First General Conference - LIVE!

 Our family decided several months ago to attend General Conference this fall.  So, last Thursday, around 3 p.m. we packed the car and headed to Utah.  We love leaving most of the driving to when the kids are asleep.  (it makes for a much "shorter" feeling trip!  ha ha)  After sleeping in to recover from our late night, we headed out to Gardner Village - one of my all time most favorite places ever!  On the way, we passed the West Jordan Temple.  I begged the kids to let me get a picture for our temple board and they were nice enough to get out and pose!

 If you have ever been to Gardner Village, then you know how awesome they decorate for all of the holidays.  It was "Witch Fest" for Halloween and boy did they ever go all out.  We only had about 1 hour to spend here since we wanted to get to Park City before the BYU game that night.  So, our plan was to run from store to store oohing and aahing at all of the awesome decorations and unique stuff they have there.  But, we didn't take ten steps from our car when Hailey saw this . . .

 a PONY!!!  His name was Rascal and that was it----we weren't going anywhere until she got to ride that pony.  It is her 6 year old dream to own a horse and to this day, she can't understand why we don't live on a farm!  ha ha!

 Can you tell by her facial expressions that she was in heaven??

 It was SO worth the $5 we spent watching her thrill riding that pony.  Then, it was off to Park City where I about went crazy looking at all of the fall colors!!!

 For anyone who knows me, my favorite tree is an Aspen Tree.  I love the white bark, I love the mystical faces or shapes you sometimes see in the bark, I love the skinny trunks, I love their little quaking leaves, and I mostly love how they turn colors in the fall.  

 In my perfect world, there would be an Aspen Grove right outside my backyard.  I yearn to go on walks through those trees and get lost in the mesmerizing sound of the wind rushing through the quaking leaves.  I can't even express how much I love being in Utah in the fall.  It does something to my soul--maybe pricks a former memory in me, something familiar perhaps?  But I always feel such a longing to stay whenever I visit these mountains.  I don't know how and I don't know when, but sometime in my life, I want to live near Aspen trees.  It's just gotta happen . . .

 We all rode both the Alpine Slide and the Alpine Coaster - hands down, the coaster is the best ride!!!

 Tom didn't pay attention to the speed warnings on the slide and he got going too fast that he FLIPPED his car over and really scraped up his arm and leg.  I sorta laughed and sorta felt bad for him all at the same time.  :)

 Here is the Alpine Coaster - it's a roller coaster that takes you up the mountain, then you let gravity bring you down through these curves as you whiz past the Aspen Trees.  My favorite part of the ride was the relaxing ride up where I could just soak in my favorite trees.  

 In the excitement of wanting to someday live in Utah, we stopped and looked at a lot for sale near a horse farm.  The kids went crazy feeding these horses and had so much fun petting them.  They were really friendly horses!

 Just look at those mountains!!!  Mt. Timpanogos is just to the left of the picture.  It's pretty breathtaking.

 That night we went to the BYU vs. Utah State game and we won 6-3.  It was a low scoring game but had some really tense moments!  I was disappointed though, because I couldn't sing the BYU fight song that much into my kid's ears!!!  

It was the perfect night for a game - cool, crisp air---perfect football game weather!

Since the game got over at midnight, then we had major traffic to deal with getting back to Sandy where our hotel was, we all slept in again the next morning.  (felt SO good!)  Then, we headed over to Tom's mother's house for breakfast and to watch the first session of conference.  What a historic announcement when President Monson said that all young men could now serve missions at the age of 18 and young women at the age of 19.  It doesn't affect Kohler at all since he will turn 18 during his Senior year and then turn 19 the August after he graduates.  Our plan was for him to leave the summer after his senior year anyway.  But, it really affects a lot of his friends.  Wow - the gospel is moving forward and our army is getting prepared!

This was my very first time going to General Conference.  I know - I lived there for 7 years and never attended a live session.  I always went to my Aunt's house where all my cousins would gather to watch together.  Plus, she made the BEST almond twists and veggie pizza ever.  Still, it was an incredible experience for me to be there in person.  There is so much strength derived from sheer numbers!  Being among all of those people from all over the world was such a great feeling.  I felt honored to be included and I felt proud to be there.  

Our Bishop and his kids walked in and sat right behind us.  How cool is that?  Spencer's football coach was a few rows behind us too!  I love that we are surrounded by good people who we love and respect in all aspect of our lives.  We are truly SO blessed!