Manic Monday

We slept in my aunt Suzanne's basement while we were stayed with them.  They have a playset with a slide and castle down there.  We put a sleeping bag and pillow in the castle for Tom to give him a contained bed area.  He loved it so much!  Every morning and the fews naps he got there, he'd wake up with a smile and stretch and tell me, "Mom! Seep. Castle. Fun!"  We miss Tom's castle.

 

 

Monday was our Salt Lake day.  Not that any other day wasn't, but this was specifically for hanging out in the city.  We went to Temple Square and toured the LDS Conference Center while we waited for Ryan Nelson to arrive and join us.  He had served his mission in Kansas and was in our ward for 6 months.  This painting hangs on one of the walls in the conference center.  It depicts Joseph in Egypt interpreting the dreams of the Pharaoh's butler and baker while in jail.  The painting itself holds an interesting history, aside from the uniquenss of the art.  It came to America in the possession of Napoleon Bonaparte's brother, and if I remember correctly, he had commissioned it.

 

On Sunday at church and again at the conference center, Katie saw portraits of Henry B. Eyring, the first counselor in the church presidency.  She got so excited and flapped her arms and patted all over the portraits when she saw him.  She cordially said hi to the portraits of President Thomas S. Monson, and Dieter F. Uchtdorf (second counselor), but it was Eyring she cared about.

 

Ryan joined us at the end of the tour and we went to Chick-fil-A for a midafternoon meal.  It was so nice to see him and catch up on life.  He took a picture of us in front of the Salt Lake temple while we walked to our cars together.

Of all the missionaries we've gotten to know, Ryan reigns as our favorite.

 

We reparked the van in another 2 hour parking spot and returned to Temple Square to take pictures on the temple grounds.

 

Tommy was so excited to see the temple.  He wanted to hug the temple.

 

Tom and Katie at the doors of the temple.

I love this sequence of pictures.  They really need no explanation.

 



 

Together at the temple.

 

At the cornerstone.

 

Tom loves walking on retaining walls.

 

What a ham!  He kept turning to hide his face in the wall, then turn out to make this face with a sound to go with it.  Katie loved it and laughed every time, so he kept doing it.  Those two are great friends:)

 

Cool tree.

 

I love my family:)

 

We stopped a pedestrian and asked if he'd take a picture of us in front of the conference center by the waterfall (that Tom, naturally, was fascinated with).  He was French.  We might joke about the French and make fun of them less now.  Because he was a nice French guy.

 

On our way from Temple Square to see Shad's mission president, Tommy entertained Katie.  He'd bite the straw on his water bottle and pull on it until it snapped out of his teeth and Katie shrieked and laughed in delight.  He also pulled on her seat belt and let it snap back, and tickled her feet.

 

Shad and Katie with his mission president, Richard Ellsworth and his wife Peggy.

 

We saw a Cabella's on the way to the Ellsworths', so we stopped at it on our way back to Suzanne's.  Though Tommy is saving his birthday and Christmas money for a swing set, Shad reasoned with me that if Tom knew he had that money, he'd choose to buy this pop gun.  I couldn't argue with that.  He loved playing with it in the store and still loves it.  Shad squatted down to take this picture of Tom and his gun in the parking lot, so Tom squatted down, too.  Shad asked Tommy to smile and show Nana his teeth, so he's literally pointing and showing Nana his teeth.