Salt Lake City!

Hey, folks! Thanks for reading the blog! So, as I mentioned yesterday, we went to Aspen Grove and from there, it was almost a 2 hour trip up to Salt Lake City.  Well, it probably took us a little longer...I kind of had to see a doctor.  Not that kind of doctor, an eye doctor.  I somehow obtain a corneal abrasion in the last full day at Aspen Grove.  I'm not sure if it was because something hit my eye, or I rubbed my eye funny, or if I slept with my eyes open again.  Yes, I do that.  I sleep with my eyes open, and I think I might have slept with my eyes open and had my eye stick to the pillow.  Gross, right? Anyway, I saw a wonderful doctor in Lehi, Utah, got some prescription eye drops, and drove up to Salt Lake.  We met up with Todd's parents, and his two sisters and their families and had lunch before heading over to Temple Square. 

 I had been to Temple Square when I was 18, and my oh my how it has changed! We walked around the grounds of the Temple, and checked out the statues and fountains with the family.

 I asked Chase to take the time and read about each of the statues (a sneaky way of helping him practice his reading!)

 This is the old Tabernacle...hence the Mormon Tabernacle choir.  This place was so neat, because it has this amazing feature that no matter where you are in the Tabernacle, the sound resonates so clearly.  There is a series called "Music and the Spoken Word" that is also performed here (as a side note, the guy who announces for the series was a speaker that we saw at Aspen Grove!)

After we checked out the Tabernacle, we headed across the street to the Conference Center, where they hold General Conference every 6 months.  I love this picture of Chase and Gunnar in front of the glass fountain in the Conference Center!

 There are a lot of wonderful LDS art pieces on the different levels, and I was particularly fond of this stained glass window of Lehi's vision.

 In this hall are all of the portraits of the men who never became the Prophet of our church, but acted as 1st and 2nd counselors.  This portrait is of Parley P. Pratt, who happens to be Todd's great-great-great grandfather.  Back then in the church polygamy was still being practiced, and Todd's is related to him through Parley P. Pratt's last wife.  Todd, his Dad, and his late Grandmother McKnight all shared the same high hairline, and it was always attributed to the Gamble side of the family, however, after seeing this portrait, I'm dead certain that hairline goes all the way back to Parley P. Pratt!

 Our guide took us to the roof top terrace and we took this family picture in front of a photo mural meant to signify reflecting on your past family members. 

Here is another picture I took of the Temple.  I love how great it turned out- it actually made me feel like I am a decent photographer!

Anyway, that was our Summer vacation journey.  Tomorrow I'll be catching up on what happened in the

fall, and hopefully posting more pictures of the family as well.