Winnie at General Conference

 Traditionally we have taken each girl to a session of General Conference in Salt Lake after she has turned 8. Unfortunately, COVID prevented us from taking Winnie to her session of Conference until she was 9 1/2 years old. (Conference was not open to the public in the duration.) So as soon as we heard that the Church would be issuing a limited number of tickets for the April 2022 Conference, we asked the stake to be put on the list of interested members. We were the first ones to do so, so when they received tickets, we got our pick of sessions. 

We left Idaho Falls for our hotel in Salt Lake on Friday, April 1, after I had volunteered at D.I. and driven the 6th grade band carpool. We spent the night at our Hampton Inn in downtown Salt Lake (Winnie was excited to get an entire queen bed to herself), then enjoyed breakfast before packing up and heading to Temple Square. The Salt Lake Temple is going through a major overhaul, so it's completely surrounded by scaffolding, and most of Temple Square is torn up and inaccessible. We walked around to take it all in, then tried to find a suitable place to listen to the Saturday morning session. 

Winnie taking pictures of the statue in front of the Assembly Hall while Seth watches. The Assembly Hall and the Tabernacle are the only parts of the west side of Temple Square that aren't completely torn apart.

Winnie and Andrea at the fountain in front of the Assembly Hall.

The three of us with the temple in the background.

Seth lifting Winnie so she can see how far down they've dug out next to the temple.

In the past, we've listened/watched it on Temple Square, but with the scarcity of grounds right now, we ended up going across the street to Brigham Young Historic Park. I've seen the park many times before while driving/walking past it, but this was the first time we'd actually gone inside it. It is a beautiful little haven in downtown Salt Lake, and we enjoyed listening to this session in this idyllic setting.

Winnie spent most of the time during the session coloring in the book I got for her from Deseret Book or the packet she received from her Primary presidency.

But she also spent time snuggling with me on the bench.

And snuggling with Seth on the grass.

We tried to visit Brigham Young's grave, but that entire little park is under construction as well, so this is as close as we got:

Then we went to the City Creek Mall where Winnie chose Sbarro pizza for lunch and Seth and I had Indian food. After eating, we drove to the Salt Lake Cemetery to do our prophet and ancestor grave scavenger hunt. In the past, Seth has brought a GPS that has all the gravesites marked. This year, we didn't think to have him bring it. We were ill-prepared, and I was despairing at the amount of time it was taking to track down just the first few graves without the proper maps. Seth worked his tech voodoo (he had dumped everything from his GPS to the cloud a few years ago, so he found that and two websites necessary to convert that information into something usable for us) and saved us. Once he had all the coordinates available on his phone, we had a much easier time.

Winnie enjoying the cookie she got with her pizza at City Creek Mall.

Winnie at the prophets' graves.

Winnie's at her ancestors' graves.

After the cemetery, we went to Tucano's for dinner. In the past, we've taken the girls to the restaurant at the Gateway, but when we tried to get a reservation for that one, we found they were pretty well booked that night. We learned that they have another one in Farmington, so we made a reservation there instead. Winnie loved the fried bananas, Brazilian cheese bread and bacon-wrapped pork. Seth and I drooled over the different varieties of beef.

Eating a quail egg at Tucano's.

The next day (Sunday, April 3), we got dressed and ready and emptied our hotel room. We put everything in the van, then walked down to the TRAX stop. When we got off at the Temple Square stop, a random man loudly told me I shouldn't let my daughter were her Puma hoodie because that animal is evil. With all the other shouting and protesting that goes on around the Conference Center around Conference, it just kind of blended in. But it was an interesting and noteworthy experience.

We got to listen to Music and the Spoken Word, then the Sunday morning session. Afterward, we jumped back on TRAX, walked back to the hotel, then drove home and listened to the afternoon session on the way. 

Riding TRAX Sunday morning.

Exterior Conference Center selfie.

Interior Conference Center selfie.

Our view from the balcony.

Miriam is 12

 Sunday is the easiest day of the week to invite everyone over for dinner, and Miriam just happened to turn 12 on a Sunday. So we celebrated her birthday on her actual birthday! We got Papa Murphy's pizzas the night before and baked them Sunday (predictably, the Hawaiian was the first eaten because it's the kids' favorite). Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis were in Italy visiting Uncle Kent and his family, but Grandma and Grandpa Scott, Uncle T and his family, Aunt Rachel and her family, and Aunt Jessica were all able to be there.

Ana made this gorgeous (and delicious!) raspberry almond cake for Miriam.

Cousins eating pizza in the side yard. We were lucky enough to have a gorgeous day so we could celebrate outside.

Miriam laughing at the huge bag of sour candy she received from Uncle T and Aunt McKall. They said they couldn't find any smaller bags of that kind of candy.

Miriam received makeup and makeup bag (our family rule is that you can start to wear makeup when you turn 12) and a photo of the Cardston Temple (we give each girl an 8x10 of a temple of their choice when they turn 12 and can do baptisms for the dead) from us. She received the candy from Uncle T, a metal Millennium Falcon sculpture and LED lights from Aunt Rachel, artist's pens from Grandma Scott, a coupon for a free cupcake from Barnes and Noble from Aunt Jessica, and cash from Grandpa Dennis. (He Venmoed Seth and had him give her cash.)

Spring break in Moab

 Ana had been asking for years if we could go to Arches National Park. I feel like the countdown is on for shared family experiences since Rebekah will be graduating high school next year, so we decided to take advantage of our time off school to experience Moab, Utah.

None of us had been before (including the parents). So with the help of a couple of handy blogs, I was able to plan our trip.

Saturday, March 19

We left Idaho Falls right around 8 a.m. with our trailer in tow and the pickup full of bikes. It's about a 7-hour drive. We made periodic stops to gas up (and with skyrocketing gas prices, we spent the most we've ever done in one stop: $141.97) and use the bathroom, and rolled in to our reserved spot at an RV park around 3 or 4. We got the trailer set up and everything unpacked, then drove into Moab for dinner. We let the girls have their pick of foods at the food truck park (Seth: tacos, Andrea and Miriam: paninis, Winnie: cheeseburger, Rebekah and Ana: Chinese), then drove to the nearby Mill Canyon Dinosaur Trail (which we had all to ourselves) to see the dinosaur fossils. 

Winnie and Rebekah riding in the truck. We hadn't made it very far before Rebekah put the blanket over her head and took a little snooze.

Family selfie at the RV park. Normally when we stay in the trailer, we're dry camping, so it was nice to have hookups.

Seth using his tactical laser to point out some of the fossils along the trail at Mill Canyon. I really feel like this trail is a hidden gem of Moab. Whereas we saw gobs of people at the state and national parks we visited, there was literally no one else at this site when we went, and it was really neat to see the fossils right along the trail.

Sunday, March 20

We attended sacrament meeting in Moab at 9 a.m., then went back to our trailer to change and use the rest of the day to sightsee. We ate a picnic lunch at Dead Horse Point State Park (fried rice warmed up and stuffed into a giant Thermos), then tried our hand at mountain biking along the Intrepid trail system at DHPSP. We very quickly learned that the piddly little trails at Harriman must not be real mountain biking, because the "easy" trail here was much more intense than anything we had experienced. We went along Intrepid, Great Pyramid and Raven Roll, then put our bikes back in the truck to check out some of the walking trails on the south side of the park. The scenery in that part of Utah is unlike anything we had experienced before. It was, quite literally, breathtaking. 

Mountain bike map for the park. We stuck to the easy loop accessible from the parking lot because (1) we're newbies, and (2) Miriam's bike turned out to have some serious problems including a seat that wouldn't stay at the right tilt. 

Family selfie at one of the lookouts along the mountain biking trail.

Rebekah and her bike. 

Miriam and her bike with the janky seat.

Winnie ready to ride the trail.

Seth trying to attach the Go Pro to Ana's bike. It wouldn't work there, so she ended up wearing it on her helmet.

One of the lookouts at the point.

Miriam at DHPSP.

Ana and Winnie climbing down from a rock while takes a selfie.

Ana taking a picture of Rebekah having an Ariel moment. 

Like this.

A special rock we came across.

Seth walking along the point.

Ana and Seth at a lookout.

Monday, March 21

The check-in attendant at the RV park had warned us that if we wanted to get in to Arches National Park, we'd need to be there early. A helpful blog I read said that the parking lot at the Devil's Garden trailhead fills up quickly, so we woke up early and entered the park before 7 a.m. and drove straight to the back. There were only 5-6 cars in the parking lot when we got there, but by the time we finished in the area, it was completely full, so we were glad we heeded those tidbits of advice. 

We ate muffins and drank flavored boxed milk on the way to the trailhead, then bundled up (it had snowed during the night at that elevation ... back at our trailer it had rained) and headed down the trail to Double O Arch. Along the way we were able to see Landscape Arch, Partition Arch, Navajo Arch, (from a distance) Black Cave Arch and Double O before coming back the same way.

After getting back to the truck, we went to Skyline Arch (a 5-minute walk from parking), then parked at the lower Delicate Arch viewpoint to eat a picnic lunch of pasta salad in the bed of the pickup. We reparked at the trailhead for Delicate Arch, then hiked to the arch.

By the end of that hike, Miriam's feet were causing her such grief that we drove to the Garden of Eden viewpoint and enjoyed it from the truck before going to see the Turret Arch and the North and South Windows and leaving her in the truck to read. She joined us for a short walk to Double Arch. On the way out, we stopped at the Castle Tower viewpoint to read the signs and enjoyed seeing Balanced Rock and the petrified dunes from the truck. We had dinner at the trailer that night and went to bed in preparation for a another full day on the morrow.

At the beginning of the Devil's Garden trailhead. It was COLD that morning. I had to put the hood of my sweatshirt up because my ears were freezing.

Everyone at Landscape Arch. 

Heading up the sandstone formations along the trail.

Winnie enjoying the sunshine at Partition Arch.

We took turns doing backbends at Partition Arch. This is Seth's.

Checking out the pockets in the stone on the way to Navajo Arch.

At Double O Arch.

Seth helping Miriam along the parts of the trail with steep drop-offs. Besides her wonky feet which made hiking difficult, Miriam also has a fear of heights. The trail leads you over the top of some sandstone fins, and that was hard for Miriam. Seth held her hand and reassured her along the way. She was very brave. It was also extremely windy on top of the fins (as you can see from my hiking pole strap being blown into the shot), which made Winnie extremely nervous to cross them on the way back. I held her hand to keep her from being blown off.

Skyline Arch.

Eating lunch in the bed of the pickup.

Family picture at Delicate Arch. This is as close as Miriam got to it. The rest of us went down to check it out, but Miriam stayed here and basically hugged the side of the mountain.

Everyone (minus Miri) under Delicate Arch.

Heading down from Delicate Arch. This was another part of the trail that Miriam didn't appreciate. 

Checking out the Windows.

Lying on the sandstone beneath Double Arch.

Headed back from Double Arch.

Tuesday, March 22

This was our day in Canyonlands National Park. We ate a quick breakfast of cereal and left the trailer before 7 so we could watch the sun rise at Mesa Arch. From there, we took in the Grand View Overlook, then we hiked the 1.8 miles to the White Rim Overlook. We took quick looks at the Buck Canyon and Green River overlooks, then hiked the 1.8 miles to Upheaval Dome. We had a picnic lunch of tuna, crackers, ham and cheese after lucking in to a great picnic spot at the trailhead after our hike. On the way back, we stopped at Shafer Canyon Overlook, then we drove the 2-hour primitive road down Shafer Canyon and along Potash Road back to Moab. We made a stop at a froyo place in Moab before going back for dinner at the trailer and a movie night.

Watching the sun rise with a million other people at Mesa Arch. We had to squeeze into the parking lot and mall walk up the trail to the arch to make it in time.

At Mesa Arch.

 

Winnie and Seth looking out over the canyon at Mesa Arch.

At White Rim Overlook. Miriam didn't come over here because it was a precarious drop.

At Upheaval Dome.

Along the road headed out to Moab.

We spun them around to get this shot. It was taken at the same place as the previous picture.

Canyonlands National Park family selfie.

Winnie, Bekah and Ana ready to watch Anastasia at the trailer. We converted the dinette to a bed so half of the family could watch over there while the rest of us sat on the couch. Seth hooked a TV up to a laptop so we had two screens to watch on. We chose to watch Anastasia because Rebekah is in the pit orchestra for the high school's production of Anastasia this spring.

Wednesday, March 23

No pictures from this day. We packed up everything, reattached the trailer and headed home. There were a few gas/bathroom breaks and a picnic lunch of sandwiches eaten while we drove. We didn't spend the whole week in Moab because Ana had Gem State ballroom on Thursday (practice), Friday and Saturday (competition).