For such a short little trip, we sure crammed a lot in. We left Thursday morning and we back home by Monday night. Sam, Richard and I had been planning to go to the Life Leadership convention in Sandy, Utah for a couple of months. In December, Daniel decided he wanted to go too. We told him that was great and that he needed to pay for his own convention ticket, $135, and find a ride up to Utah. Richard and I planned to go alone, for some much needed time with just the two of us. Daniel worked super hard to earn the money and was able to hitch a ride with and room with Sam and his buddy Valo.
I had been worried about the weather for a while. I don't really own closed toed shoes or a warm coat, etc. I grabbed a coat at Goodwill for $7 and prayed that I would be able to find some nice but cheap boots when I got to Utah, so I wouldn't be wearing athletic shoes to the convention. Phoenix area second hand stores don't have a lot of warm shoes to choose from.
As we got closer to the trip, the weather report did not look good. A huge winter storm was headed our way. Luckily, we left home early enough that we mostly beat the storm. The snow started when we got to Cedar City, but it was light most of the rest of the way until we reached Provo. The temps were in the mid to upper 30's so the roads weren't icy. The snow is so beautiful when the roads are good, but throw a little ice on the roads and it doesn't look so pretty anymore. I love my sunshine!
It was pretty dreary as we got closer to our destination. When we arrived in Sandy at our dear friends, the Cullimore's house, we quickly unloaded and changed. Then we headed north to Sugar House for an open house at Carden Memorial School. It was fun to see Kim Bytheway in action as a teacher of their Jr. Kindergarten program. Her classroom ceiling was so pretty! We talked and met a bunch of the families that attend Carden. It was a nice evening. .
We got back to the Cullimore's and settled down for the evening and just enjoyed the quiet as we talked and read in the silent house. The Cullimore's are big Disney fans. Their homes are decorated top to bottom Disney. Each room has a theme. It is pretty awesome! We stayed in the Peter Pan room and our bathroom was Tinkerbell themed.
The next morning started out a bit foggy and snowy. We had a little ice as we were leaving the neighborhood, but it wasn't too bad as we got out on the main roads and highway. We drove south to American Fork to meet up with the Lyons for breakfast.
One of my favorite parts of the Salt Lake and Utah County areas is the mountains. They are splendid! However, we never got to see them on this trip, they were constantly covered in storm clouds.
Breakfast with Shari and Howard was wonderful, but we never have enough time when we get together. It goes too fast! We talked about books and projects and kids, etc. They are pretty incredible folks and we are so blessed to call them friends.
After breakfast, Rich and I went to a second hand store so I could get some winter footwear. The first store we stopped at had a beautiful pair of comfy, black, Naturalizer boots that hardly looked worn, for $10. My feet were so happy! We also found some awesome books to add to our home library.
Sam opted not to have his birthday dinner on his December birthday, but to wait until we were in Utah to have it at the Red Iguana in Salt Lake. He called to let us know that 2:00 pm was when he wanted to meet us there. We had just enough time left to attend the Mt. Timpanogos temple. Neither of us had been inside before. It was beautiful!
I remember years ago when we were on vacation there and there was a wild fire on the mountain right behind the temple. Luckily it was not harmed. It sure made cool pictures though.
The Red Iguana has wonderful Mexican food. They add cinnamon to their red sauce which makes it absolutely heavenly! They are famous for their molé and their salsa is to die for. Everything was delicious!
Sam, Daniel and Valo
The convention began later that evening. It was a great opening night and we could tell it was going to be a weekend full of amazing information and learning. We finished around midnight, but then met up with our team of friends for an after meeting. We got to bed about 2 am.
When we woke up the next morning, it had snowed and snowed. We of course don't own a window scraper and hadn't even thought about having to dig our way out of the driveway. It had snowed between 8 and 10 inches over night.
It was a winter wonderland, but nothing we knew how to deal with. It was still snowing and Richard spent an hour digging us out so we could get back to the convention. We got some advice on the roads and opted for the less hilly, but longer route to the convention center.
We were 45 minutes late, but the boys had saved us seats. There were so many incredible talks, and great quotes like:
"If you don't believe you can live the life you've always wanted, then you never will." Bill Lewis
"Change your excuses from: 'Not me' to 'If not me, then who', 'My past' to 'My past doesn't define me', 'Too scared' to 'I'm not too scared', 'I can't' to 'I can't quit', 'I'll die' to 'I'll finish or die trying' " and "Walk a mile see a mile." Chris Swanson
"We are what we repeatedly do. Habits are what produce the results in our lives. We can learn and unlearn habits." Keisha Lewis
"It's not what you make, but what you keep that makes you financially successful. Put it away!" and "If a man pours money into his head (knowledge), it can never be taken away." and "It's never an expense to invest in better information applied." and "Read, Listen, Associate and Apply."
Laurie Woodward
"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. E. Lawrence
"A dream is an inspiring picture of the future that energizes your mind, will and emotions, empowering you to do everything necessary to achieve it. Dreams inspire us because they fill us with a sense of joyful possibility. They energize us when our hope that they can come true is rooted n reality. And they empower us by providing a clear picture of the future that we can work to realize." John Maxwell
"If we don't have our own finances in order, how can we complain about the country's finances. Change starts with us." Manase Fotu
"The secret to becoming a great leader is to never stop becoming." and "Being a learner is your most valuable asset." and "Applied knowledge is power. This kind of power is light. Let your light shine to others." Easton Kelsey
"The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude toward the problem." and "What ever you are about, be all in." and "I would rather be prepared for an opportunity that doesn't come, than not be prepared for an opportunity that does come." and "The best way to predict your future is to go out and create it." Jeremy Slade
"All leaders are readers, but not all readers are leaders." Harry Truman
What are you reading? Are you applying it?
Some of these are the speakers quoting others, but I missed who said it originally. I have a hard time listening and taking notes. I don't want to miss anything.
By Saturday evening, after a full day of awesome speakers, sweet little Daniel was wiped out!! He crashed on the floor during a break around 10 pm. He loved every minute of the convention even with the late nights. I think he really enjoyed being with Sam and Valo, and being somewhat independent for the weekend.
Sunday, Rich and I woke up and went to church with our friends, Tim and Tiffany Johnson. Tiffany is Kim's sister. It was a great meeting. One of the speakers was a young woman who had just come home from her mission in Adelaide Australia. Richard served in the same mission. He spoke with her after the meeting and found that she knew one of the families that he knew from when he was there. Small world! Tim and Tiffany are wonderful people. They are a force for good in the world, for sure. We love them!
We attended part of the convention's worship service. We enjoyed the messages and the sweet spirit that was there. We finished up the convention with a couple more speakers and then said our goodbyes to our team and friends.
Then we went to meet with our friends the Mason, who use to live here in Surprise, but moved about 3 years ago to South Jordan, Utah. We were a little early, so we called KenaDee to see what the address of her previous home in South Jordan was. It was fun to see where she used to live. It was on top of the hill that the Oquirrh Mountain Temple is on.
Their house was right behind the temple, 2 doors down. The view from their house was amazing! You can see out over the valley and of course the temple view is awesome!
Our visit with the Masons was nice. It was fun to catch up a bit on our families activities and such.
After our short visit with the Masons we went to the Bytheway's for dinner and the evening. When we walked in, Kim was struggling with her new electric pressure cooker. It didn't seem to want to create pressure and cook. We read the instructions and then her dad walked in the door and it magically started working. So, Rich, John and their kids went off to the fireside that John was doing for their stake and Kim and I visited with her parents and her sister Amy and brother-in-law Marshall at the house. When they all came home, dinner was finally ready. We learned that Instant Pots are not as instant as they sound, 30 minutes to build pressure and a bit to depressurize, plus cook time. It was all yummy though.
Kim and I sneaked away and talked just the two of us. It has been a while since we've gotten to talk like that. I love her so much! It is wonderful to have a friend you can talk to about anything and always leave feeling loved and uplifted. She is the best!
We got up and on the icy roads to home by 9 am. It was stormy, icy, snowing, sleeting, raining, foggy... scary and exciting! We slipped and slided a few times... Eeek!
The sun came out just before we got to the mountain passes and melted the ice for us. It was a huge relief and it was stunningly beautiful!
Then in Arizona it was back to storms, mostly rain with a little bit of iciness here and there.
We made it home safely and were happy to see all of our kiddos smiling faces. It was an awesome evening of love and snuggles!
