Temple Open House with Courtney

Courtney wanted to go to the temple open house so we found cheap plane tickets and flew her home. It was good to see her again. She flew in on Saturday morning, hung out with us over the weekend, and then we took her to the open house and then to the airport on Monday. It was a quick trip for her but I'm glad she got to go to the open house. Grandma and Grandpa Pack were in town too so they went with us to the open house.

Soccer

We aren't able to see every soccer game, some aren't streamed, but we can see quite a few. It isn't the same as being there but it's fun to watch anyway. Here is a wrap-up of some of Courtney's soccer shenanigans.

SVU vs Ferrum College

Hanging out the window of the Lofts

SVU vs Methodist University (Courtney's face is on the right behind #17)

Goofing off in the van on the way to a game

After a game

SVU vs Salem College

In a hotel for an away game

Game day at North Carolina Westleyan University

St George Temple Open House

Finally!! The St George Temple Open House was finally here and Ethan came down from Provo to go through it with us.  It is beautiful! I was so confused because the layout was very different and the colors were different but some things stayed the same. It was nice to go through and be able to show Ethan the inside. He has been to baptisms in the St George Temple but it was closed when he went on his mission (although all the temples were closed when Ethan went on his mission).

Some cool things I learned:

The paint is the same formula that would have been used by the pioneers when they built the temple. So the paint cannot be replicated by going to a store. The Church had it specially made.

The carpets were dyed using the same formula and technique that was used in pioneer times. There is only one place on the East Coast that does it so the carpets are specially made. When the volunteers were cleaning before the Open House, they were told that the vacuums couldn't go from one color of carpet to another because the dye would transfer.

The color of the metal on the chandeliers changes from black to gold depending on how close you are to the Celestial Room.

The painting of the Founding Fathers is still in the Temple but is near the staircase/elevators on the first floor. If you do a session, you walk right by it to go to the Grand Staircase to go up to the endowment rooms.

Due to the size of the Grand Staircase, the endowment rooms, the vail room, and the Celestial Room are a little smaller than they were before. And the clouds are not on the ceiling of the vail room anymore.

And there is a rumor that the font is actually from the Manti Temple. I was told by a woman in our ward that they wanted the font to be gold and the St. George font wasn't gold. The font in the Manti Temple was gold so when that temple was closed for refurbishment, the font was brought to St. George, and the original St. George font was taken to be gold plated and will be put in the Manti Temple. Of course, this may all be apocryphal but it would be cool if it were true.

I know there are a lot more things but I can't remember them. We will be volunteering in October to help at the Open House and I'm excited about that.

April 2020

October 2023

Salt-to-Saint Relay

Once again, Bryan rode in the Salt-to-Saint bike relay with some guys in our neighborhood/ward. He had different legs this time but had a great time riding the parts he did. He wasn't the last rider, so I didn't worry about missing him crossing the finish line this year. He had some good stories though.

At one point, Bryan was driving the support car and was passing their rider. He was along side or almost past their rider when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, a deer coming his way. His first thought was to swerve to the right but he remembered that the rider was right there, so he slowed down. He was able to miss the deer and didn't hurt the rider but it could have been so much worse. That was a blessing they had while doing the relay.

They are always tired and sore after the relay but they always make plans to do it the next year.

Wedding

One of Ethan's best friends, Duncan Richey, was married and Ethan was a groomsman. They were married at the Provo City Center temple. Bryan and I drove up so we could go to the wedding luncheon and see Ethan. It was a beautiful place where they had the luncheon and wasn't very far from the temple. Ethan looked sharp in his new pants and his groomsman's tie.

Reno

Bryan had a law conference in Lake Tahoe so I decided to tag along.  We flew out of Las Vegas on Tuesday and he had meetings for a few days. I did homework in the hotel room while he was in meetings. But we took time to explore around. Lake Tahoe is beautiful and it was great weather. It is weird though because we went for McDonalds and they didn't have a drive-thru. It was so odd. But we got food and ate by the lake. It was a good time.

On our way back to Reno, we stopped in Virginia City, NV, to look around. It's an old mining town with some cool buildings to look through. We went to a candy shop and got ridiculously overpriced sodas. Then we went to a Wild West gunfight that was ok but was long. We also went on a tour of their schoolhouse which was cool. Seeing the old building and learning more about the town was fun.

If you know Bryan, you know that he loves maps and geography. The plane ride was great for him because he had the map downloaded onto his phone and could follow along where we were. It was uneventful but we had a good time.

Sister Cordon

While we were in Lake Tahoe, Courtney called us and was really excited. She told us that she was shaking and couldn't believe what had happened. After one of their soccer games, Sister Cordon (who was just released as the General YW President) showed up. Courtney instantly knew who it was and went up to ask if she could have a picture taken with her "for my mom." Sister Cordon told her she loves to take pictures for the moms.

Some of the other soccer girls wanted pictures but were nervous to ask Sister Cordon so Courtney did and they had a group picture.

SVU has an acting president right now and they are on the search for a permanent president. Sister Cordon was in town interviewing for the position. She spent time with the girls and took a whole soccer team picture with the girls, but it was on her phone so Courtney didn't get a copy. Courtney was "fan-girling" about it because she was excited to meet Sister Cordon. And Courtney is hoping Sister Cordon gets the job and becomes the college president.