(What the back seat looked like for most of the way)
We had been anticipating this day for a year now and the day had finally arrived. We began the trip about 5 am, both of the kids woke up before we left but as we began to drive they quickly went back to sleep. Mr. Gaston had it all mapped out but this time I was unfamiliar with the route. After a few hours of driving the kids were restless and starting to get fussy so we stopped and had lunch in Moab (the town of red rocks). We had lunch and played in the park for about an hour and made some new friends in the process.
(A beautiful sign and state.....makes me want to come back)
I was very excited when we got to this part in the trip.....we were only about 4 hours into our trip.
Road trips are so fun...we had such good conversations about our future plans, and about the kids etc. We arrived in Salt Lake City about 3:30 pm and went and checked into our hotel, unpacked and kind of kicked back. The kids were so excited to be out of the car they wrecked havoc in our hotel room until it was time to go, our first stop was the temple grounds to see the beautiful lights (I forgot my camera..not very happy about that). It was chilly outside but not as cold as I remember. After we got done viewing the lights we got back in the car and drove to Holladay where we had dinner at one of the missionary's house who was involved with Seth's conversion. They were very welcoming and excited to meet us as we were them. We had packed our breakfast and lunch so it was very nice to have a hot home made dinner as well. We visited for a while and then called it a night when the kids began getting a little crazy because of the long day they just had.
Have you ever noticed that when you stay in hotels you don't really know when it is morning because the curtains black out all the light? We must have been exhausted because we slept in until about 8 am (which is late for us). By the time we got out of the room it was 9 am, then we went and had breakfast with my brother and his family. They went to the aquarium (which we wanted to go too but didn't have enough time) and we went back to temple square. We toured the grounds, the vistor center, the church history library and then it was time to go back and get ready. We dropped the kids off with Uncle G.R. and we proceeded to go in this beautiful building to take out our endowments.
We only have one word to describe this day -- AMAZING
(it exceeded our expectations).
We ordered room service (something I always wanted to do...however a little disappointed) to be delivered the next morning because we had to be at the temple an hour and half early for our 10 am appointment. This time we walked in as a family, we dropped the kids off at the youth center and then Mr. Gaston and I went our separate ways to change. I was treated like a bride and was ushered into the bridal room (which was huge, they said sometimes they have 16 brides in there at once)...it was beautiful and even though I had been a bride before this time was different. I was the only bride in there at this time and emotion over came me especially when my mom helped me dress and she began bawling her eyes out. After I was dressed I went and met my groom and we got to spend a few minutes together before the sealing it was nice...we spoke of many things and how much I loved him and am forever grateful he is my husband. We then went to the sealing room where the sealer spoke with us until they brought our children in, the door opened and Riley saw me first calling my name and running to me, Huntley was pushed in the room in a stroller....she looked like an Angel and he looked very handsome...I cried as I hugged her,
everything was perfect.
(The view from the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial building)
We all met for lunch at the Lion House Pantry afterwards and the food was awesome. It was raining and hailing as we walked (actually ran) from the parking lot to the restaurant so when we got there we looked like wet rats. We enjoyed the company and then after wards we took a few more tours. By the time we got back to the hotel the kids were spent as were we so we stayed in for the night and ordered pizza for dinner....the next day we had to travel back home as Seth's Grandad was not doing well.
(Our eternal family....for now :)
There was snow on the ground and lights all around and it actually felt like Christmas, when we arrived home it was warm, dry and brown.....I liked seeing the white stuff. We drove straight thru and made pretty good time only stopping for gas and potty breaks. We had plans to stay for a few more days but things don't always work out the way we plan.
It was a beautiful and memorable trip.
