Thursday, October 11, 2012

Trip to UT #4: Trip to Vegas

Hello again! 
Back for another installment of our trip to "UT". 

After our Escalante excursion we headed down south to Las Vegas! The drive was incredibly beautiful. We enjoyed a misty rain and the evergreen covered hills and red mountains of Southwest UT.

On the way there we stopped at the St. George Temple and toured the visitor center. It was beautiful. In it they had a special series of videos on the importance of family, as well as beautiful art works depicting the stories and sacrifices of the early Mormon pioneers. What a heritage we have as well as future cut out for us. 

Being on temple grounds is really quite special. There is a special peace and sweetness that is within the temple walls. We were reminded of a story Todd's grandfather shares. He and his wife, Cleo, served as couple missionaries at the St. George visitor center. Pop remembers, 

"We observed a young boy about eleven years old going back and forth from the sidewalk outside the gate to the path inside the gate. He did this several times and finally I asked him what he was doing. His response, 'It feels different inside the fence. Can't you tell the difference?' Well, it took a young boy to show us."

Theo, our almost 2 year old, knows the temple, too. Whenever we see a temple he points and says excitedly, "Jesus' house! That's His house!" And he's right.

Once in Vegas we enjoyed visiting the other Freestone family--Todd's brother's family--and meeting a new cousin, Piper. She was so darling. We ate pizza and talked while we watched the other kids romp around and share kisses, cars, and buses.

We ate dinner with my parents and lovely grandparents (seen in a previous post). 

One unforgettable part of the trip was visiting the shark exhibit at Mandalay Bay. All those cold-blooded amphibians and reptiles really put shivers up our spines and were thrilling to see. Henry even got to pet a sting ray. Too cool.
 
Patiently waiting to see the . . . sharks!



Theo thought the fish were cool but not as cool as his new Trucks Go book we found at Anthropologie. He carried it with him everywhere that trip.


 


The Freestone cousins

 Kissing cousins!
Theo's big into kisses and freely shared the love with Sophie.
My camera was too slow to actually capture a kiss but this is pretty close.

Todd with his brother and the kiddos

And . . . the drive back to Provo included a detour just North of St. George. We made a quick stop for lunch and a brief hike. The big attraction? A dinosaur track. Not tracks, just track. As in one foot print. It was pretty cool, but mostly just hot.

Then it was back in the saddle again for a few more hours. Theo played with Mickey Mouse toys and read his trucks books and Henry colored and listened to one of his favorite songs, Paradise by Coldplay.
 

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