Trek to Zion

Mother and I drove to Las Vegas, picked up Natalie and kids and continued on to Salt Lake City, Utah. Such glorious weather! Snow capped mountains, pink blossomed trees and brightly colored tulips everywhere. We packed a lot into a few days: seeing Derek and Hillary's house in Bountiful (decorated with many mementos of BYU Hawaii years); meeting up with Derek at the Mariott Residence Inn in Salt Lake, where he now works; an unforgettable concert in the Tabernacle on Temple Square--the debut of Ryan Murphy, the Tab Choir's new conductor; dinner out with the Williams' for Thai food; a girls and kids' day at the discovery science museum (kids went wild over all of it); a fun morning at the pretty deserted (more room for us) This is the Place monument. Kids rode ponies, chased baby goats and sheep, toured log cabins from early pioneers. Highlight was our trip to Temple Square following church on Sunday. Sunny and warm, spring flowers everywhere. The little ones were enthralled with the awesome statue of Christ in the visitor's center and we all took in the serene surroundings of the Salt Lake Temple and fountains and walkways. A day of joy. Fun to spend time with Becky and Royden. They were lovely hosts. Mom and I went to a clever theater-in-the-round performance of The Three Musqueteers with them. Then a lovely afternoon family gathering at the Havell's. Kids loved jumping on the trampoline....Ride home was a bit long. Despite the hastles with the rental car (we were in our third Enterprise rental by the time we got back to Vegas), it was a fun, happy trek. Cousins Katherine, Andrew and Jocelyn got reacquainted. I loved how Jocelyn called me "Grandma Chreeeesty!"