december 21

december 21st:

see the lights at temple square

last year, we went to salt lake late so we were on temple square around 9pm.  it was great - while it meant a late night with the girls, it also meant slightly fewer crowds of people.  we chose to do this again this year.

we loaded up the girls and the van with a crazy amount of warm gear - but we used it all except for one blanket!  it was definitely a cold night so we were glad we had all of the layers.

beth missed out on most of the lights because she was so wrapped up in the back of the stroller - she was in her own little cocoon.  at the end of the evening, though, weston bundled her up in his arms and showed her what she'd been missing.  her audible gasping was reward enough for the drive :)

kate loved looking at the different nativities on display and her favorite part was looking at the model of the salt lake temple inside the south visitor's center.  

if you have or haven't seen it, here's an interesting sidenote:  weston got to work on that project a couple of years ago.  he assisted the church photographer for a few days inside the temple.  they went everywhere - including the very top, up to the cantilever that holds the angel moroni on top of the temple.  

i was able to see a handful of the photos and it was incredible to see the innards of the temple, not to mention the gorgeous meeting room (can't think of what to call it except maybe the priesthood room?)  they photographed every square inch of the building so the model maker would have a plethora of reference photos to create what you see in the visitors center.  anyway, take a look at the model next time you're there.