The Meades take Utah.
Well we just went on a whirlwind little family vacation.
When I say whirlwind, I mean tickets were bought a week and a half before we left.
So here's the story behind this. Jason and I have been trying to get a sealing clearance for our family for nearly two years now. By many unfortunate mishaps, our paperwork was lost several times. We finally got our sealing clearance on October 19th and the plans immediately started.
For those who don't know about LDS family sealings, sorry this may be confusing, but basically we go to the temple to be sealed as a family for time and all eternity. When Jason and I got married we wanted to attend the temple, but weren't able to because I was a brand new church member (I needed to wait a year) and because he was previously sealed to a spouse, and needed a clearance. We had no idea it would take this long. We were able to get permission for my older sons to be able to sealed to us, and we've had their letters signed for nearly two years. This clearance was all we were waiting on.
A few months ago, we started getting the feeling that we would be getting it soon, and we started talking about the plans. We had always assumed we would go to the Anchorage temple, but I was really apprehensive about that. Jason had been sealed there before, and I didn't want any memories connected to that for him. I mentioned that I would like to explore the possibility of being sealed elsewhere. His mom suggested a few temples in Utah, and that night we started our search.
First we looked at Mt. Timpanogos and St.George, both in Utah. They were stunning and I was so excited. I didn't feel like they were "it" though, so I kept looking. I looked at almost every single temple in Utah, before Manti caught my eye.
Now, I had previously seen pictures of Manti, so it wasn't the first time. When Jason and I got married, we actually were married the day before his parent's wedding anniversary. We didn't want to feel like we were "stealing" the date from them, so we decided to make them an anniversary present to give them at our wedding. The two weeks leading up to our wedding in 2011, Jason was sneaking pictures out of his parent's house so that we could make a slideshow for them. In that slideshow were their wedding pictures, they were married at Manti in the 70's.
When I saw Manti this time, I just knew that was going to be "our" temple too.
Fast forward again to when our sealing letter came. We had less than a month before Declan would turn 2, and we would have to pay for a ticket for him. Jason, and his parents could all get time off of work, so decisions were made pretty quickly. Jason made some calls to the temple, confirming with them that our paperwork would be good. It took a few days to get the go-ahead from the Manti temple president, but as soon as we did, the tickets were bought (thank you Alaska PFD's) and it was all official.
We arrived in Utah on Wednesday morning, November 6th. We had flown the red eye the night before and none of us had slept. Wednesday was quite a tired blur, but I finally got to meet a lot of Jason's cousins, aunts, and uncles.
Thursday I spent the day shopping with Jason's mom and grandma. We were seriously out all day long getting odds and ends that we needed for Friday. Jason, his dad, and the boys spent Thursday being men. They went riding horses at Jason's aunt Melody's house. After that they proceeded to spend the rest of the day at Scheel's with a friend of Jason's from his mission. Thursday was also Leland's first birthday, so we let him demolish a colossal cupcake after dinner.
Friday morning we got up at 5:30 AM Utah time (which I would like to point out is 3:30 AM Alaska time) to get ready to make the drive down to Manti with Jason's parents, Grandma, and his aunt and uncle. Friday was beyond words. The beauty of Manti, the feelings we all had... Simply amazing. We could not have made a better choice.
Saturday we spent doing anything we possibly could squeeze in. We got up and headed to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. Jason actually had me driving everywhere while we were there because I am 100% comfortable driving in lower 48 big cities. He said he saw a different side of my driving. Not sure if that was good or bad... haha. After Temple Square we hit a mall on the way back to Lehi. Such a fun place. They had a train that ran the entire downstairs of the mall, we let the kids ride it. Just as the train was about to start, Santa came to greet the kids and ride on it with them. The conductor said he doesn't usually do that, it was a rare treat. Declan is train OBSESSED. The kid walks around saying "choo-choo" all the time, so he was amazed and laughing the whole time. It was so fun to watch him! After we left there I told Jason I was going to the outlets, and surprised him when I pulled into the Cabela's parking lot next :) After he stopped jumping up and down running through the store like a child, we actually did walk around the outlets. We finished Saturday off at Texas Roadhouse for dinner with another mission buddy.
Today we were forced to leave the warmth, sunshine, outlets, temples, men shopping, and family behind to head back home.
I'm not excited to return to snow. And ice. And cold.
It was a serious whirlwind, but we were there just long enough for me to fall completely in love with Utah.
Now here's the picture bomb from our trip. Not exactly in order. I'll post the Manti pictures separately.
Riding horses at Aunt Melody's.
Scheel's 16,000 gallon fish tank.
Riding the train at the mall with Santa.
Getting ready to leave Alaska.
Declan had daddy and grandma running after him all over the airport.
Anchorage to Seattle flight.
Seattle to Salt Lake City flight.
Passed out at Grandma's.
Last time being a baby before turning 1.
Leland's first birthday.
There was a chapel directly across from Jason's grandma's house.
Cherry Limeade!!!
Shopping loot. The back of the truck was FULL.
Driving down to Manti.
Gorgeous chapel in Manti. It was built in the 1800's.
LOVE the weather in Utah!
Two one year olds!
Temple square!
Train ride
The promised land
Temple Square
When I say whirlwind, I mean tickets were bought a week and a half before we left.
So here's the story behind this. Jason and I have been trying to get a sealing clearance for our family for nearly two years now. By many unfortunate mishaps, our paperwork was lost several times. We finally got our sealing clearance on October 19th and the plans immediately started.
For those who don't know about LDS family sealings, sorry this may be confusing, but basically we go to the temple to be sealed as a family for time and all eternity. When Jason and I got married we wanted to attend the temple, but weren't able to because I was a brand new church member (I needed to wait a year) and because he was previously sealed to a spouse, and needed a clearance. We had no idea it would take this long. We were able to get permission for my older sons to be able to sealed to us, and we've had their letters signed for nearly two years. This clearance was all we were waiting on.
A few months ago, we started getting the feeling that we would be getting it soon, and we started talking about the plans. We had always assumed we would go to the Anchorage temple, but I was really apprehensive about that. Jason had been sealed there before, and I didn't want any memories connected to that for him. I mentioned that I would like to explore the possibility of being sealed elsewhere. His mom suggested a few temples in Utah, and that night we started our search.
First we looked at Mt. Timpanogos and St.George, both in Utah. They were stunning and I was so excited. I didn't feel like they were "it" though, so I kept looking. I looked at almost every single temple in Utah, before Manti caught my eye.
Now, I had previously seen pictures of Manti, so it wasn't the first time. When Jason and I got married, we actually were married the day before his parent's wedding anniversary. We didn't want to feel like we were "stealing" the date from them, so we decided to make them an anniversary present to give them at our wedding. The two weeks leading up to our wedding in 2011, Jason was sneaking pictures out of his parent's house so that we could make a slideshow for them. In that slideshow were their wedding pictures, they were married at Manti in the 70's.
When I saw Manti this time, I just knew that was going to be "our" temple too.
Fast forward again to when our sealing letter came. We had less than a month before Declan would turn 2, and we would have to pay for a ticket for him. Jason, and his parents could all get time off of work, so decisions were made pretty quickly. Jason made some calls to the temple, confirming with them that our paperwork would be good. It took a few days to get the go-ahead from the Manti temple president, but as soon as we did, the tickets were bought (thank you Alaska PFD's) and it was all official.
We arrived in Utah on Wednesday morning, November 6th. We had flown the red eye the night before and none of us had slept. Wednesday was quite a tired blur, but I finally got to meet a lot of Jason's cousins, aunts, and uncles.
Thursday I spent the day shopping with Jason's mom and grandma. We were seriously out all day long getting odds and ends that we needed for Friday. Jason, his dad, and the boys spent Thursday being men. They went riding horses at Jason's aunt Melody's house. After that they proceeded to spend the rest of the day at Scheel's with a friend of Jason's from his mission. Thursday was also Leland's first birthday, so we let him demolish a colossal cupcake after dinner.
Friday morning we got up at 5:30 AM Utah time (which I would like to point out is 3:30 AM Alaska time) to get ready to make the drive down to Manti with Jason's parents, Grandma, and his aunt and uncle. Friday was beyond words. The beauty of Manti, the feelings we all had... Simply amazing. We could not have made a better choice.
Saturday we spent doing anything we possibly could squeeze in. We got up and headed to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. Jason actually had me driving everywhere while we were there because I am 100% comfortable driving in lower 48 big cities. He said he saw a different side of my driving. Not sure if that was good or bad... haha. After Temple Square we hit a mall on the way back to Lehi. Such a fun place. They had a train that ran the entire downstairs of the mall, we let the kids ride it. Just as the train was about to start, Santa came to greet the kids and ride on it with them. The conductor said he doesn't usually do that, it was a rare treat. Declan is train OBSESSED. The kid walks around saying "choo-choo" all the time, so he was amazed and laughing the whole time. It was so fun to watch him! After we left there I told Jason I was going to the outlets, and surprised him when I pulled into the Cabela's parking lot next :) After he stopped jumping up and down running through the store like a child, we actually did walk around the outlets. We finished Saturday off at Texas Roadhouse for dinner with another mission buddy.
Today we were forced to leave the warmth, sunshine, outlets, temples, men shopping, and family behind to head back home.
I'm not excited to return to snow. And ice. And cold.
It was a serious whirlwind, but we were there just long enough for me to fall completely in love with Utah.
Now here's the picture bomb from our trip. Not exactly in order. I'll post the Manti pictures separately.
Riding horses at Aunt Melody's.
Comments