BLOGGERS, TAKE ME AWAY: Details & Pix-2nd Installment

Okay, to preface this post's pictures, I must steal some words from Cherie's blog post because they best capture the hilarity that WAS our blogger meet-up:

"Things I DEFINATELY heard this weekend in no particular order:

1) Everyone looks at their own work - You know they do!

2) Valentine, you're my favorite poolboy.

3) Grandma will you hold my thongs?

4) Nobody wants a 70's natch.

5) Have you been crafting?

6) I have explosive diarrhea and I need some Pepto stat!

7) I love my Brazillian!

8) Check to see if you have a cliff hanger.

9) Could you hold my gun for me?

10) Grab me some nuts!

11) I Love You"

No lie.  ALL of these things were said.  And I won't play the guess who said 'em game, but let's just say that you'd be tickled to put faces with sayings.  And we'll leave it at that, since they all know who they are!  Lol.

As for picture stealing from my photo record of my trip, I don't mind on these images since I hadn't web-sized ANY of them.  They're all full-res, well, now that I think about it, they're as big as blogger will let me go without being original size.  If you'd like any of them emailed to you, just let me know.  Especially the pictures from the temples.  I found myself addicted to shooting them.  Really and truly couldn't get enough of the temples.  So all I ask is that you link back to my originating posts and/or me/LKP for source.  That's it.

Oh, and just please ignore my little tummy roll in any shots of me.  Seems to be that I look thicker in 2-D images than I really am, thanks to my love for food and my northern over-abundance....(thanks be to my DNA & and a funny inside joke with God). So, focus on my face and we'll be just fine!  (I'm pretty sure without those girls, I'd prolly weigh about 20-40 lbs less....or at least look it!)

Ok, so here's the next batch from my getaway week.....

This is the last of the three towels I embroidered for Cherie's birthday present.  They all turned out lovely!

You'd never know that Cherie biffed it on the way up the hill.....or that I tripped over her crumpled body just moments before this was shot!

Always the shutterbug, Tauna rocking all the lenses.  Tee hee.  Heather was supervising to be sure we didn't get too out of hand, OR race back in the cabin for a sit-in before the rental people came to check.  Not gonna lie, wanted to holler "Heck no, We won't go!" like there was no tomorrow...but then again, considering they would've just shrugged & dinged our credit card, I refrained.  ;)

Not only does Heather make phenomenal cakes, but she also loves Thanksgiving dinner most of all other meals in the world, ever!  And Monica looks up to her parents, her grandmothers, and Ann the most in her life!  How rocking cool are these ladies?!?  Girls after my own heart.

Me & Ann.  Ann's said that her favorite thing about her kids is that "they're better than me."  Isn't she a fabulous mom?  We should all cherish & recognize this about our kids.  She makes me want to be better.  Plus she's got fabulous antique taste!  Scored my most lovely first-ever milk glass through her generosity.  Thanks, dollface!

The Rexburgians!  Seriously, me included.  Once a Rexburgian, always a Rexburgian.  L to R: Tauna, Me & Kimmie.  Tauna's favorite color is blue, and Kimmie's favorite movie is "Some Kind of Wonderful"....can you see now why I love these ladies?!?  Total icing on the cake!

Me & the Bakow Babes!  L to R: Cherie, Brittany, Me, & Katie.  Did you know that Katie's name means "raddest person ever" in Tonglinging?  It's true.  She told me herself!  And Brittany has some mean dance moves, which she learned all of from her mom.  One thing she didn't gain genetically though is a love for the BeeGee's.  We've got to set this girl straight, and cast out the Anti-BeeGees in her!  "Ah-ah-ah-ah, Stayin' Alive!  Stayin' Alive!"  Maybe if I intro'd her to "Boogie Child" she'd be a changed woman.  What d'ya think?

Me & my Utah gals (minus M-Cat)-L to R: Monica, Ann, Me, & Heather. 

Forget HAMS, these ladies are SUPER hams, better yet they're SPAMS!!!  L to R: Paper Wendy, Cherie, & Paper Gigi.  Did you know Cherie plays a fierce kazoo?!  "It's the truth, it's actual...everything is satisfactual!"

This shot of Bear Lake I took while we were waiting to enter Logan Canyon.  Traffic was stopped just up ahead of us due to the truck accident that produced the white sheet and grief that followed.  Again, my heart goes out to the man's family.  He was not very old.

Further up Logan Canyon, we stopped so Cherie & I could take some pictures, and so Katie could relieve herself.  Lol!  No, so she could empty the ice chest.  She didn't even realize how it looked until AFTER she heard my shutter flying!  Lol.  What a card that girl is!  I've decided that she & my other bestie, Dani, would get along sooooo well!  They're both complete gems, utterly rare among us.  (:

And as I'm pulling up the next bundle o' photos, here's a little M-Cat trivia tidbit: did you know that M-Cat was named after a character on Days of Our Lives?!?  Honest truth.  Doesn't it make so much sense now why she's so entertaining?  She's been blessed with it since day 1, I'm thinking.  ;)

Again, birthday tiara thanks to my lovely blogger sisters---no, not booger sisters!!!

Ok, let's resume the trip....

Yep.  The Logan, UT Temple.  We couldn't NOT stop and take photos since we were soooo close!

Cherie had me ROLLIN'......and then.....

...and then she said something like "Brazillian" or "crafting" and I lost it!  Good quick-shutter skills Katie!

Such an introspective moment....love ya Katie!

Cutest little one!

I always love the vantage points of temples, looking out over their people & landscapes.

Completely rad dumpster that's across the street from McD's in Logan!  Jodi, you were on my mind for sure.  Lol.  Love me some frogs!

Ensign Peak straight ahead...

Needed photographical proof that I made it to SLC all. by. myself!  It was a very proud moment.  (:

Got to the Brennan's door, again-ALL BY MYSELF...NO DIRECTIONS & NO FRANTIC CALLS FOR DIRECTIONS!!!, but this is all I found waiting for me......

...precious....

....but lonely, cause no one was home yet.  Btw, I have a set of these Becca hands in some of my church journals.  They are much, much smaller than these ones.  I love them.  I cherish them!

So while I waited for them to return home, I ventured up the road to the "This is the Place" Hertiage Park to check out the museum, gift shop, & monument.  This is the theater's mural.  Loved it!  Excuse these shots as they're taken from my phone.

Inside the Mormon Battalion Museum.  Very nifty.

Loved this little statement of remembrance.

This family prayer statue is such a powerful symbol of gratitude!  I loved it so much, it's now my phone's wallpaper.  It really set the tone for me once I walked out of the museum & gift shop to see the monument and take in the view.  This part of the trip really started something inside me.  I felt reawakened to a closeness with my ancestors the entire rest of the journey.  I think I needed to reconnect with places they had trod, and where they had experienced turning points in their lives.  Blissful is the best way to describe the rest of my week's experiences from here.

The "This is the Place" Monument

View of the Valley from the monument, from the very place Brigham Young stood.  Yes, this IS the place!

A great statue of Joseph Smith & Brigham Young staring westward at the Mississippi River.  It's called "Eyes Westward."  Couldn't resist this snapshot.  Loved the sun flare!

The scroll Brigham's holding reads: "Great Basin & Route to the Rockies"  Totally dug it.

My self-portrait.  Hee hee.

Again, ignore the crummy pictures.  The phone photoshoot continues.  Lol.  After I knocked, I heard the girls squealing that I was really there!  Loved it.  Made me feel like a million bucks!

The deal was that they had to be still enough to send a photo to Mr. LKP that would make him jealous, since part of his heart also is with this family, then after THAT they could have the honey suckers I brought each of them!  They were so obliging, considering candy was on the line.  ;)

Ah!  Sweetest 3 sisters.  And I didn't even need to bribe them with candy that time.  Mr. LKP was seriously jealous after seeing this shot too! 

Remember that awesome cake of Heather's?  Well, once we'd devoured the bottom section for Cherie's birthday, the cake then became MY birthday cake two days later!  Lol.  So I took it to the Brennan's house and we had it after birthday ribs they made for my birthday dinner!  It was so fun, and I had the little ones help me blow out my candle.  That's right, only one candle.  It was lovely to not think of how bright that cake was actually supposed to be!  And, why yes Cherie, I'm thinking that just MIGHT be a Bear Lake butter knife.  Let me know if we got dinged and I'll get it sent back to the cabin.  Apparently it got missed while we did dishes & packed our stuff outta there.  ::snicker::

Around 9pm Saturday night, I made my way from the Brennan's out to the Hopkin's in Tooele.  All of THIS was bundled and waiting for me on my bed when I got to Kim's house.  How phenomenally generous is that?!?  Let me tell ya, good book so far.  And I LOVE that bookmark!  The tile is pretty rad, and I'm thinking I'm going to display it on my piano.  Just gotta find a cute little easel.  But I've got just the one in mind.  So it's all quite perfect!

Okay, so I've been to Salt Lake City like a million times, yet there are still many things I have yet to see and experience.  The LDS Church History Museum has been one of them.  So after going to church & down to Provo with Kim and her family on Sunday, she was able to get Monday off of work and we went to the museum, just her & I.  It was wonderful.  Please go.  If you're in SLC, make it one of your priority stops!  This is a stained glass window from a meeting house, I think in California, if I remember correctly.  Gorgeous in person.

Scale model of some of the buildings on the Smith family farm in Palmyra, NY.  Their farm was known for being tidy & orderly.  I love the inspiration that is it, since I like tidy, orderly, well-organized & highly functional spaces.  You wouldn't know from the current state of my home, but it is what I love, and flourish in.  So I snagged this shot for inspiration for the Ranch.  ;)

This is the actual press that the Book of Mormon was printed on back in the day.  Pretty stinkin' neat, especially for those of us who are in love with words and paper and letters and ink of all kinds!

When the Prophet Joseph Smith received revelation as to verses & passages that had been corrupted and/or omitted from the Bible throughout the years, he jotted down the revelations as they came and used THIS Bible in his studies and to note the corrections the Lord revealed to him.

One of the original 3-sashed windows from the Kirtland, OH Temple.  It was gifted to the LDS Church by the Reorganized LDS Church several years back.  The frame & window sill are replicas, but all 3 sashes are authentic.  Soooooo cool!  Especially to think of what this window witnessed....and if it could talk, oh what insight it could share!  Ya know?  Kirtland is the first LDS temple to ever be built.  Plus, Jesus Christ appeared here, as well as Moses, Elias, & Elijiah.  See D&C 110.  So wonderful & humbling.  

Sketched plans for the Nauvoo, IL Temple.  Squeeee!!!!

Replica of the original Nauvoo, IL temple site, with one of the sun stones.

Incredible.  The pocket watch that saved John Taylor's life when the Prophet Joseph Smith & his brother Hyrum Smith were martyred.  The mark/indentation on the right side of the face is from a bullet that otherwise would have entered his heart and fatally wounded John Taylor.  The Lord is amazing; through small & simple things are great miracles wrought.  Granted the prophet was dead, but John Taylor would later be called to be the third LDS prophet, following the death of Brigham Young.  Remarkable to see evidence of the Lord's preserving hand to further preserve and move His work forward to all nations.

That is John Taylor's cane that he used to beat down the rifles & gun barrels that were came through the door at Carthage Jail.

The Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr & his brother Hyrum Smith's death masks.

So remarkable.  Not sure I had the attention span at 13 years old for something so intricately ornate, let alone with my own hair.

Okay....so chew on those images, and I'll work on the next installment very very soon!