Utah Trip

At the beginning of this month, we went to Utah for a family reunion. Along the way we were able to see some of the sites in downtown Salt Lake City, and see some of our friends. We had a really good time getting to know some of James' extended family better and we were able to relax during our vacation. Although it was the middle of summer, the weather felt so nice and cool without the Texas humidity.

When our plane got in, we decided to swing by Temple Square to look at some of the sites. We took pictures in front of the temple, got to see the Tabernacle, and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Later on that day, we got to see some friends of ours.


This is me in front of the entrance to Temple Square.

James posing by a statue of Joseph Smith inside the Joseph Smith building.

This is on the second floor of the J.S. Memorial building, overlooking the lobby. It was sooooo beautiful! I could hardly believe it. It was originally built as a hotel in the early 1900s, and then later turned into the memorial building.

James in front of the Salt Lake Temple. It's hard to believe how BIG it is when you stand close to it (we are still a little ways from it in this picture). It's amazing to think of how long ago it was built, and that it took 40 years to build! It's beautiful.

Me and Jennifer Larsen at Wingers! We served together in the West Virginia Charleston mission. It was great to catch up and to reminisce about all of the fun times we had together. I also got to see a friend that I played softball with in high school named Amanda. So much has changed; it's hard to believe that it's been six years since I was in high school. That makes me feel so old!

This was one of the highlights of my trip! I got to see my mission president from West Virgina. Joseph and Gwen Cowley are some of the most caring people that I have ever met. They made a huge difference in my life during the time that I was a missionary. They had only been home a few days when we saw them, so they were still adjusting to being back home. So good to see them!

James and I at the visitor's center on Temple Square. There was a really peaceful feeling there, especially with all of the paintings of Christ, and The Christus statue. We also met up with another one of my companions, Erin Quinton, for a little while that day. She is doing awesome and it was fun to be around the last person that I served with in West Virginia.

This was at the get together for James' dad's side of the family. It was a good time. Barbeque, Games, Kareoke...a laid back good time.

Here are some family pictures from the family reunion for James' mom's parents. They were having their 60th wedding anniversary. This picture has the grandparents in the front, James' parents behind them, then all of their kids, and their spouses and children. This is the Texas branch of the family.

These are almost all of the grandchildren to the Grandparents we were honoring (some couldn't be there), and all of the grandchildren's spouses. Quite a large group! I have three cousins TOTAL, so being around this many people that are all related is a huge change for me. BUT, it was really fun, and now I have met the majority of the family and have been able to put faces to the names.

I am really glad that we had the opportunity to go. Not only to meet people...but I realized that all of the happiness that we enjoy is because those two lovely grandparents made the choice to be good and loving parents. So many blessings have come because of it. I am grateful for James' family, and for my family...and that we can shart sharing all of our lives together.