Gita's Utah Trip: SLC & Swimming

A couple of days before we headed out to Utah, a good friend of mine asked where I was staying. Since General Conference was going to be virtual, her parents had a time share just across from the Conference Center and Temple Square that they wouldn't be using and were willing to give to us for half the cost of the hotel. It was a fantastic place to stay. There were 4 beds, two bathrooms, a full kitchen and parking. The only downside? No pool. And Brigitta had really been looking forward to swimming on our trip. I promised her that we would find some way to go swimming and so here we were on our last full day. We tried a pool there in SLC but the hours were different than what was posted online so we hung out on Temple Square instead. One nice thing about the pandemic and construction is that we pretty much had the place to ourselves. 

No fighting with brides on this pedestal!

We could take our time and snap as many shots and we wanted.

It was actually peaceful instead of rushed and frantic.

I loved this one on one time with Gita.

Water was definitely on her mind so I let her play in the reflecting pool as long as she liked.

I also let her wear my Apple watch and she was so very excited about that!

Normally these photos would be filled with people in the background, but it was all but empty. The construction barricades around the temple had windows so we could see the work going on inside. It was so crazy to see the pit where smooth ground used to be. See the scaffolding that leads to the door? I've walked right up to that door and now I don't know if I would brave the scaffolding- it looks so high!

On our very first day I took a photo of Brigitta posing in front of the display window at Deseret Book and then posted it on Instagram. I received a message from an old friend in Boston saying she actually watched me take that photo but didn't realize it was me! Her parents have an apartment right across the walkway so we made plans to meet up and chat a bit. After that, Gita and I stopped by Deseret Book and finally picked up a special CTR ring for her along with a cute scripture bag. All that room I'd made in my suitcase was quickly take up again as I found a temple bag I just had to have and some other essentials only to be found in SLC. This happens every time I visit- I tell myself I don't need anything but then I stumble across something that can only be found in Utah and I just have to have it!

We had lunch just one more time at Café Rio. Gita fell in love with the tomatillo sauce I was introduced to when I was in college and first began going to Café Rio. 

The tres leches cake isn't bad either!

I'd heard of Gilgal Gardens and seen some pictures on the internet and since Brigitta is my most out-of-the-box thinker of all my four girls, we decided to check it out.

From the brochure: Gilgal (meaning a circle of stones) is the legacy of Thomas Child's desire to give physical form to his deep-felt beliefs. "If you want to be brought down to earth, in your thinking and studying, try to make your thoughts express themselves with your hands," Child wrote. He hoped the garden would inspire viewers to ponder "the unsolved mysteries of life" and struggle to find their own answers. Child was aware that many people would find Gilgal Garden strange, but hope they would accept its challenge. "You don't have to agree with me," he explained. "You may think I am a nut, but I hope I have aroused your thinking and curiosity."

The Sphinx represents Child's belief that the answers to life's great questions cannot be discovered with intellect, but only through faith. The sphinx is an ancient symbol of riddles and mystery. Joseph Smith's face symbolizes Child's conviction that the priesthood reveals to mankind the answers to life's mysteries.

There are lots of carved stepping stones like this one. It says, "When I first heard him preach, he brought heaven and earth together; and all the priests of the day could not tell me anything correct about heaven, hell, God, angels or devils; they were blind as Egyptian darkness. When I saw Joseph Smith, he took heaven, figuratively speaking, and brought it down to earth; and he took the earth and brought it up and opened up in plainness and simplicity the things of God." ~Brigham Young

In this piece, Child portrays the shattered giant from the biblical story of Kind Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Nebuchadnezzar sees a great image with a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thigs of brass, legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay. The giant is destroyed by a "stone cut our of the mountain without hands" which becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth. Child spent weeks searching for stones of different colors to match the description of the giant's body in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. "The more natural and interesting he stone, the better," Child wrote.

In this arrangement, Child portrays a verse from the biblical Book of Malachi which, according to LDS belief, refers to families being sealed together for eternity. The verse reads: "...I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to the fathers..." The white heart in the small cave represents the dead while the red one represents the living. The two carved hands rach down to turn the heart toward each other. 

Monument to the Priesthood

Gita loved the stones and apparently Child did as well. Again, from the brochure: Child went to incredible lengths to obtain huge stones weighing up to 62 tons for his sculptures. He had great respect for the natural beauty of his materials. He traveled the state, scouring mountainsides and streambeds for "a boulder in which I could put over the idea and tell the story and still have it a stone." Child often hired large trucks and heavy equipment to extract the stones and bring them to his yard.

There was a little section in the back where we could pile stones- kind of like in the movie Moana. Gita had fun finding the most interesting ones and making them balance just so. 

These brick pants are my favorite!

Monument to the Trade. This monument is an example of the superb masonry workmanship for which Child was known. The flagstones in the walls were cut by hand and meticulously laid with perfectly even joints. The weight of the cantilevered canopy is supported by a mammoth 62-ton stone behind the monument. Sculpto Maurice Brooks created the larger-than-life portrait of Child. The brick pans were particularly troublesome to make. Brooks modeled the pants from two stacks of unfired bricks. The bricks were then disassembled, numbered, and fire. The firing, however, made the numbers unreadable and the pants had to be rebuilt like a puzzle. Child was very pleased with the way the stone coat hung naturally over the pants. "I know it is egotistical," he wrote, "but in my travels, which include Europe, I have never seen a better looking or more interesting coat."

This says, "Ere long the resurrection day will spread its life and truth abroad, through outward ills await us here, the time at longest is not long ere Jesus Christ will reappear, surrounded by a glorious throng. Lift up your hearts in praise to God, let your rejoicings never cease; though tribulations rage abroad, Christ says, "In me ye shall have peace." What though our rights have been assailed? What though by foes we've been despoiled? Jehovah's promise has not failed, Jehovah's purpose is not foiled. His work is moving on apace, and great events are rolling forth; the kingdom of the latter days--the 'little stone' must fill the earth. Though Satan rage, 'tis all in vain; the words the ancient prophet spoke, sure as the throne of God remain, nor men nor devils can revoke. All glory to His holy name, who sends his faithful servants forth to prove the nations- to proclaim salvations tidings through the earth."

Based on the description and photos I saw online, I thought Gilgal Garden was going to just be bizarre, but there was a lovely spirit there and the brochure helped me to better appreciate what I was looking at. Brigitta loved scrambling around the sculptures and we really enjoyed our time there!

Never have I ever done the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point with kids because I heard it was expensive. They weren't kidding, I think I'm still reeling from the sticker shock. This is where my Chicago snobbiness gets me because in my humble opinion, the MOSI is the best museum to take kids. Period. Having to fork over a significant amount of money for something I know is going to be subpar irks me beyond belief. But Gita was excited and again, thanks to the pandemic we practically had the place to ourselves. 

She created her own dinosaur with these flip pictures. I think this one is pretty awesome.

Gita put together the bones of on this giant magnet board.

She matched skulls to pictures.

She played in this water and sand trough for a while. Again, so nice to have the place to ourselves!

I love this quote!

Gita did an archaeological dig and I must say it was nice to have all the tools to herself and all the space she could want. Again, nice to have the place to ourselves.

These pictures crack me up!

If something that ferocious is coming for you, scream right back at it!

There were some very cool fossils.

Very cool to see a meteor the same age as the earth:

All day long the issue of letting Gita get in some swimming was in the back of my mind. Then it occurred to me that Jack wasn't at dinner because he was working- at a recreation center with an indoor and outdoor pool! I texted Lisa, called to make sure they were open and we headed over. Honestly? This place was WAY better than any hotel pool! It had a kiddie area, a lazy river and a huge waterslide. 

When Lisa heard we were headed over, she told Jack (who had just come home from his shift) to go right back and hang out. Logan and Joey came along. Oh man, I'll love them forever for doing that. As we swam around the lazy river, I mentioned to Logan and Jack that Brigitta loves the water, but as a swimmer, she sinks. Gita was floating on her back and so I showed him what happens when I let go of her. Jack simply said, "She's probably breathing out." WHAAAT!?!!! He continued, "Tell her to take a breath in and look up." From that moment on, Brigitta began to swim- truly swim. 

I climbed out of the pool and chatted with Joey while Jack and Logan hung out with Gita- perfecting her swimming skills. Watch how she starts to sink again and her cousin is right there for her.

In the end, she was swimming full on laps!

For me, this was the best moment of the whole trip. I'm not kidding when I say Jack may just have saved Brigitta's life. She loves swimming, but she's always struggled. Thanks to scheduling and then the pandemic, she's missed out on swim lessons for two years. In one evening, Jack made her the strongest swimmer she's ever been. I will forever be grateful to him. 

His words echoed in my mind- "Breathe in and look up." Something I need to do more in life!

Gita's Utah Trip: BYU & Family

Although I try to do something different with each girl (per their request), there are some things that remain a constant. Visiting BYU is one of those constants. We slept in and took our time getting ready. Gita asked to play with my phone while I finished my makeup and took some selfies:

She snuck this one on me which is why my smile is so weird:

We managed to meet up with Katrina again at Waffle Love for breakfast. I had planned to stop by the Sweet Tooth Fairy for some cupcakes but that location was shut down! Boo!!!

From there we headed to the Wilkinson Center. Brent and I decided to suspend the Chocolate Challenge for a day so Brigitta could have some of the Creamery's chocolate milk. They also had a cookies and cream flavored one but it wasn't as good as the rich, creamy goodness of the original chocolate.

Can I say that I love how the dry air kept Gita's curls intact all day?

And a BYU mint brownie:

She said it was sooo good!

There are so many great photo spots around the Wilk. The stairs with Cosmo:

The bookstore with a life-sized Cosmo:

The bronzed bench with Cosmo:

The bookstore has always been a fun (albeit pricey) place to shop but they've zhuzhed it up with some of their merchandise. I don't remember any Cougar Crunch when I was in college!

We stopped by the library and took a spin through the Reading Room. This is one of my favorite things to do with the girls because that vast room full of college kids studiously learning and so quiet you hear a pin drop. I feel like they really get a vision for what is required to go to college in that section of the library. The dedication and discipline it takes to be successful is significant. Gita got a lot of smiles from the students who noticed her- she did kind of stand out after all. The display in the library on Women's Suffrage was really interesting. Apparently women in Utah were given the right to vote because legislators thought women would vote down polygamy- and they didn't. 

From there we headed over to J Dawgs which is right This is another delightful thing that has popped up since I graduated from BYU. The guy taking my order had a really cute reaction when I told him we were from Chicago. "Oh, maybe I should be ordering a hot dog from you!"

Their hot dogs are huge!

It's a quick walk from there to my old apartment.

Showing Gita Brent's apartment was such a laugh. It's much farther from campus. We'd been walking for a while when she finally asked, "Where is Daddy's apartment?" and I had to say, "Right there, behind the dumpster." The Alpine apartments have really, really, really gone downhill over time. We went up some stairs with questionable stability and then she asked, "Which one is Dad's?" and I had to say, "That one, with the garbage by the door." To date, none of the girls have been impressed with his apartment but I hope they understand that good people come from everywhere and to give them a chance.

We stopped by the Art Museum and took in this Norman Rockwell (one of my favorites)

And this one of Christ as a child teaching in the synagogue.

Before leaving campus, we stopped by the cougar statue at LaVell Edwards Stadium. We slipped through some barricades to get these photos and Brigitta was really stressed about that. I have to laugh because it's the kind of thing my mother would have done and as a kid I would have stressed about breaking rules. 

But I think the photos are totally worth it!

I would have put her up on the cougars back but I think I was pushing the limits of rebellion for Gita as it was.

Before leaving Provo, I stopped by a fabric store for a friend and then we had to try Crumbl cookies. I mean we had missed out on our cupcakes earlier so I had to make up for it, right? Man, those cookies didn't disappoint and they were big enough to feed a small village for a week!

From there we headed to The Old Spaghetti Factory to meet up with family for dinner. By now, I was so sugared out but Gita had no problem with this cotton candy limeade. 

Gita needed to use the restroom but I wanted to keep chatting with family I rarely see so I asked Katrina to take her. After they left the table I mentioned that I felt bad- she's my kid, I should be the one to take her. Logan said, "I've taken Katrina's kids to the restroom tons of times, you don't need to feel bad." HA! Well not only did she take her, she made sure to get some really cute photos of her in the restraurant.

It was so good to see cousins who I swear never stop growing.

One thing I love about my nephews is they are always kind to my girls even though they are young and have completely different interests. They still find a way to connect with them.

I'm glad Gita will have some memories with these good people!

Joey had been at Gita's baptism so getting together with him again was a blast. 

Like me, Gita only sees him as "Joey" and doesn't like it when people call him "Joel". I have to agree, he will always be Joey to me!

It's always a lot of laughs hanging out with this crowd. No idea what I'm laughing about here but based on the expression on Katrina's face, it was something bizarre. 

And no idea what I'm talking about here, but clearly I was passionate about it.

Sibling picture! I wonder if my girls will grow up to have their own children and take them on trips and visit their sisters and their sister's children.

I hope so.