But with joy wend your way

Fall break! How fabulous for us! Week one in Denver included delights such as Gunther Toody's and Monkey Bizness bounce house, the leisure pool, Chuck E. Cheese, Toys 'R Us with Grandma K, a birthday party for the fellas, and our virgin experience with Jump Street in Littleton. We then hit the road just across the border - is there a less expensive and more poignant long-weekend spot than SLC, Utah?
The slideshow contains specific highlights, but Day One of glorious weather consisted of the Conference Center (Grace provided the soundtrack for the tour, consisting solely of "A long time ago in a beautiful place..."), the North and South visitors' centers, the Seagull Monument, the temple steps, the Joseph Smith building, Beehive House, flagship Deseret Book store and Church History Museum, which took every second of our 7-hour day. We wrapped up nicely with In-N-Out and crashing at the home of our dearest friends, the Roses (read: those who have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly, and still welcome us into their home).

Following the JSB film which graphically depicted the Prophet Joseph's life and death, Eve and I left the theater, arms around each other's waists. A well-meaning and adorable senior missionary asked Eve what she thought. She beamed a smile at him and instantaneously burst into sobs, burying her head into my shoulder, and before I could even blink another sweet sister missionary from Cambodia came over simply said: "Oh, she cry? Oh! She feel the Spirit!", at which point, we all dissolved into mass hysteria.

After leaving the building, Eve watched Shane and Grace balance along the planter walls and shook her head in disbelief, "They just don't even get why we're here on this trip!"
But she does. As does Ty, though in a less dramatic way ("They had to leave Nauvoo? Where where the police to protect them?"). And so, obviously, worth it.

Day Two brought us to BYU's Bookstore and Los Hermanos for lunch, then back up to Salt Lake for This is the Place monument and Heritage Park. The segue into the westward Exodus is always my favorite, and I could hold forth on Brigham Young for many a day, but suffice it to say the monument and views are amazing. Heritage Park could do with a Web site update: it doesn't help my family when, at 2 p.m., we arrive to find that every historic cabin and building in the park has just closed for the day, when the Internet clearly informed us they would be open until dusk. Every bit as hard as crossing the plains. :)

Am I the only one who thinks Utah County is ridiculously overcrowded? That dinner at Texas Roadhouse was epic, though...

Day Three: super cloudy, rainy and all of 50 degrees. I scored at Rod Works (yahoo!) in Orem, and we headed to the stadium in full downpour - they've got quite the deal going at LaVell Edwards Stadium: no umbrellas allowed, but willing to sell us the $5 BYU rain poncho, which, of course, you've got no choice but to accept. The weather cleared nicely from game time 'til we all filed out of the stadium (luckeeeeee!), but those fellas were killin' us: they didn't exactly try to win, but did doing their best not to be beaten by Wyoming. Kinda.

Again, worth it to show the kids the full home game experience, as well as the obligatory ride around Provo: Those are the dorms! That's where mommy used to live! That's where daddy used to live! That was mommy and daddy's first apartment! Our second apartment! This building didn't used to be here! And you can't leave without eating at Brick Oven, 'natch.

Trekking home, alternating sleeping with videos and mom and dad's gleeful nonstop Pearl Jam radio-listening on Sirius...the car improbably behaved on the trip home through Wyoming, which more than offset the less-than-stellar scenery (though I get a kick out of Evanston, home of 'Pyro City')...

many thanks again to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who always offer the history of the restored gospel of Christ in a professional, enlightening, and spiritual way, as well as the Roses, hosts and hostesses extraordinaire - one for the books, and I'm more than sure, one that will be redone many a time.