Anniversary Celebration in Utah!

Tom and I have been married for 19 years----ok, well, officially it will be 19 years on February 15th.  But this year we had to move our annual Utah trip up a few days because Kelsey is performing with her dance team at Disneyland this weekend.  (can't wait!!)  I have to say that this trip is possibly the BEST Utah weekend Tom and I have ever had.  Here's what went down--------------

Here is our "apres-ski" look.  We are sitting by the fire waiting to go to dinner. 

We took an early morning flight from AZ to UT and drove up to Deer Valley Ski Resort.  After getting our tickets and skies we were on the chairlift at exactly 10:08 a.m.  Pretty amazing if you ask me!  The weather was PERFECT.  It was about 25 degrees and partly sunny.  The snow was light as air and we had the time of our lives.  We skied a few mogul runs and even braved a double diamond.  But our favorite run was the one we found through the trees.  We laughed like we were kids again because the curves and jumps were so much fun!
Then, around 1:30 we decided to grab a little lunch.  We headed into the Empire Lodge and all of a sudden, I hear Tom say, "Hey President!"  and I look up and it's President Dieter Uchtdorf!  I smiled at him then said, "Tom, we have to go meet him!!!"  So, I turned around and ran (in my ski boots) and patted him on the back.  He turned around and was so gracious as we shook hands and he asked us where we were from.  It was just the most awesome thing for us.  Plus, I have to say, that he looked just like he was in an ad for Ralph Lauren Polo or something.  His hair was perfect (not like the "hat hair" that Tom and I had!) and he was wearing a red jacket--heading back out to the ski hill.  Tom said, "Man---I knew I liked that guy!  He is such an amazing apostle PLUS he skies!"  We were just totally excited to have shaken hands with an apostle---even that can be such a testimony booster!

Tom waiting for dinner at our favorite Swiss Restaurant . . . Goldener Hirsch.

After an amazing lunch we headed over to watch the World Cup Championships for Ski Cross Racing.  We were on the chairlift headed up the mountain when all of a sudden the chairlift stopped.  Usually we get annoyed when the chairlift stops but this time it stopped directly over the starting gate for the race.  We had BETTER than front row seats!  So, the bell rang and out came the skiers.  They hit the first jump then all of a sudden one of the skiers landed wrong at the top of the next jump and her ski FLEW off across the race course and hit one of the other racers right in the head!  The other two racers crashed into each other trying to avoid the flying ski.  It was one of the most incredible wipeouts we have ever witnessed--and from ABOVE!  Anyway, the timing for us was impeccable.  After watching a few heats of the race, we headed over to the Jordanelle side of the mountain---where the $26 million dollar cabins are.  Whoa . . . amazing.  It was so much fun to ski past these monstrous structures while trying to keep your saliva that's drewling down your mouth from freezing!  Seriously, words cannot describe how incredible they are.  We took the gondola back up then headed back for dinner at the Goldener Hirsch. 

I had one of my favorite dishes, Wienerschnitzel with fresh spatzle and red sweet cabbage. 

Tom tried a new dish--homemade pasta with shaved truffles and an egg yolk to mix in.  Delicious!

Tom told our waiter it was our anniversary so we got to sit by the fireplace.  How romantic!  I just love the decor in this place.  I could decorate my entire house in Swiss decor and be absolutely happy.

After stuffing ourselves with dinner and topping it with apple streudel and ice cream, we headed home, took a nice drive through Park City, and went the opposite way of all of the traffice headed back into Deer Valley for the freestyle ariel competition that night.  Needless to say, we slept well that night (sore legs and all!). 

The next morning we decided to go snow-shoe up American Fork Canyon.  We drove to Tibble Fork Reservoir and hiked up around Granite Flats. 

We hiked up along a beautiful mountain stream as the snow softly fell.  It was so peaceful and quiet.  All we could hear was the rushing waters of the stream, an occasional snowmobile, and our lungs panting when going up a hill!  We stopped and took a bunch of pictures because we just couldn't get over how gorgeous the scenery was.  (we also got a new camera for Christmas and wanted to check it out! ha)

OK, this was a little tricky to cross.  If you slipped, you fell into the stream.  Burr!!

Yahoo - I made it!

 At the end of the trail we found this huge tube and just had to climb up on it for our ending "pose."  Anyway, this is something that I think Tom and I will definitely do again.  I am so glad I bought these for us for Christmas.  We can't wait to go again!

 After grabbing some lunch at Bajio and roaming through our favorite toy store, Blickenstaff's at the Riverwoods Mall, we headed over to BYU to see the Carl Bloch exhibit at the Museum of Art.  This experience is something I wish everyone I know could see.  It's completely FREE of charge and is the first time so many of his works have been gathered in one place.  5 of his 8 alter pieces are on loan from Denmark until May 7th.  They are magnificent and stand at least 10-12 feet tall.  The museum had Ipads that you can rent for $3  which magnify the experience 1000%.  There is commentary about the pieces, testimonies of apostles concerning the Savior, and curators comments about Bloch's work.  My favorite piece is titled, "Christ and the Young Child."  I loved how the Savior stands next to the young boy, placing one hand on his head as if to gently protect him---the other hand is presenting the young child to all of us--beckoning us to become like a little child.  Seeing that piece of art up close, in person, is truly a wonder to behold.  I am so grateful we were able to see these incredible works that I have known all of my life as the church has used so many of his works in our manuals and magazines. 
You know, the best part of the weekend was knowing that our life back home is just as great.  We both were excited to get home to our kids because we missed them so much.  Our lives are so richly blessed and we are so grateful that our marrige is strong, our practice is doing better, our kids are happy and healthy, we have growing testimonies, and love to serve in the church.  That truly is the best gift of all.

Here I am in front of the BYU Museum of Art.  What an incredible exhibit.  It was
the icing on the cake for our amazing weekend together.