Destination Adventure: The Great Salt Lake

 What would be a visit to the Salt Lake Valley without actually going to see the Salt Lake?  Well, now I know.  We drove to visit and it was stinky and gross.  LOL.  It was worth visiting once though and now we have been there and done that.  Luckily it wasn't something we "made a day of", it was actually something we did because we had about 2 hours before sunset and just thought we'd take a drive before heading back to our room...  Probably everyone should go see the The Great Salt Lake at least once...and maybe there are other beachs to visit that weren't as gross as ours, but...well...I'm not sure.  :)

 Look, Salt!

Destination Adventure: Temple Square

During our weekend stay in downtown Salt Lake City we had a chance to spend a lot of time puttering around Temple Square!  We were so excited on Sunday Morning to go to a live recording of Music and the Spoken Word with Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  I am not really a fan of MTC (sorry!) but my hubby is and I thought maybe I'd like the choir a whole lot more LIVE so we went.  We arrived pretty late (scraping in at the last minute) and had to sit way up in the front on the side which turned out, in my opinion, to be a really awesome seat!  It was really neat to go and I'd do it again and again if given the chance...

 

In front of the Tabernacle...

The temple through the trees.

 Inside the Conference Center.  Kayley is staring at the ceiling.  You can tell she was tired (the thumb in the mouth) and thank you to Krystin for giving the girls the little puppy dogs.  They still both carry them around all the time!  Kayley sleeps with hers!

The ceiling.

Inside the conference center... It is HUGE!!~

Gram & Kayley on the escalator.

The Tree of Life in stained glass.

The back of the waterfall...  

I bet they cleaned this later in the week to prepare for conference.  

We probably caught this window at its dirtiest.  lol.

On the roof of the Conference Center.

Could she be any cuter???

Butterfly in the temple gardens on the roof of the Conference Center.

Scenic view.

The conference center.

In the Church History Museum the kids learned about quilting!

One day, while we wandered around we went to eat at a nearby open-air mall and James was pretty sure he saw Kaylee from last seasons The Biggest Loser!  We also picked up a few way too many souvenirs from Deseret Book.  We got an autographed copy of President Monson's book "To The Rescue" - yes! totally autographed by President Monson, Great American Documents for Latter-day Saint Families signed by the author Thomas R. Valletta, new scripture totes, homeschool goodies, audio books, and even to Lion House Pantry waterbottles.  LOL.  

Oh, and if you are looking for a place to eat on Temple Square, I'd 100% recommend the Lion House Pantry.  YUM YUM YUM and very inexpensive!

Temple Square was so much fun.  It is so beautiful.  I really really really want to go back again.  When we were driving away from SLC we both mentioned, "why don't we live here??"  I don't think we will move to UT anytime soon, but it was wonderful to visit.

I did it! B90!

 

I am so excited!  I did it!  I completed the Bible in 90 Days!  Yay!

For LOVE of Kayley

 Our trip to Salt Lake City involved more than just Maggie's adoption story.  We were thrilled with the opportunity to help Kayley better understand her adoption story by visiting her birthmom Krystin!  We are so blessed to have a wonderful relationship with her and her family.  When we met Krystin 5 years ago it was in a hospital under very stressful conditions.  After placement we were very unsure of when, if ever, Kayley and Krystin would meet again.  Earlier this year Kayley expressed an interest in getting to know Krystin and so we just had to make that happen!  Fortunately for us, Krystin lives near the Salt Lake Temple and we made plans to see her while we were there!  Krystin is such a wonderful woman.   We both expressed nerves at seeing each other but once we were all together...it was like we had known each other forever.  Krystin's husband Jay is great and their totally adorable baby is too cute for words! 

I am so glad that our photographer Kara Simmons was able to snap these pictures of Kayley and Krystin's reunion.  I cannot believe that I was worried.  The whole experience was amazing and I felt so much love for Krystin that I'm not even sure what I could say about it that wouldn't sound like an understatement.

 

On our way home, we stopped through Denver specifically to see Krystin's parents, her sister and two of her nieces and a nephew.  Again - it was like we had been friends forever.  Sometimes it is easy to forget that not only did Krystin place a daughter, but her parents placed a grandchild.  I was so happy to give Kayley's birth family an opportunity to see Kayley and it is so wonderful for Kayley to have an open relationship with her birth family.

Kayley got along great with her cousin!  

I really, really hope we get to do this again soon!  

Adoption is so amazing!

If/when we have an opportunity to adopt again I hope we are

able to have an open relationship with our birthfamily.

It is so amazing!

We love you Krystin and ALL of your family!!

If you haven't had a chance and would like to, hop on over to Krystin's blog to read her perspective.  Her post makes me cry everytime I read it, so grab a tissue!  :)

Krystin's blog posting:  It's About Love

Raising Real Men Book Review

I was intrigued by this offer from Timberdoodle to review a copy of Raising Real Men by Hal and Melanie Young.  As you can tell from the picture...I have no little boys.  I do, however have 2 little girls.  My house is dripping with pink, frilly, ribbony, fluffy girly stuff.  We have a lot of little girly drama during our day.  I wasn't sure what I could glean from this book as a mom to 2 little princesses...but I was excited when, after reading the first chapter I realized that my girls...were a LOT like little boys in so many different ways!  I had a lot to learn from Hal and Melanie's example of strong Christian parenting.  I really, really loved this book and I would recommend it as a great read even if you don't have boys.

Several of my girlfriends have boys...and a couple of my closest girlfriends have 4 boys each!  They always tease me and tell me, "Stephanie, someday when you have a boy - he will rock your world!"  Oh, I know it is probably true.  But, as I read the book I realized that there are so many things that little boys and girls both share.  Both need to learn by following strong examples.  Both need to learn virtue, character, respect and a love for God.  Both need praise from Mom or Dad to feel like they have worth and value.  Both can honestly get rough and tumble (my 5 year old has holes in the knees of every pair of jeans and can usually be found digging in the mud).

Parenting isn't easy.  Parenting girls is tough...parenting boys is also tough.  This was a wonderful book that helps shed light on the tough job of parenting boys and helping them turn in to righteous young men. 

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Legal Disclosure:
As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of Raising Real Men in exchange for a frank and unbiased review.