Keeping Busy in Salt Lake

One of our Filipino family members got married over the weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah. After months and months applying for VISA's and dealing with all that fun immigration stuff everything worked out and she was able to move to Utah in March and a wedding deadline of 3 months. Of course we had to go for the wedding, no questions, and that is all in a different post but this post is all about the non-wedding fun stuff we did while we were there.
We arrived Wednesday and checked into our hotel which was maybe two blocks from temple square. We all needed some time out of the car, using our legs, so we quickly dumped our stuff in the hotel room and walked to temple square. It was hot, sunny and beautiful. I always love walking around temple square. They keep it so perfectly landscaped and clean. There weren't too many people there and maybe because it was a Wednesday close to dinner time but it was perfect because I could let the kids run a little bit and not worry about them running into people. It also gave me the perfect opportunity to take a picture of them by the water in front of the temple without a bride in the background.

Thursday morning we got to see Christabel and Gabe. It was so great to see her and it's crazy one of my young women from good old Magsungay Ward in Bacolod was getting married in the temple and I was going to be able to witness it. Christabel and Gabe were getting there wedding pictures done Thursday for a few different reasons so I was able to help her get into dress, do her hair and make up before going over with them to temple square for pictures.
When pictures were finished we all went out for lunch and spent some time getting to know Gabe better and making sure he was good enough for our Christabel.
After we went out separate ways we made our way to the temple Visitors' Center and let the kids watch some Book of Mormon movies. We had also never ventured into the South Visitors' Center before and so we checked that out as well. That center focuses on families and the Temple. They actually had a miniature replica of the Salt Lake Temple that you could look in and see what was inside other then the rooms we've been in. It was pretty cool!

Friday was the day of the sealing and I was able to do Christabels' nails, her hair and makeup before we made our way over for the sealing. After the sealing we were able to join Gabes' family at his parents house for a delicious authentic Mexican meal. It was such a great day. Ryan was also able to meet up with a friend who he used to work with at Focus and we hadn't seen him in a few years and we appreciated him coming to our hotel to visit with us.
Saturday was a day for us and we weren't too sure what we were going to do to fill it. We all got ready for the day, got into the car and Ryan decided that we should check out a few things we haven't done before. The first stop was and we were not prepared. It's not a hard hike or anything but the girls and I were in sandals and skirts so although it was doable we probably screamed tourists. The view from the top was amazing and worth the time.From there we went to This Is The Place Heritage Park which is where Brigham Young first entered the Valley. They had huge monuments which told the stories that were a part of the start of Salt Lake. Inside there was a little museum that told the story of the pioneers and all they went through to get to the valley and also told about the Mormon Battalion. It was really interesting and maybe next time we'll actually pay money to do more then just check out the monument and gift shop/museum.
Ryan took us for a trip down memory lane and showed us a bunch of different areas from his mission, which he served in South Salt Lake. He told us some fun stories and bragged about the wheelies he could perform on his bike that were blocks long, parade worthy in fact.
We spent our afternoon at Chuck e Cheese and let the kids go wild with tokens. It was amazing and I know they loved it. Dreams just might come true at Chuck e Cheese. We had a couple other errands to run and made our way to Target and the grocery store to stock up for dinners and went back to the hotel where the kids had a swim. It turned out to be a full day.

Sunday was spent packing up before meeting with a Focus friend for church in Bountiful and heading north to Roy for the wedding reception and then starting our drive home.
It was a busy, fun time but man, that drive kills me. I must be getting old.

Newly Weds

Look at these two, don't they look perfect? The reason we took our trip to Utah was to be there to see Christabel get married. She was one of my young women/seminary students when we lived in the Philippines and it's crazy to say but we've watched her grow up. She must have been 12 or 13 when we met her and now she is a married woman. Unreal.
Anyway, Thursday Christabel and Gabe were getting some professional pictures taken at the Salt Lake City Temple and they had come to our hotel room early to get ready. Not only are there way less brides to share the photo ops with but the weekly rate is a way better deal then the weekend photographer rate. We walked over and followed them around while the photographer did his thing. The kids helped Christabel with the train of her dress and watched as the camera guy posed them and took his pictures. It was fun to watch the girls fuss a little bit over Christabel because she deserved to be fussed over and she didn't have her mom or sisters there to do those things. She just got here in March and unfortunately she only had an Aunt that was able to make it from her side since the flights from the Philippines are ridiculously expensive. Thankfully her in-laws seem to be amazing and were willing to help out a lot. With that being said, I was happy we were there to follow them around and act as her side of the family.

The photographer came up to me and got upset when he caught me taking pictures of my kids with Christabel and told me that I would have to put my camera away while we was there. I was a little ticked off but snuck a couple pictures anyway because it wasn't like I was stealing his poses and they are my children after all and every other wedding I've been to I know a lot of other cameras taking pictures of little moments happening on the side lines. Meh.

Friday was the day of the actual sealing and we were fortunate enough to be invited to watch it. Ryan was one of the witnesses and I got to accompany Christabel into the brides room and help her get ready. The brides room in the Salt Lake City Temple was beautiful and huge. Christabel didn't wear her wedding dress so we weren't able to gape at it as she stood over the big vent that poofs it up but there was something amazing about her in the simple temple dress, she looked beautiful.
The sealing was small which was nice and intimate. The sealer did a great job and after he was done in english he repeated everything in Spanish for Gabes' grandparents (he's Mexican) so we kind of got an encore.
After the sealing I took a few pictures of the newly married couple before we went to Gabes' parents house to eat with his family. The meal was amazing and a real authentic Mexican meal. A lot Gabes' family was there and they were all super nice people. I was so happy to feel that I knew Christabel would be taken care of while she was adjusting to living in the USA and being married all at the same time.
Sunday Christabel and Gabe had a ring ceremony and wedding reception. Ryan walked her down the aisle and gave her away to Gabe. It was touching and she looked beautiful, of course.

Christabel had an entourage help her get ready for the ring ceremony/reception which was so nice. I was able to take some pictures of her getting ready and of her dress, pictures that I wasn't able to take a few days earlier at the temple.

Her ring ceremony was nice and simple and the reception was fun. We had Mexican again and the venue was really pretty. The food and toasts (which I rocked) were done upstairs in a loft area and then we all went downstairs for the cake and dance.

It was such a great few days and I was extremely grateful that we had been able to make the trip and be a part of this wedding. They are going to be a great pair, I could tell. Congratulations you two!

What Does the Fox Say?

Last week on my way home from work I saw a fox running across the road just by our house. It was so fast that I wasn't sure and when I pointed it out to Madison she didn't see it. I was excited because last summer I had seen a fox in the tall grass beside but once they had bailed the field I hadn't seen it again. On my way home today I stopped at the mail box and saw something moving around in the ditch and I was curious and as we were pulling up closer I realized it was a little fox family. A larger fox (the mom I assumed) immediatly ran down into the hole while three babies wrestled and played around. Madison and I watched for a while through our rolled down windows until we heard the mom call (yes, now I know what the fox says) and all of them dashed into the hole. They were seriously the cutest things ever!