Salt Lake City Trip

uhhh...Dad, ARE WE THERE YET?

I think we mentioned to most of our family that we took a spur of the moment trip to Salt Lake City the weekend before Christmas. Sometimes it's good not to think of something too long, because we talk ourselves out of doing it. Logically, taking 9 people to Salt Lake City, in bad, dreary weather, in a van built for 8 people, driving 10 hours one-way, and staying in a hotel with 7 kids sounds like a horrible experience...right? Let's just say that we had some ups and downs, (the few downs were mostly due to cramped spaces, hunger, tiredness, and snow...) but we had WAY more ups. And that's what blogs are for, right? The "Ups", so here they are:

Day 1: Driving to Salt Lake, Arrival at the hotel, live nativity at Liberty park.

The Little America hotel has quickly become our favorite place to stay in Salt Lake. We were introduced to it for John and Jessica's wedding, and then Carl and Clay stayed there to attend General Conference, and now we will probably always choose to stay there when we visit. The rooms were huge, affordable, clean and cozy. The beautiful indoor, heated pool was a big hit with the kids, and the opportunity to jump on "Trax" right out the front door to visit Temple Square was so convenient and completely fun for our city starved kids who thought it was the only way to travel. The live nativity got us happily in the mood for the real meaning of Christmas, as we traveled around from scene to scene, being reminded of the "Echoes of Christmas", as we are still in awe of this amazing story even 2000 years later. There was singing, and real animals (sheep, camel, donkey...very big plus with the little ones). All of us enjoyed it, except Luke. He muttered the whole time that it was "Boring", but in the end a kind older man, seeing his sulkiness let him hold his dogs leash, and in the magical way of children, he somehow thought that it was a perfect evening after that!

Day 2: Church in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, dinner at Sizzler, nap time, a trip across to the Grand America for a Teddy Bear and Gingerbread House Display, and a finale to Temple Square for the beautiful lights and to hear a choir in the Assembly Hall.

We began the day blissfully choosing a ward to attend that wasn't too early and not too late. We dressed the kids in cozy sweaters and sweater dresses, and took our first trip on "the train". We arrived to the "oohs" and "Ahhs" of the children as they admired the intricate beauty of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. We found the chapel, and sat cozily on the back bench. Cora was already a mess with tiredness, but even that was not a damper on the day as we were constantly attended to by a "children starved" ward that offered compassionate smiles, and assistance. The meeting was pleasant and uplifting. We filled up on food at Sizzler to make it last the rest of the day, and went back to the hotel for even more delicious naps. Later in the evening, Clay, Lacey, Luke, Leia, and Lora went across to the Grand America hotel to see a Teddy bear Exhibit in the Presidential Suite, (collected for Charity) and a saw a breathtaking Gingerbread House display by the Grand America head Chefs to help support juvenile diabetes (I know, a bit ironic...but it was so cool) Probably the best part was the trip up to the 23rd floor via a high speed elevator.

Having children reminds you that everything is fun!

After some relaxation, we went back to Temple Square, and enjoy

ed the awesome display of lights and a lovely choir in the Assembly Hall to make the night feel so like Christmas time!

Under the 75 foot tall "Cedar of Lebanon", our favorite tree

Christian looking thrilled...

Day 3: The Church History Museum, Dinner with Santa, and Hogle Zoo Lights Spectacular.

One of the reasons we wanted to take the kids to Salt Lake was for them to experience the Museum. I have many fond memories of going there as a child and young adult. It quietly strengthened my testimony and we hope that it instilled a sense of the strength of the church into our children's souls. We took each of them to Joseph and Hyrum's death masks for that one on one connection that we hoped would make the history a reality to them. It was an enjoyable trip. All of the children loved it.

I think these "sermon" pictures are HILARIOUS!!!

In a total internet fluke, I stumbled across an opportunity to have a hot buffet dinner with "Santa" and a trip to the Hogle Zoo for not much more than dinner would have cost us, and it turned out to be such a fun evening. (By the way, this was the REAL Santa. We were lucky enough to actually meet him. )The dinner was delicious and the whole thing was wonderful. We really enjoyed the Zoo lights even though we were freezing, it was good winter fun, and an excellent way to end the trip. Cora was completely in love with all of the animals. We can't wait to take her to a zoo in better weather. She is too cute.

Can you guess which one is OUR child? (below)

This is so FUN! Cora's first Carousel ride


Clay found a snow "gun" and said "FREEZE!" get it????

Day 4: pack up, check out, visit Carl's brother Brian and his family and meet their new son, drive back to sunny Bullhead City.

This day started a bit rough as the snow began to fall heavily and we were silently concerned about the Beaver/Fillmore area. We stopped briefly near Lehi, in Eagle Mountain, and met Brian, Emily, their cute girls and their new, beautiful son, William Brian Westphal. He is precious and all is well with their family. The snow dissipated and we set off on the long ride home. We met Carl's parents briefly in Las Vegas to exchange gifts as they were on their way up to see their new grandson and spend Christmas up there. We arrived home to find all well, and welcomed the warm weather and coziness of familiarity. Sometimes the best part of a trip is coming home. We are sure glad we went and look forward to other unplanned trips in the future!