Day 6 in Utah

(Click on collage for a bigger view)

When we awoke the morning of our last fun-filled day in Utah, we noticed all the snow that had blanketed Little Cottonwood Canyon the previous days...was mostly gone!  The mountain sides were once again wearing a blanket of ever-green and brown with what was left of the beautiful fall colors that had greeted us upon our arrival.  As we made our way out of the resort, we noticed that Cliff (M's little snowman) was still standing--yay!

We spent most of that day having fun as we took in the sights at Temple Square in Salt Lake.  J-rod and I were amazed to see how much things in downtown Salt Lake, especially in the areas directly adjacent to Temple Square, have changed since we were last there...oh-so-long ago! 

At our first stop, we met up with our friends the L family at the beautiful Joseph Smith Memorial Building for a yummy lunch at the Nauvoo Cafe.  It was so fun to see the L family again and finally get to meet each others newest additions, happy and handsome li'l G and our li'l C-sta.  It had been quite a while since both families had seen each other and much has changed for us both, so it was good to spend a few hours together catching up!  After lunch we headed outside to a grassy patch to let the kids run around while the adults continued to chat.  Just for fun, I thought I'd add an picture of what their beautiful H and our li'l J looked like two years ago when they came for a visit to our neck of the woods:

They were so-o whittle!

and what they look like now:

And now they're SO big!  But still SO cute!

After our visit with the L family, we headed back inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to the Legacy Theater (with plenty of Kleenex in hand) to watch the film, Joseph Smith The Prophet of the Restoration. After the film we took the kids up the elevator to the 10th floor of the building so they could get a bird's-eye view of Temple Square--they were SO excited to see the Salt Lake Temple from up there!

While we didn't take an official tour of the grounds or any of the buildings (perhaps when our kids are a little bit older they will be better prepared to handle and appreciate something like that), we did enjoyed the rest of the afternoon walking around all the buildings at Temple Square, telling our kids about the signifigance of the buildings and answering their questions.  The boys thought it was really neat to be so near to where where President Monson and all the general leaders of the church work and live!  Some of the boys favorite features of the square were the fountains and most especially, the beautiful reflection pool found just to the East of the temple (where we say many a bride, groom, and their wedding parties stop to pose for pictures that day).

We came upon a fun little surprise when we popped our heads into the Tabernacle: a beautiful sounding musical group (never did catch the name) was holding a rehearsal for a performance later that evening...an evening of music honoring Joseph Smith.  Being in that beautiful building, surrounded by the music that we heard touched our hearts deeply and for just those few moments that we were in there, our children were content to listen quietly--ahh the power of music!

Towards the end of our visit we stopped for tasty treats at The Lion House Pantry: yummy old-fashioned styled Lemon drops for J-rod and M, and GIANT chocolate chip cookies for the rest of us.

We sure did enjoy our family trip to beautiful Utah, and look forward to a time when we can visit it again!