One Crazy Day

Yesterday morning I woke up around 7:30. I got showered and ready for the day.

I made myself a piece of toast and some sliced strawberries for breakfast.

Then Richard and Melissa (Jess's brother and his wife) picked us up.

From there, we made the drive out to the airport.

We met Steve and Pam (Jess's uncle and aunt) and Bill and Jane (his grandpa and his wife) there.

We waited, and waited, and finally boarded the plane.

A short hour and a half later, we were in Salt Lake City.

Jess and I took a taxi to Temple Square to eat at the Lion House. It is probably one of my favorite restaurants ever! I'm not so sure Jess was a big fan. But, I thoroughly enjoyed every bite. They have AMAZING mashed potatoes, rolls, jello, and pie. It's a home-cooking style type of place, which makes it simply amazing. If you have never eaten there...I highly recommend it.

After that, we walked down and I insisted upon a detour to the temple. It's gorgeous.




Then, of course, I made Jess take me to the visitor's center to see the big statue of Christ. I remember going there as a little girl. It was so beautiful; it literally took my breath away. Now I can't pass it by without going to see it. And it was baby Ryan's first time there. I know he loved it as well.




Jess wanted to go the Deseret Book there. It's HUGE. So we went to cross the street and head on over. As we were waiting for the light to change, I turned around. And there, walking down the side of the road, was Dallin H. Oaks. He smiled and waved at us. What are the odds? Amazing.

Inside Deseret Book, I was like a kid in a candy store. I wanted EVERYTHING. There are so many books there that I want to read. We bought a couple of movies for our Sunday afternoon collection. And I fell in love with some books I wanted to buy for little Ry Guy. But I held myself back. I even passed up the chocolate covered cinnamon bears. And let me tell you...that was a tough feat.

Then it was time to head on over to the church office building for the real reason we were there all day: Jess's dad got called as a mission president. He and his wife will be serving in the Buenos Aires North mission in Argentina. Elder Cook was going to set them apart. The whole family met at the church office building. It was fun to be all together. It was also great to see Brad and Matt because it will be awhile before we get to see them again. Brad is in Boston for the summer interning for a finance company. Matt is up at BYU. He is on the football team there as a kicker and so he probably won't be coming home between summer and fall semesters. So it was fun to talk to both of them.

We waited and talked, waited and talked. And then it was time. They took us up the elevator and down to Elder Cook's office. He shook each hand, sat us down, and talked with us. It was an amazing experience.

When that was over, we all headed to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building up to the Roof buffet restaurant. More family met us there. I got to meet some of the Gulbrandsen cousins that I had yet to meet. They were all nice people and I'm glad I got to spend some time with them.

Then, we headed back to the airport and flew back home.

It was a short, fun trip. But it was so worth it...even if my hands and feet were swollen most of the time. :)