April not only brought awesome weather, Conference, and a quick visit from my Mom's sister and her family, but also brought Brandon's Mom, Dad, and youngest sister to Utah for a day! The other awesome thing is that Brandon had the day off work!
We met his family in Salt Lake to do some sightseeing. We did a tour of the LDS Conference Center, went to the Salt Lake Temple Visitors Center, and then had lunch at the City Creek Mall.
The Conference Center was absolutely gorgeous. There were a couple times I had to stop and try my hardest to not cry. This was one thing that my late mother and I had talked about doing together but we never got the chance. I know she was there in spirit with me.
Here are some of my favorite paintings from the Conference Center:
This painting has a very big impact on me. I hadn't seen it before until the tour and it was all I could do to not break down crying. This illustrates a woman that is dealing with depression and the multitude of angels and ancestors helping her stay strong.
This painting is of Mormon looking over the battlefield with Moroni behind him. The cool thing is that this is the full painting. Not the cropped version that is in the LDS Gospel Art book.
This painting is of Christ when he came to the Americas to visit the Nephites. This is also the full painting-not the cropped version that is also found in the LDS Gospel Art book.
After we looked at the numerous paintings in the Conference Center we went to the windows that are behind the waterfall that is in front of the Conference Center. This was Emma's and Giselle's favorite part.
The tour guide then took us to the roof and we got this gorgeous view of the Salt Lake Temple.
Of course we had to get some family pictures up on the roof.
Once we were done touring the Conference Center, we went to the Visitors Center at Temple Square. We took Giselle up to see the statue of Christ that is in every temples' visitors centers.
Giselle pointing and saying "Jesus."
We wanted to get a picture of Giselle and Darius with the statue but it was a little high for comfort so Brandon held onto Darius.
Family photo in front of the statue
Brandon asking Giselle who the statue was. She very enthusiastically said "Jesus."
Giselle was practically glued to Emma's side if she wasn't in the stroller or was being carried. So we snapped a picture.
Giselle and Brandon
While I was getting pictures of Giselle and Brandon, Todd was holding Darius and they were both smiling and giggling. Perfect photo opportunity.
In the visitors center, they had a model of what Jerusalem looked like in 33 AD. So cool!
Before we left for lunch, I asked Marilyn to grab a couple family photos in front of one of the many flower gardens that are on Temple Square.
I also managed to grab these shots of the front of the Salt Lake Temple.
After Temple Square and lunch, we headed back to Orem to do some shopping, dinner at Texas Roadhouse, and swimming at the hotel pool. Giselle LOVES the water and threw a decent sized fit once we told her it was time to leave the pool and go home.
Before Brandon's family left the next morning, we all went to Build-a-Bear. Giselle and Darius got a Chewbacca bear and a Stormtrooper bear. Needless to say- Giselle was SO excited seeing as those are two of her favorite Star Wars characters.
All in all it was a great visit, even though it was short. Can't wait until the next time!
