Snow Days

Sunday Snow Day

We had a total of three days worth of snow fall and frankly, it was divine. Any excuse to stay home, snack on comfort food and take naps... I'll take it. This morning brought a ton of snow and in spite of venturing out to church, we quickly realized we'd better stay home and make a day of it. Matt turned the car around and we played outside, drank hot cider and took naps.

Great day.

These two... so cute.

Lucas loved the snow falling out of the trees... so Matt would grab a branch and shake it.

Throwing our child into the snow...lovely. This, my friends, is the mark of excellent parenting. Ahem.

Evidently, this guy loves being in the snow! Boy after my own heart.

I don't want to jinx it, but it appears as if we're headed into a "heavy snow winter" for Salt Lake City. The first year we were in town, we experienced a big snow in November... and the remainder of the winter was snowy. It was lovely. But last year... it was fairly dry and somewhat warm... resulting in small snow pack. I'm hoping this winter is a bit like our first. Traditionally snowy, cold and fun!

Antelope Island With Daddy

A few weeks back we went over to Antelope Island... which is an island in the Great Salt Lake that is home to (wait for it...) antelope and bison. It's a fun little place if you like biking and exploring new things.

Lucas and I visited this place last year with Emily and kiddos, but Matt hadn't had an opportunity to check it out... so we got up early and made the drive over.

I took a number of pictures and thought I should share em' with you all!

Lucas is quite the "poser" now... and asks to have his picture taken in front of things he likes....like this old tractor.

This is another tractor (duh) but it resembles "Otis"... a character in one of Lucas' favorite books.

In the background is the Salt Lake... and boy is it stinky!

Daddy!

Heritage Park Revisited

It's a scorcher today... something like a high of ninety-five. I suppose that's not too bad. I find myself complaining about the heat far more often than my friends who are from Austin or Denver. I'm pretty sure they judge me every time I mention it. But the Oregonian in me feels like anything above eighty is hot! I can't tell if it's ninety or ninety-five... it's just hot.

Anywho... it's hot, so Erin and I thought hitting up the Heritage Park earlier was a good idea. Yes... Lucas and I went to "This Is The Place" Heritage Park last year and frankly, I was not impressed. But sweet Erin had tickets that were free, so of course we had to use them! Seriously... anyone who pays to get into that place is crazy.

That's just my opinion.

So we walked around and found ourselves sweating immediately. There was no relief. We were in the hills, so the trees are non-existent and we're like, a mile closer to the blazing sun (a bit of an exaggeration). Ugh. Nothing is more uncomfortable than damp, sweaty clothes. And... I have bangs, which inevitably stick to my forehead, which is definitely not attractive. Whatever... I got some great pics of the Salt Lake Valley.

Salt Lake City Valley behind Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. The park has beautiful iron sculptures.

Salt Lake City Valley... the Temple and Capital are farther to the right and cannot be seen while you're in the hills.

Another perk of the Park is that no one is there, so we could let the kiddos run around a little bit more. The boys could explore and stretch their legs as we walked throughout the park's different exhibits of Mormon Pioneer days (a lot of walking). There's a petting zoo, and horses and a iron shop... where a friendly young man took his job very seriously (aka... was a very convincing pioneer boy). The kiddos liked the fire he had going. All I could think about was the fact that it was so hot and this poor kid had to stand next to a fire in full clothing (long sleeves, black pants, boots and a hat).

Quentin had a fun time licking rocks and poking his finger in the mud. 

Lucas and Mama... with her sweaty bangs.

The last part of our morning ended with a "train" ride. The boys had seen the train throughout the morning and knew we were going to ride it. Oh! They couldn't wait. It was nice to be in a covered vehicle that allowed the breeze and small-talk. Lucas and Quentin enjoyed almost as much as Erin and I.

Hey cutie!

Erin and Quentin.

St. George, Part IV

Okay... this is my last post regarding St. George. No more boring play-by-plays. I have a feeling this small trip we took was a bit more fun for me than my readers. Alas, my need to finish what I started will result in this final blog post... and I will share a few pics of local points of interest.

As I mentioned before, St. George was established by early Mormon settlers in an effort to start cotton plantations out here in the Western regions. When you look at the town and rural areas outside of St. George, one would wonder where these large cotton farms would reside. St. George primarily consists of red rock, cactus, and palm trees and it seems nearly impossible to farm anything in this type of terrain.

Now it appears as if this town is thriving on travellers and small business ownership. This perfect circle of economic trade allows this town to live, succeed and potentially grow. I was amazed by how many small businesses made up main street and the majority of the town. Restaurants, gas stations, boutiques, bakeries, ice cream shops and anything you can imagine... it can be found as a privately owned business.

Speaking of thriving, the faith of St. George (which is primarily LDS) is bustling and can be found in almost every aspect of the town. You can see the Mormon Temple from the highway and at night, it is lit up in all it's splendor. The Tabernacle is cared for and loved, in spite of being nearly one-hundred and forty years old. Privately owned coffee shops are impossible to come by, yet custard and ice cream is found on every corner. The people are kind and loving and you sense their deep love of community. Children run amok and are tended to by stranger and family alike. All of this due to the beliefs and cultural standards of the Mormon Church.

I was deeply impressed by this small, out-of-the-way town and intrigued by it's ability to be special and yet not. St. George was a place to find warmth, easiness and peace of mind... a place where people smile and encourage you to have a great day.

St. George Tabernacle - Est. 1871

St. George Community Park

St. George LDS Temple - Est. 1877

*St. George's LDS Temple was the first operating temple of the Mormon religion and the only completed during the lifetime of Brigham Young.

St. George, Part III

We pull up to the Marriott in St. George and a HUGE wave of relief washes over us. You know that feeling when you've arrived? It's like, "thank God we're here and everything is going to improve from this point on" feeling. Yes. That exactly how it was.

Our hotel room was probably one of the best parts of the trip. It had a bathtub. Now, you need to remember that we don't have a bathtub in our dream apartment here in Salt Lake... so the bathtub was pretty much my favorite part of the room. Oh! And the toilet was behind a little wall.. how wonderful is that!? Especially since our child HAS to follow us into the bathroom, for fear he would miss something very important happening. "Nothing going on in here... seriously."

The room also had a mini fridge (sans alcohol...of which I was slightly disappointed... I mean, c'mon... we're an hour from Vegas people!) and microwave. A tiny coffee pot and all the normal accoutraments a fairly nice hotel room should have.

In addition, the beds were comfy... and the pillows... oh they were like a HUGE slice of Heaven. The moment my head hit that pillow... I was gone. Totally oblivious to the woes and wears of this World. Heaven.

Housekeeping was also kind enough to deliver a Pack N' Play for Lucas. Linens and a kiddo-sized blankie were provided. How sweet. It took a lot of pressure off my back knowing we had a place to cage our child.

It is difficult travelling with a toddler, but hotel rooms seem as if they're perfect for the little ones. Nothing to choke on. No outlets just waiting to have junk shoved into them. And... the kicker.... blackout drapes. OHMYGOSH! Naps were a dream and that dreaming took place. Thank you Marriott for making my life a little bit easier.

The only disappointment I had was the TV. Yes... when I am in a hotel room, I want to watch TV. It's like only a few things happen in hotel rooms: Drinking, things not appropriate to mention on this blog, and TV watching.

So I gear up for some sweet HBO or maybe just some TLC (when Matt isn't looking)... only to find out that our TV is digital local stations. WHAT!? Pump the brakes. We only have basic digital television in our hotel room? Yes. It's true. Great. Now I'm going to have to read or go for a walk or have a conversation with my family members (just kidding... but doesn't tv get in the way of those things anyway?). So we watched nearly NO television. I think I watched Oprah and a couple episodes of Dinosaur Train.

I suppose the disappointment could have been much worse and to be honest, it ended up being a constructive disappointment. Who needs TV anyway?

"We're here!"

Propped up on Heaven Pillows

St. George, Part II

We went, we conquered and returned.

St. George was a charming town and surprisingly larger than one would have imagined. The town lies in an arid part of Utah with cactus, palm trees and lots of rock. To boot, each day was full of sun and warmth. It was a refreshing break from the cold temperatures of Salt Lake City.

We set off on Thursday morning... fairly early to ensure Matt would be in town for registration. In spite of all our careful planning and execution, we were broad-sighted by Lucas' unfortunate bout of gastrointestinal issues. Of course. Because what's a trip without illness, right? We can't go anywhere with that kid!

We ended up stopping five times in the course of what was supposed to be a five hour trip. We stopped at gas stations, McDonald's, random parking lots and the side of the highway. It was not the type of adventure either of us was anticipating that day.

Thankfully, we made it just in the nick of time for registration at Dixie State College's UTA Conference. Phew! Lucas and I were happy to get out of the car and run around for a bit and Matt was happy to just be there. I have a feeling he was quickly regretting bringing us along for the ride.

In spite of the travel poo's (which were not limited to travel and ended up being a HUGE part of our entire weekend) we were able to enjoy the amazing scenery Utah has to offer on Highway 15. The transition from mountain to desert was amazingly gorgeous and  found myself wanting to see more.

Rocky Ridge

The edge of Zion Nat'l Park in the distance.

Red Cliffs area outside of St. George

St. George, Part I

Tomorrow we will be venturing out of the Salt Lake Valley into the area they call "Utah's Dixie"... otherwise known as St. George, Utah. Matt will be partially representing Univ. of Utah's Theater Program at the UTA Conference. In doing so, he will be teaching various workshops and recruiting whippersnapper high school students who believe they've got the chops to make it in a University Theater Program.

So while Matt is being a professional, Lucas and I will be the non-professionals and try and entertain ourselves around town. I'm sure that will include eating some good food and doing a little shopping. Yes, please.

Anyway... St. George is special for the following reasons:

• It is the most popular route of entry into Zion National Forest
• It lies at the corner of Southwest Utah being neighbors to both Nevada and Arizona...Vegas baby!
• St. George's history is largely due to Brigham Young's plantation of cotton farms as a result of the Civil War. Brigham felt he would jump on that soul train and exploit the toils of war by gaining an edge on the cotton industry out here in the West. Needless to say, his experiment was a failure. And hence the name "Dixie".
• If I were LDS, I would be freaking out about St. George, because it has the most gorgeous Tabernacle! And the Temple isn't too shabby either. Mormon history in St. George is wonderful. But, I'm not Mormon... so I'm only a little excited...kidding. I'm pretty stoked to check out all the historical sites!

Other than that... it appears as if St. George is not special for any other reason. I am hoping to be proven wrong while we are out there. They better have an awesome mall. Kidding again.