You know how sometimes you have this vision in your mind of how something will go. You try to think through and plan for all the obstacles so it will go as smooth as possible ... and then it still just turns out awful! Well, that was how our trip to see the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake City went! I just wanted it to be a beautiful, quiet, reverent experience for our little family! But, unfortunately although it was beautiful, our evening was not quiet or even reverent!
Although I brought treats, bundled the kids with layers of clothes, and attempted to go early to avoid tired babies - I didn't account for the GAZILLION other people that might also try to see the lights for FHE, nor did I foresee the uncontrollable little bundle of joy, who was either screaming, running around trying to get lost, or on the pavement meowing like a kitty. She was a piece of work! I have to say, she did get the stomach flu the next morning - which somehow made things a little better for me. At least she had some excuse for her insanely frustrating behavior. Oh, and did I say that Tate wanted to be held the whole night too? Needless to say, even though I was meeting a friend that I hadn't seen in 6 years - we didn't stay long!
This is the happiest Talee was ALL night, and this was walking into the Square! The rest of the time she was like this:
or this:
and Tate was mostly like this:
...although, this picture still turned out pretty nice! (we missed you TONS Tricia)
For those who haven't met my family - this is my mom and dad and my 2 brothers, and sister Sara. My sister Tricia wasn't able to make it from back East.
One of the reason we went to Temple Square was to meet up with a friend I haven't seen since I worked at Nu Skin 6 plus years ago. Jen, thanks for coming to meet us, even though we didn't get to say more than 10 words to each other - and my daughter screamed the whole time, and probably got your girls sick (well - it probably doesn't spread that fast!). It was still worth the night to see you! Thanks!
The evening was far from perfect - but, I have to thank my family, including my grandmother, for wanting to attend and spend the evening together. I should have just stopped for a second (although I might have lost my daughter) and realized where I was. I think that would have calmed me down, given me perspective and really helped me. I know that the temple is where you find peace!
During the ten days we were in Utah, they had a few big storms that dumped snow! The kids LOVED it! Not only did we (mostly Joseph, with a little help from mom and big helper Malea and Cooper) build a big snow fort - but, also this HUGE snowman "Goliath". He had to have been 9 feet tall!
Love the hammer holder!
This was at the end of our late night snow fort building! Just call me "Princess Eskimo!"
... and Malea wins the award for the spending the most amount of time in the snow. She and her cousin Audrey played in the snow at least 2 hours longer than anybody else
