Traveling Back to Utah

For the return trip to Utah from New Jersey we decided it would be best to go "kid-free".  The girls flew back to Chicago to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Butler.  Jeff and I decided it would be great to do a temple tour since we had a really hard time getting to the Manhattan temple over the summer.  Our plans were to visit the Manhattan temple, Detroit temple, Chicago temple, Nauvoo temple, Winter Quarters temple, and the Denver temple.  Our plans didn't exactly work out, but we were still able to visit many temples.

We missed the Manhattan temple because we had some troubles getting the girls on a flight.  So we decided to leave a day earlier and go to Detroit Monday night.  We stayed with Ryan and Christine, Jeff's cousin and one of my former roommates.  It was so fun to see them and to see their little girls; they are so close in age to our girls.

We planned on visiting the Detroit temple on Tuesday morning, but it doesn't open until 6pm...so we had to move on. 

Our next stop was Chicago.  It was really fun to see our girls and we also celebrated my birthday on Wednesday.  Jeff and I went on a 13 mile bike ride through a forest preserve and then got slurpees.  I got a new sewing machine for my b-day which I was really excited about.  Here's me blowing out my 24 candles - I turned 24 (again) in case you were wondering.

We did make it to the Chicago temple and it was great to be there with Jeff's parents and Steve, since Steve'll be on his mission soon (to Colorado Springs).

Then we drove to Nauvoo and did a session and then pressed on to Omaha, NE for the night.  In the morning we went to the Winter Quarters temple which was very beautiful.  The cemetery nearby was also very moving.  You can just sense the hardship and sadness the saints felt there.

The next day we went to Denver and spent some time with my folks.  On Saturday we went to the Denver temple.  My parents are temple workers there, now that all the kids are out of the house.  My dad was worried we would be in the session he might be officiating in (he's not too confident since he's new at it).  Jeff and I got there and my Mom and Dad were both in the session we attended.  Coincidence?  I think not!  Afterwards we went to see the movie Inception (which was awesome) and ate homemade chile rellenos which are my favorite.  Sunday was my 10-year high school reunion.  It was a little weird to see people, but it was really good at the same time.  My choir teacher, Mr. Andres, was there and I got caught up with my best friend, Stephanie, and another LDS friend, Aaron Hancey.  It was good to see other people that were in Blue, the showchoir, with me.  Sunday night we left and drove to Grand Junction, CO to give us a head start.

Monday morning we arrived back in Provo and started unpacking.  It felt so good to be back!