Art, History and a Stage Tour

We've had all sorts of fun over the past couple of days and today was no different. We let the boys sleep in a little so that they would have plenty of energy for all of the day's activities. After a quick breakfast we put some lunches together and then we headed out to begin our adventures.

Our first stop was at the St George Art Museum. We choose this stop because we hadn't been to any art museums and Michael needed to visit an art museum for one of his scout requirements. We drove past the art museum the first time because the address was wrong on the internet. Lucky for us we happened to notice the sign as we drove by it the first time.

Then we made an amazing discovery! The Jones Home had been preserved and was moved to this location, just outside the museum, for everyone to enjoy! 

As we looked at this simple pioneer home we gained an even greater appreciation for what these early saints had to go through. (We're trying to make things work with 6 boys in one bedroom at home but we have our own room and the rest of the house, these pioneers only had a 1 room home! I couldn't imagine raising 6 boys in a small home like this one.) So we know that the calling those early pioneers "saints" was really an earned title.

We couldn't take pictures of the exhibits in the art museum but we did capture a few kiddy candids when the boys were doing their own art projects. Who knows, we may have the next Michael-angelo.

 (A hands-on puzzle)

(Kiddy creation time for Donovan, Michael, Aleky & Quinten)

(Aleky)

(Quinten)

(Donovan & Michael) 

 After the art museum we headed to the site of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, between St George and Cedar City. This was an interesting visit because we had to try and explain the massacre to the boys so they would understand. But it's really hard to explain something you don't fully understand yourself. We were able to convey the known facts of the event but we were at a loss to explain why the event occurred. Afterall, it's one of those black marks in the Church's history that we don't like to talk about very much.

(Memorial Overlook Plaque)

(Site Map)

(Trail Explanation)

(Explanation of sites identified through view finders located on site)

There were 3 different memorials for the 120 or so victims of this unfortunate massacre. It was not a happy visit as we thought about the tragedy caused by the early Mormon settlers. And in our peaceful times it is hard to fathom what would have prompted such a gruesome act.

(Wagon site burial memorial where the initial attack probably occurred)

I'm sure the boys didn't really understand the significance of these sites but they thought it was cool to put a rock on the top of the memorials to show their respect for the victims buried there.

(Additional explanation...)

(A second grave site memorial marker where many victims were buried) Incase you are wondering, David is pretending to be a soldier with his imaginary gun. 

(A third grave site memorial marker, where many surrender prisoners were probably shot on the trail back to Cedar City)

The next stop was at Tuacahn. Before I met Michelle she had spent a summer working at Tuacahn as a seamstress. We thought it would be fun to stop and take a look at the theater where she had worked. We called ahead to see if we could get a tour but they wanted to charge us for the backstage pass. We decided that it would be just fine to wander around and see what we could see for free.

(A quick pic at the photo booth in the theater lobby; Donovan & Michael)

(David, Donovan, Michael, Aleky & Quinten at the photo booth)

This year Tuacahn is celebrating 20 years of performances and productions. Michelle was able to be a part of this amazing legacy.

(Michelle helped to sew the costumes for these productions, Oklahoma & The Sound of Music)

(Tuacahn stage and seating)

(A view from stage)

(Quinten & Gidean)

Even though we had stood in snow earlier today the boys have looked forward to going swimming. In fact (according to the boys), going swimming is a defining point of any family vacation. However, with the temperature in St George only in the 50's, Michelle and I were hesitant about taking the plunge. Fortunately the resort rules require the children to have adult supervision while in the pool so at least one of us had to go with the boys. So we all decided to head down to the pool together. Michelle and I figured that we could always find asylum in the hot tub.

(David is the first in the pool)

 (The younger boys opt for the hot tub first)

Although these pools are outdoors at least they are heated. The water in the swimming pool felt like a cool bath so it wasn't too bad once you got in. The cool breeze still felt cold, especially when you got out of the pool for any reason.

So the boys spent most of their swimming time in the hot tub. David was the bravest of us all and he spent his time swimming in the pool.

Michelle thought it would be great to do a "polar bear plunge" by jumping into the swimming pool after having been in the hot tub. So we rallied the troop and we all jumped into the swimming pool for a quick swim. Since the pool was heated the initial shock of jumping in wore off quickly and we swam around and played as a family for awhile before retreating back to the hot tub.

I tried to capture the plunge on camera but the phones don't take great action pictures and Michelle had suggested that I take a video, after we were back in the hot tub. So the boys encourage Michelle to jump again so that we could take a video this time. Michelle was persuaded but Donovan couldn't be convinced so the second plunge didn't have everyone. But we did capture the video!



After we were done swimming we went back up to the condo to shower and have dinner.  The we had grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and veggies (corn and brussel sprouts). The dinner turned out very well. After dinner the kids got to have "kid night" at the condo while Michelle and I went to the temple.

For kids night the boys got to have an hour of time playing on the computer and then they watched a movie ("Tangled") and ate popcorn. They had to be quiet (to respect the other resort guests), cooperate, and the go to bed immediately after the movie and brushing their teeth. The boys were happy to agree to these terms.

This freed Michelle and I up to go to the temple. Neither one of us has been through the St George temple before and we had wanted to visit the oldest active temple in the Church. We made it in time for the last session of the night. It was a small session and we were privileged to be the witness couple. It was great to see this temple and I was checking out the artwork and architecture throughout the night.

We made it back to the condo around 10:15 pm. We were excited to have been through the temple and to have felt the Spirit there but we were disappointed to find the boys awake and quite disagreeable. They went right to sleep once we were home but we had higher expectations for them and their kids night. Hopefully they will be rested enough in the morning so that we'll be ready for THE HIKE TO ANGEL'S LANDING!

Going to See the Lights on Temple Square

One of the goals we had for this year was to visit Temple Square and see all the Christmas lights.  We didn't go last year and thought it would be a good family outing.  However, with all of the rush of Christmas we hadn't made it, yet.
With Christmas over and our boys still home from school we decided it was now or never.  So we grabbed the boys, packed the coats and took off to Salt Lake City.  Since it was more spur of the moment, we figured we would grab a bite to eat with one of the numerous restaurant coupons we had in hand.  The trip turned out great!

The last time we went to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights it was very crowded and we were concerned about keeping the family together in such a crowd.  But one of the benefits of going during the week is that the crowds tend to be much smaller.  We were able to walk around most of the grounds as a family, not just a bunch of ducks in a row.

The boys loved to see the lights.  We stopped to see most of the significant statues and monuments on the grounds for small "teaching moments".  At one point we lost track of Quinten who had wandered off but David was quick to find him.  The second half of the grounds visit went quickly due to the late hour and we still wanted to at least see everything.  So we walked past the numerous nativity scenes, around the manger scene in the pond, past the Assembly Hall and with a token glance at the full nativity scene by the Tabernacle we completed our visit and headed to dinner.

For dinner we stopped at Village Inn.  We had a coupon that would get a kids meal free with the purchase of an adult entree.  When we asked if they would honor the coupon the manager came out and offered us an even better deal.  I don't think I could explain it again and it took the manager at least 3 tries to help us figure out what the deal was.  In the end we paid for 2 entrees and a couple of drinks but got more than enough food for everyone!  Whatever that deal was it turned out to be a great deal for us! 

We didn't get home until nearly 10 pm despite our early departure from Provo but it was an excellent adventure and a great memory for our family.

(Posted 1/23/12)

Oquirrh Mountian Temple Open House

The Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house will be made available to the public starting Monday, May 4, 2009.  The open house actually begins Monday, June 1, 2009 through August 1, 2009.  Anyone can get tickets to attend by calling the reservation call center at 1-800-521-5105 or (801) 240-7645 or visit online at http://www.lds.org/reservations.  Don't wait to see this beautiful temple.

This temple will be dedicated on August 21-23, 2009 (9 dedicatory sessions will be held).  The temple opens for ordinances on Tuesday, August 25, 2009.

Kaylynn is Married!

It's finally official, my baby sister (in-law) is finally married! She had a beautiful day to celebrate the happy occasion. And while we are so happy for both her and Nate, it turned into a long day for our little boys.

We started the morning around 6 am, getting up, showered, dressed and such. The boys were granted a little bit longer reprieve from the early morning rush. But we all managed to get dressed, eat breakfast and be out the door by 8:00. We were thinking about making a couple quick stops along the way but thought better of it and headed straight for Uncle Dan's and Aunt Monica's house in Bountiful. The boys watched a movie as we drove.

We managed to find the house without too much difficulty, only 4 wrong turns. We arrived shortly after the Boel's and our boys were sooo excited to see their cousins again. They all quickly congregated in front of the massive TV so they could watch their (the Boel's) 2 new movies that they had received for Christmas, Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda. The Petersen's showed up shortly after that and were gracious enough to watch the crew while we went to the temple for the wedding.

Everyone made it to the temple in time for the ceremony, although Jared and Tosha certainly cut it close, just beating the happy couple by 2 minutes! Kaylynn and Nate looked quite nervous, with smiles bigger than I've ever seen before. Their sealer was quite an amazing man and he took the time to explain the importance of the marriage covenants to Nate and Kaylynn. And although everyone else in the room that day was married, I think everyone learned something new! It was really quite amazing.

Finally the moment of anticipation had arrived. Nate and Kaylynn already had a little practice saying their lines so that they would be ready at the appropriate moment. Then the sealer started the ceremony. "Nate, do you take this woman to be your wife," the sealer starts. "YES!" blurts our Nate, in a tone loud enough for everyone to hear. The line was right but the timing was not. It was such a beautiful display of excitement and anticipation that it left no doubt that he's in love with Kaylynn. However, the timing caused the entire room to start laughing. That is the first time I can remember laughing out loud in the temple. The rest of the ceremony proceeded in a calm and dignified manner, appropriate for the temple.

With no little children around the picture procession began in spite of the cold a freezing temperatures. As the age of the digital camera evolves, it has caused a most unusual situation. I think there may have been more cameras than people! In any case, we joined the wedding processions (there were 3 different weddings trying to take pictures around the temple while we were there).

After pictures we headed back to the Petersen's house to claim our children and head to Grantsville. It was a short enough ride (only about 45 minutes) so we didn't bother to put on a 4th movie for our children to watch. Once in Grantsville we headed to the chapel for lunch and to begin the reception set-up.

The kids weren't much into setting up so they ran laps around the church. It was a clever church official who designed the modern LDS chapel in an oval, much like a race track. The kids thought it was great and began several forms of tag, hide and seek, keep away, and who knows what else. In an effort to calm to raging herd, the TV and VCR were found and another movie was started. By this time in the day the movie concept was worn out. It might have worked if we could have come up with several "new" movies that the kids hadn't already seen. So the TV played and so did the kids.

Despite the kids exuberance the reception was coordinated and before we knew it dinner was served, cleared and the guests started arriving. We quickly dressed our kids appropriately and tried, in vain, to corral them in the primary room.

Before the clothes got destroyed, soiled or in some other way messed up, we captured the beautiful bride and got a picture with nearly all the cousins.

The wedding day concluded and we drove home, arriving just after 11:00 pm. The boys were tuckered out (and so were we). Everyone slept on the way home and once in the house it took about 15 minutes to get everyone to bed! We're very excited for Kaylynn and Nate and the only regret is that now they are moving to sunny California and we won't get to see them very often. I'm sure they are enjoying their honeymoon in Cancun and are full of excitement and wonder and they begin their life's journey together.