Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Salt Lake Valley for the day

This morning we got up and went to the Jordan River temple. The daughter and I and our hubbies did a session and the sons did baptisms. It was nice to be back in the temple where our family got it's beginning. A lot has happened since my husband and I tied the knot there 25 years ago. It is fun to see my daughter now in about the same place I was then - a newlywed just starting out with the next 25 years still to be experienced. New beginnings are always so exciting and also a little scary. I hope the temple plays an important role in her next 25 years. It's a great place to ponder the whole picture and focus on the eternal perspective rather than the day to day trials. It was a wonderful morning. We met my sister and her roommate for a lunch treat at Cafe Rio. I enjoyed the Pork Barbacoa Salad a lot. It is one of my favorites. Then we took a scenic trip north across the valley past the new Oquirrh Temple (not sure of its actual name) that is under construction and to a store I had been wanting to visit. It was called Market Square (I think) and it wasn't quite as exciting as I had hoped it would be but now I can say I've been there and won't have to feel bad for missing out on something fun. The most exciting part was trying to find it. I was in my sister's car with her and my family was following behind in our van. They were pretty sure we had no idea where we were going and they were right. Then we headed east to another part of the city to locate Ye Olde Dutch Store for the son-in-law. He served his mission in the Netherlands and wanted to pick up some of his Dutch favorites. Once again the exciting part was in the trip and not the destination, but once we figured out it wasn't really called "Ye Olde" it was a lot easier to locate in the phone book and get the actual address. Our next stop was suppose to be to find out if there is still a Snelgrove's Ice Cream Parlor in Salt Lake but after 3 failed attempts to find an open road going under the I-80 we gave up on that adventure and just headed back to my sister's house. We drove really slowly past the Deseret Industries to make my family nervous, but we didn't stop. We did manage one more stop at the Deseret Book Bookcellar Outlet store on Redwood Rd. in South Jordan. This is a must on any trip we take to Utah. I love church books and when I can get them for a bargain, I love them even more. I bought several fiction books for $1.99, a Dowdle puzzle of San Diego for $1.49 (I could do it at the beach next year if I were going back), and quite a few music CDs for $1.99. It was the highlight of the day for me -after the temple of course. We hadn't taken enough scenic routes during the day so we decided to go back to Payson past the Draper temple (which is also under construction, but further along than the Oquirrh one) and over the mountain to Highland. It was a fun and exciting route and we saw lots of big houses and dedicated bike riders pedalling up hill. It was a fun day. I am grateful for a sister - who is willing to buy me and my family lunch and drive me all over tarnation too. Temples - where I can go to remember why I am here on earth. Daylight - until 9:00 at night so I can see all the scenery on my scenic trips.

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