Temple Square

This weekend was such a fabulous one. Justin and Mom took a road trip to Salt Lake to see friends and visit Temple Square. What a neat feeling we had seeing the lights and reconnecting with friends.
Here we are as we started out early in the morning.

We were able to stop and see Grandpa Hoopes. We have not seen him in over a year. It was so good to see him and know that he is doing well. We made plans to visit again with puzzles and goodies to eat.

Visiting Grandpa Hoopes and Sharon We picked up Mom's friend Lecia. They've been really good friends for a long time. They had a falling out and didn't talk for a long time. Mom missed her friendship with Lecia and decided it was time to make things right again. We are so glad that Lecia is still our friend. We have missed her and her son Dugan. Dugan was with his dad this weekend so we didn't get to see his sweet smile and hear his adorable laughter.

Mom and Lecia After picking up Lecia and exchanging gifts, we ventured to West Jordan and had lunch with Mom's good friend Kate. They use to work together at Merit and Mom really misses the walks and talks her and Kate use to have together. Kate had made some delicious homemade chili and cornbread. It was filling and so tasty. While Mom, Kate and Lecia talked, Justin and Kate's husband Ryan played Lego's Indiana Jones on the XBox.

Justin playing games at Kate's house. Mom and Kate...best friends

When it was time to go, Mom had a big surprised for Justin. She was taking him to the South Towne Mall to see Santa, just like she use to do every year for Christmas. Justin's face lit up when he saw the mall. Too bad the line was forever long and Justin didn't feel like waiting.

Justin and Lecia went to the food court while Mom picked up some last minute Christmas gifts.

We decided to take the UTA trax to Temple Square, another big tradition of Mom and Justin's. We use to take the trax all the time when we'd visit downtown Salt Lake. What a neat experience. A drunk man sat next to us and talked of his dad and shed tears when he talked about how he died. It made Justin nervous so we ended moving to the back of the railcar so Justin will feel safe.

On the trax to Temple Square!

Justin sure does miss riding the train. Look how happy he is! While traveling to Temple Square, Justin kept talking about the big statue of Jesus he remember seeing with his good friend Wyatt. When we found it, you would have thought we found gold. The Tree of Lebanon was spectacular. Our Relief Society President told us the story of how the woman from Lebanon brought this tree over as a gift to the LDS Church 75 years ago. Every year it is covered in red lights and is the oldest tree in Temple Square. It was neat to see it after learning the history behind it.We love to see the temple. Isn't it just beautiful? Here we are waiting for the train back to our car. It was very cold outside but we were so happy after feeling the spirit of Christmas at Temple Square. After a great night at Temple Square, we took Lecia to dinner at Training Table. We met her sister Kjersty there and her husband Drew. It was so good to see them again.

With our tummies full and our eyes tired, we decided to drive to Camille's house and stay the night with her adorable family. Justin had a great time with Mackenzie. They have been such good friends since the day they met. They are so different yet so alike.

Aren't they just adorable?