All Sorts Of Super Stuff!!

It has been a while since I have talked about all of the exciting stuff that we have been up to - so this is going to be a long post.....stick with me!!

We had Cassidy and Clint Bills over to play some games a week or so ago. They put their sweet baby Parker on the floor and Molly couldn't seem to figure out what this new "toy" was. They spent some time trying to figure each other out....

But finally they became good friends! Molly even gave him kisses! Isn't that sooo cute!!

In other news - we took a trip to Utah because Jon's art piece is being displayed in the conference center! Awesome!!

I learned something very exciting on the drive - you can see the Grand Canyon!! I was soooooo thrilled because I have only seen the Grand Canyon once and I loved it so much!!! There is a bridge where you can stop and see a big dam and Lake Powell and the Grand Canyon! Very awesome!!

This is Jon reminding us not to throw objects off of the bridge....he is very serious about this....

Isn't it pretty!!

Please excuse my scary look - it was my traveling - no make up, scary hair look....and I don't know what is happening with Jon's eyes in this picture - - ok, why am I putting this on my blog, it is not an attractive picture!! Hee hee hee!

We were trying to find some food in Utah, but we lost an hour when we got there, so it was "late". We stopped in Panguich (spell check) Utah to get some gas (and we were hoping for food) and the entire town was closed and dark - it was 8:00pm in Utah.....you would have thought it was 2am!  We did find a gas station that was open, and across the way there was this little "coefee shop" - I thought it was so funny that "coffee" was spelled wrong!! I guess they would probably make fun of me for not knowing how to spell Panguich though huh?

Friday morning we left Salt Lake and headed to Provo to visit a store Jon worked at while he was going to BYU. This is the one and only wood lathe store in the world - pretty cool huh? They were all so excited to see him and they were all so proud of him for his piece being in the competition. Jon picked up some wood and other "wood lathe-y" stuff that he needed.

That night we headed to the conference center for the opening of the 8th International Art Competition for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The theme was "Remembering the Great Things of God". There was a little ceremony thing where they thanked the artists, recognized some special awards and said thank you to those who helped put the exhibit up. Then we got to go look at it! Here is Jon and his piece titled "Steady Course".

It was in the coolest little glass box and it looked great!! You can look at the piece closer on the church web site - lds.org. It will show the piece and the little paragraph that Jon wrote about it. You can also see it on his web site - shown on the side of this blog....

Here is the little plaque thing that had his paragraph on it. It is on the podium that holds his piece. 

The entire exhibit was awesome!! I would have taken more pictures, but they sort of asked us not to take pictures (I know, I know - I should have listened, but how do you not take pictures of you husband in front of something so cool?) I was soooo proud of him!!

If you are in Utah anytime before October 11, 2009, take some time and go up to the second floor of the conference center and check it out!!  

The next day we did the "Salt Lake Experience". We didn't do a session in the temple, but we did see the two visitor's centers, the art history museum, and the Joseph Smith building. We watched the movies - "The Testaments" and the new Joseph Smith movie (which was a bad idea to do back to back - there is a lot of crying....) and they were so touching!! I loved them!!

It was amazing to see all of that history and see all of those amazing Latter-Day Saints and the trials they went through. I was so proud to be a member as I looking at everything and feeling the Spirit everywhere!

This is on the wall of the Salt Lake Theatre. I loved this because it is beautiful and also because of the quote in the middle (you can't see it in this picture) - it says, "The People Must Have Amusement As Well As Religion" - Brigham Young

We were hungry, but we didn't want to leave the parking lot, so we walked around trying to find a place to eat. We found the sweetest little place called "The Lion House Pantry". It is a little cafeteria style restaurant actually in the Lion House itself!! It was amazing to sit there and think about how Brigham Young and his family had been in that exact spot!! It was amazing to feel the Spirit so strongly at lunch!! And the food was good too!!

Right after lunch we headed next door to take the tour of the Beehive House. It was amazing!!

Here is a picture of a wedding dress worn by one of Brigham Young's wives. I loved it because it is sooooo tiny!!!

We got home and headed back to work and school....

So today is Monday - here is a quick little recap of this weekend......

Jon and I went to the Tempe Art Festival on Saturday. It was pretty fun! Some of the stuff was fantastic, some of the stuff was strange, and some of the stuff was a little silly - but I guess that is to be expected. It was really fun to walk around and see everything that people can make!

Saturday night we went to the opera - that's right, Jon went to the opera!!

His brother Brenden has a school group that is doing a project to figure out what "type" of people attend the opera. We went and stood by the door with clip boards and kept a count of the age and ethnicity of the people that walked through the door. It was actually pretty fun because everyone was all dressed up and it was great to see them looking their best!

We then went in to the opera - Tosca. It was a tragic love story in Italian! I loved every minute of it - Jon was not so convinced....

All I have to say is, if you get a chance to see an opera - Take It!!!

Thank you so much for taking us Brenden!!

Sunday night we went to Lacie and Sam Crandell's house for dinner. Lacie is a great cook and we had so much fun visiting and playing games! All I have to say is that I think Sam cheats at Uno, but I am great at the pig tossing game (hee hee hee)!

It was so fun!

Well, I guess I should wrap this up and help Jon with dinner...........