was reading Brigham Youngs original journal writings and he came across an entry describing his vision of SLC. He talked about seeing a very large building with gardens and fountains on top directly across the street from the temple. Of course there wasn't anything to discuss after that.
We met up with some of our favorite people after that. What a fun day we had. I'm pretty sure that if these kids knew what they were standing in there would have been at least a few red faces. Do any of you have wedding pictures taken in here?
These are all ways that we can be more like the Savior. I told the kids to point to one thing that they could try to be more like the Savior themselves. If you look close you'll see that little Le'e is pointing to "Teach someone a job skill" and Drew is pointing to "help out at a local school."
I absolutely love this picture of the two little ones together at the feet of Christ. What a special moment--what a special place.
We had to take a break to eat lunch. We had heard that the "Red Iguana" had some of the BEST mexican food in SLC. It did not disappoint--although the kids might beg to differ. We had their Killer nacho's and everyone shared.
We made it just in time to see the movie about the Life of Joseph Smith at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. That was such a great movie depicting his turbulent, yet inspiring life story. Poor Addy and Elsie were bawling at the end. It was hard to see him treated so badly. At least now he is at peace. I guess that the price we pay to come to know our Lord is different for each one of us.
I think that this is one of my favorite viewpoints of the temple. It is pretty spectacular with the reflection in the pool and the spires rising high.
After coming out of the Joseph Smith movie we were just kind of hanging out, letting the kids run a bit. Andrew had been climbing on the planter walls and walking the rails, generally having a pretty good time of it. We called the kids and said that it was time to go and so he came running over--only to find that one of the long trough-type fountains was in his way. He had stepped right into it before he had even realized that it was there. Poor boy was soaked up to his thighs. Consequently, in the picture he was pouting, just a bit, and refused to turn around for a picture. He was pretty embarrassed. I however thought it was the cutest thing ever and couldn't help snapping this shot of him stomping away.
Kaylee wanted to go through the Beehive house so we did. I'm glad that we did, it was quite fun. As we came out of the Beehive house and walked around the corner, this is the sight that we beheld.
The sky was cobalt blue with the last rays of sunshine gleaming pink and yellow in the background. The temple was lit up and it was a moment that sort of took my breath away.
This is a day that I will never forget. To be able to show my children sacred places, teach them about special people and watch them as they are exposed to uplifting ideas was a day that I will cherish forever. I only hope that they will too.
This is one of my favorite exhibits. It is in the South visitor center. It is a full model of the inside of the temple. The interactive computers allow you to touch a room and it will tell you about what that room is used for. It's also kind of neat for some of us who have been inside but have never seen some of these rooms.
These are all ways that we can be more like the Savior. I told the kids to point to one thing that they could try to be more like the Savior themselves. If you look close you'll see that little Le'e is pointing to "Teach someone a job skill" and Drew is pointing to "help out at a local school."
I absolutely love this picture of the two little ones together at the feet of Christ. What a special moment--what a special place.
We had to take a break to eat lunch. We had heard that the "Red Iguana" had some of the BEST mexican food in SLC. It did not disappoint--although the kids might beg to differ. We had their Killer nacho's and everyone shared.
We made it just in time to see the movie about the Life of Joseph Smith at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. That was such a great movie depicting his turbulent, yet inspiring life story. Poor Addy and Elsie were bawling at the end. It was hard to see him treated so badly. At least now he is at peace. I guess that the price we pay to come to know our Lord is different for each one of us.
I think that this is one of my favorite viewpoints of the temple. It is pretty spectacular with the reflection in the pool and the spires rising high.
After coming out of the Joseph Smith movie we were just kind of hanging out, letting the kids run a bit. Andrew had been climbing on the planter walls and walking the rails, generally having a pretty good time of it. We called the kids and said that it was time to go and so he came running over--only to find that one of the long trough-type fountains was in his way. He had stepped right into it before he had even realized that it was there. Poor boy was soaked up to his thighs. Consequently, in the picture he was pouting, just a bit, and refused to turn around for a picture. He was pretty embarrassed. I however thought it was the cutest thing ever and couldn't help snapping this shot of him stomping away.Kaylee wanted to go through the Beehive house so we did. I'm glad that we did, it was quite fun. As we came out of the Beehive house and walked around the corner, this is the sight that we beheld.
The sky was cobalt blue with the last rays of sunshine gleaming pink and yellow in the background. The temple was lit up and it was a moment that sort of took my breath away.
This is a day that I will never forget. To be able to show my children sacred places, teach them about special people and watch them as they are exposed to uplifting ideas was a day that I will cherish forever. I only hope that they will too.Saturday, November 13, 2010
Sampling of Beautiful Yosemite
I have wanted to post some pictures from our Yosemite trip this past July but the shear number of pictures has intimidated me. Trying to pick only the very best ones has proven a monumental task. That's not to say that the ones that I do finally post will overwhelm you as masterful pieces of artwork. Andsel Adams I am not. Although I really do want to portray at least a little of the overwhelmingly beautiful scenery that we experienced. I just know that my lack of abilities in the photography department does not do the area justice. Therefore, imagine if you will, that each one of these pictures is about 20 times more beautiful than they seem and you can begin to understand what it is really like in this incredibly gorgeous spot of ground. Also forgive the length of the post. As I said, it was hard to edit. These are some of my favorites though. I'll save most of the personal-family pictures for some other time. You can click on any of the pictures to view them separately and in greater detail. So, without any further commentary, I'll leave you to enjoy the sampling of Yosemite.
El Capitan!
(just ignore the date. This was taken with a brand new camera. I hadn't turned the date-stamp off yet.
"Old Grizzly" Each of these branches is bigger than a regular tree. It was monstrous.Estimated to be about 2700 years old.
The Three Sisters 
View of Yosemite Valley--El Capitan on the left and Half Dome on the right in the distance with Bridalveil falls on the right forefront.
/Yosemite Falls
Bridalveil Falls
El Capitan!
The Merced River
Half Dome on Left with the Nevada and Vernal falls center stage.
On top of Sentinal Dome (Where the famous Jeffrey Pine of Andsel Adams fame is--it finally fell over in 2003.)
Hopefully you can see that when I say that Yosemite is truly one of God's finest creations, I do not exagerate at all. It is a feast for the eyes! No matter which direction you look, there is always something delicious to look at! Truly Inspiring!
El Capitan!
(just ignore the date. This was taken with a brand new camera. I hadn't turned the date-stamp off yet.
"Old Grizzly" 
View of Yosemite Valley--El Capitan on the left and Half Dome on the right in the distance with Bridalveil falls on the right forefront.
Bridalveil Falls
El Capitan!
The Merced River
Half Dome on Left with the Nevada and Vernal falls center stage.
On top of Sentinal Dome (Where the famous Jeffrey Pine of Andsel Adams fame is--it finally fell over in 2003.)
Hopefully you can see that when I say that Yosemite is truly one of God's finest creations, I do not exagerate at all. It is a feast for the eyes! No matter which direction you look, there is always something delicious to look at! Truly Inspiring!