Utah: Part 2

 Matthew and I finished filming the conclusion for the YouTube video on Sarah's table while Grandpa took Hyrum to the pickleball courts. Matthew, Abraham, and I walked over to join them, but unfortunately our cheapo paddles broke after hardly any use, so they weren't able to play for long, much to Hyrum's dismay. We packed up and bid Sarah and Austin farewell after breakfast, then headed back South for phase two of our vacation.

Once back in SLC, we spent several hours at Temple Square. The Salt Lake Temple and it's grounds are undergoing some major renovations and it was pretty neat to see the temple dug up to its foundation. With pretty much everything under construction, there wasn't much else to do there, but we had a quest. The Bishop's daughter, Kaitlyn, is serving her mission there and we put quite a lot of effort into trying to find her. The sisters aren't allowed to tell where a specific missionary is at any given time, so we had to just hope we'd run into her. 

After making a very diligent attempt, we were unsuccessful, so we abandoned our quest and drove a few blocks down town to a random little plot called Gilgal Garden where we ate our sack lunches. Grandma, Grandpa, and Hyrum headed back to West Jordan, but Mercy and Abraham were very disappointed that we hadn't found Kaitlyn, so Matthew and I agreed to go back and try one more time. We were once again unsuccessful, but no one can say we didn't try! Back at Grandma and Grandpa's house, we watched Willow, which is one of Hyrum's favorite traditions, and had pastrami and sour kraut runzits for dinner.

Sunday happened to be stake conference, and they were broadcasting it, so we were able to listen in from the comfort of Grandma's family room. We spent the afternoon playing board games and napping, which was a much needed break from all the activities and projects and adventures of the previous couple of weeks. 

Derrick and his girlfriend, along with Wes and Carla came over for dinner. Hannah's parents bought an Australian shepherd puppy from someone up in Utah and asked if we'd be willing to transport it from SLC back to NM. We agreed, so on Sunday evening Hannah's brother dropped off Dolly. We all instantly fell in love with her.

 The kids offered to sleep outside next to her crate so she wouldn't be lonely. Unfortunately, the sprinklers didn't get turned off where they were sleeping, so we were all woken up in the middle of the night by soaking wet children and soggy little dog. It was a very exciting way to end our adventures in Utah.