Salt Lake City

During the time we lived in Mendon, I don't remember ever taking the opportunity to really see SLC.  Every time we traveled south, we had a very specific purpose or event that we were headed to, and we never managed to fit in any sight-seeing time.  Isn't that crazy how you miss the things that are right under your nose?  This weekend, we had planned to visit some of our SLC family, and we had a few hours to spend downtown just wandering and being tourists.  The kids are old enough now to really appreciate and enjoy some of the beautiful architecture and Church History. 

Joseph Smith Memorial Building

 Temple Square

 

 

 "ooohhh, I just LOVE you SOOOO much!!!"

 

 

 

 Salt Lake Tabernacle

 

Church History Museum

I LOVED the quilt exhibit

 

and the girls loved making their own quilt squares on the giant white board.

 TCD found a cute furry friend in Lehi's tent.

 This Angel Moroni actually stood on top of a chapel in Washington DC.  He's about 24" shorter than the one on the SLC Temple.

 Conference Center

 

 

 view from the roof of the Conference Center

 

We had an absolutely fantastic day and everyone LOVED seeing SLC close up instead of just from the freeway. 

 

Swimming

My kids are big fans of swimming.  We've had several opportunities to swim since we've been in Utah, and they've loved every single one!  There's really nothing more fun than hanging out with friends at the pool.  I had lots of friends there, too, but unfortunately none of them let me take their pictures! 

Brigham City Temple

We were fortunate enough to hear in advance that the Angel Moroni statue was going to be placed on the Brigham City Temple this afternoon.  So with 6 girls packed in the van, I ventured down to watch.   It was rainy and cold and we couldn't get as close as I had hoped, so we parked in the Smith's parking lot where we could see the top half of the Temple.  Armed with plenty of snacks, blankets, and two camp chairs, we bundled up, perched in the middle of the parking lot and waited...
 

...and waited...

 

At 12:00p we could see the first crane lifting what we were sure were the "hot glue guys" up to the taller of the two spires. 

The Smith's employees had a great view from the roof.

We watched for a long time while they lifted and lowered the "hot glue guys" in the cage.  But after an hour, and after being told (politely) by a policeman to please find an actual parking spot, we decided it might be time to go.  We had overheard a few people say that there was too much wind and they were going to postpone until the weather cleared.  So the seven of us drove down to Layton to swap cousins back and have some lunch.   On the way out of town, we caught a really quick glimpse of the statue up close.

Isn't it surprisingly HUGE!  It looks much smaller on the top of the Temple.

Just after 4pm, we drove back through Brigham City, on our way home to Mendon.  Apparently the weather had cleared up shortly after we left and they were able to put the statue on.  It was absolutely gorgeous in the sun!

They hadn't yet put the gold ball on the other spire, so we stayed to watch that.

What a cool thing!  Did you know that the spike on the end of that ball is almost 6 feet long!  And there were these long cord-like tendril things that hung down as they hoisted the ball up there.  I wasn't sure what those were, but we found out later that they're lightning cables and the ball is actually a lightning rod.  The cords are woven into the hole on the top of the spire and down through the inside walls of the spire to secure it in place and to absorb any electricity should the Temple be hit by lightning.  (sorry about the very ROUGH explanation, but I couldn't find an official one on Google, so I used my most technologically advanced language...which is LIMITED.)

The whole process was very cool to watch and we were so glad we got to see at least that part of it.

 

We had such a great day!  And we loved being part of history.  I told all the kids that when they're 85, and they pass by the Brigham City Temple, they can tell their grandchildren that they watched the lightning rod go up!  

I'm so grateful for Temples and for the opportunity that my children have to experience things like this.  I love the covenants, blessings, and hope that Temples represent.  And I'm so grateful that even from the Smith's parking lot on a rainy day, the Spirit of this great building was tangible for all of us.