December was Grand!

December brought my 46th Birthday. Oh grand, the downhill slide to 50 has begun. We went out to dinner with Verl and Sanae because it was their birthdays also. Curt surprised me by telling me that we were going somewhere on the weekend, but he wouldn't tell me where. It was fun to look forward to a mini-vacation.

But first we had a fun family party with the Grafs. Sheri, Lynn, and Raquel were up from Cedar, and it was great to get together with them and the northern Utah Grafs.


We all listened intently as Justin told his engagement story. So romantic and fun.

Cute cousins! We missed Trevor and wished he had made it home in time. However, we are glad he's back now.

The fleet (feet) is in. You know that family is here by the pile of coats and shoes. Such a great sight.

We called for Pixie and watched the new church video on Christ's birth. It was a grand time spent with family.

And then it was time for my surprise outing. We left at 2:00 on Saturday. I kept asking where we were going. Curt wouldn't say until he pulled off the freeway and onto State Street. I burst out laughing when he pulled into a small motel that was oh so slightly run down. Curt went in to check on our "reservation." Notice the lovely display of furniture outside the office door. He was doing his best to convince me it was our destination. I wasn't fooled, but I thought it was funny.
Curt gave a nice speech about how it doesn't matter where we go, it only matters who we are with. I agreed and said "then let's go home."

He then said he was off by a few blocks and pulled into this little motel. Once I started noticing, I found there are lots and lots of little motels all down state street. Here's the second one. What is it with the furniture outside?
I wasn't worried about staying in one of these lovely lodgings. I knew that even if Curt wanted to start slumming, I had keys to the car, and I wasn't staying.

We continued our way up the street, and I could see the Grand America. I've always wanted to stay there, but didn't think this would be the weekend. Just as we were about to drive past the hotel, Curt pulled into the parking lot! Yeah! This was turning into a Grand adventure.

After being personally escorted to our room by a member of the hotel staff, we were able to enjoy our executive suite. Here is the view from our balcony.
The courtyard below.
Our sitting area.
White marble bathroom.
Can you see why this is a 5 star hotel?
The lobby was decorated for Christmas. The hotel mascot, a penguin, even had a holiday home created for him out of gingerbread and candy.


There were 18 panels throughout the lobby and hallways that told a Christmas story. At each panel, you had to find a star and mark it's location on a card. At the end, you could take your filled-out card to a pastry shop and get a cookie. You didn't have to stay at the hotel to participate. It was the hotel's gift to the community. The last panel in the story talked about the star that shone at Christ's birth. I found it impressive for a business to so readily reference Christ.

I saw two of my middle school students on this outing. Being in middle school, you can imagine how thrilled they were to see their math teacher! Kids that will say "hi" to you in the halls look shocked and repulsed to see you anywhere outside of school. So hilarious.

Every table in the expansive lobby had decorations and trees were everywhere.

We had dinner in the hotel restaurant, Garden Cafe. The food was artfully displayed and oh so delicious.


We then went to the Gateway to look at gingerbread houses. This was one of my favorites.
A walk through Temple Square to see the lights rounded out the evening.
When we returned, our bed had been turned down and chocolates and slippers were left on the tray. The lights were turned down low and soft relaxing music was playing in the background.
The next morning we got dressed for church and left for home. Our 24 hour getaway was the perfect break from the Christmas rush. The Grand America lives up to it's name and is GRAND! We think this should be a yearly tradition!
For more pictures and a better description of the hotel click here to read Pioneer Woman's blog. On second thought, once a year is not enough. Maybe this should be a twice-a-year outing. Or we can just pack up and live here for a few weeks until our money runs out and we have to live in one of those "quaint" motels on State Street. It could just be worth it.

Something's Phishy

It's good to be a cat.

Susquehanna River

In a few years this priesthood restoration site will be totally different. The road pictured in the background will be moved so that visitors will be able to safely walk from the reconstructed Joseph and Emma home to the reconstructed home of Emma's parents. This site will have a different feel, but somehow, I'm glad we were able to see it before all of the changes. Our family had the place to ourselves and it was a beautiful, peaceful evening to visit.

Curt and Kevin by the monument commemorating the restoration of the priesthood.
Joseph and Emma's first child.
Headstones for Emma's parents.

The Susquehanna River, muddy but still pretty.

Access to the river is gained by going over some railroad tracks. Just as we were leaving to drive closer to the river, a member of the church (a rarity in those parts) pulled up in his truck. He told us stories of how the access to the river had been closed by the railroad for a while, but through a series of miracles the way was opened again. He was very helpful in making sure we followed the right road to find the path to the river.

The trees and bushes were so dense in that area, I finally understood how Joseph could have angelic visitors and receive the priesthood and still be secluded from neighbors. Not that there were a lot of neighbors, and I know that the spirit wouldn't let people near who weren't supposed to be there. But being there helped me more easily visualize the things that took place. A spirit accompanies sites where great things happened, and it's wonderful to be able to actually go to those places.

Little Red School Desk

At the beginning of the summer, I went to Desert Industries. I used to hate D.I., but now I've become my mother and I like looking around. Who knows what treasures lurk amongst the junk? This particular day I found a cute, antique school desk very similar to this one (I never got a "before" picture of mine):

It was rusty and dusty and had spider webs under the legs. I loved it! The seat swivels and the desk top opens. Best of all it was only $8.00, and I knew at the very least I could sell it online for way more than that. My plan was to strip the finish and repaint the metal. No, I'd never done anything like that before, but I figured I had the entire summer to figure it out. If not this summer, then the next one or the next; you know how these things go. Fortunately, the very next day my mom and dad came to visit. My dad looked at the desk and asked if he could take it and refinish it for me. Yeah! I was secretly hoping he would want to take it on as a project. He loaded it into his truck and a few months later it came back looking like this:

Beautiful! He took everything apart, refinished the wood, sanded the metal (it was way more rusty than I thought) and repainted. He also did a few other repairs that I hadn't noticed needed to be done. Someday, when various children move out of my house, I will have room for an office, and my future grandbabies will have a place to write and draw. Meanwhile, it looks cute downstairs by the playroom. Thanks Dad!

Hoboken Baby!

We are Carlos Bake Shop fans. Cake Boss has been one of the girls' favorite shows. When they heard we were going to New York, Erin immediately shouted, "We can go to Cake Boss!" Much joyous jumping and screaming then ensued. I tried to remind them that the true purpose of the entire trip was to see the Sacred Grove, but it was lost in the moment.

Here we are in the van driving to Hoboken.

Finally, Carlo's Bake Shop is in sight.
When we got there, we were thrilled to see a relatively short line in front of the bakery. Had we come early enough to avoid a long wait? Did we hit the lucky day? No and no. As we approached the people at the end of the short line to ask if it truly was the end, we were told that the long line we'd noticed across the street, the one we'd been hopefully ignoring, was actually the end of the line. No cutting was possible (not that I or the girls would do that, but Curt and Kevin sure would). The long line was where numbers were given out, and without a number, no entrance to the bakery was possible. At least they were organized and the system was fair to everyone. The people at the head of the line had gotten up early to wait before the bakery opened and ended up waiting about 3 hours anyway. No matter what, you get to wait. Luckily, the line is along a Walgreens store (I'm sure that's increased their business) with an overhang that provided shade. There were also a few enterprising street cart vendors selling lunch.

The three younger girls were thrilled to see Buddy's mom enter Walgreens. They followed her inside and peeked around the corners of the aisles at her. Not wanting to be too stalkerish, they then came outside and waited. When she appeared, they stood there with puppy dog eyes and eager faces while she took pictures with a few people. Then she motioned them over for their own picture. She was happy and upbeat and seemed really nice.

Finally after about 2 hours we were ushered across the street and almost inside the store. We were making progress!

After another 30 minutes our number was called and in we went. Buddy's sister, Lisa, was working the counter and graciously thanking people for coming. She was nice to pose for a picture with the girls.
Once inside the crowded store, you can take as long as you want to choose your items. However, there are no price tags on anything, so we just assumed that it was probably double or triple the prices we'd pay at home. I think we were right. We told the kids that we would buy a cake and get everyone a cannoli and they each could choose one other thing. Everything looked so good that it was hard to decide.

The store has family pictures along the walls and a cute mom and pop feel to it.

Four boxes, all tied with red and white string, and $56 later we were out the door.

Cannolis! We had never tried them and were anxious to see if they were as good they looked. They were so delicious! With a creamy, not too sweet middle, and crunchy slightly cinnamon tasting crust that didn't fall apart when bitten, these were worth the wait in line. We regretted not getting more. We ordered the small ones, but should have gotten the LARGE! Kneaders sells them here in Salt Lake, so we need to go and do a little comparison tasting. My mouth drools just looking at the picture! Oh, Cannoli, we love you.

You can't visit Cake Boss without buying a cake. This oreo cake was good (maybe not 3 hours wait in line good, but still good). We saved it for our Sunday dinner in Palmyra; it was gone about 3 minutes after we cut into it.

Piranhas at the feast.

In spite of the three hour wait, we thought the visit was worth it. We had a good time and treats to eat on our long drive to the Susquehanna River.

Family Photos

Every 10 years we get formal family pictures whether we need them or not!