Salt Lake

so we have finlly made the trip to the Salt Lake temple that we have been promising Jamie. I have to say that it was a wonderful trip. With in hours of ariving in Salt lak bnoth Michael and I were suffering from allergies and all stuffed up. It was odd how quickly it hits us. FOr myslef it wasen't bad, but poor little Michael couldn't understand why he couldn't breath from his nose. he seemed fine during the day but as soon as I would lay him down for the night he would start crying and coughing. Needless to say I got very little sleep the entire week we were there.
Some of the good moments that we had were the Hogel Zoo, Discovery Museum, and of course temple square.
Hogel Zoo was one for the places that we had looked up before leaving on our trip. When I thought of a zoo in Salt Lake I was thinking of something small with local animals. When we got there the first thing Jamie found was a peacock. Her first thought/action was to chase the poor thing all around the the common area. Seeing as we didn't have much time before the zoo closed we just picked a path and walked. Boy did we pick the right path! we got to see a snow leopard and her cub sleeping together. I thought we were blessed to see that but then the next encloser was a mother tiger and her 3 nursing cubs. They were so cute. at first they were sleeping and not doing much but after a bit the 3 cubs and their mother began to play with each other. it was lot of fun to watch. we went on to see some birds but most of the exhibits were closed for winter. Then we came to the giraffes. I have to tell you that these things have no fear.one came right up to us. we even got to feed it some leaves! To say the least the zoo far surpassed my expectations.
Next on our list of things to do was temple square. At first the temple seemed smaller then I expected. Not until we were at the doors did it look like the photos we have all seen. The weather that day was sunny but cold. I had Michael in a bunting but the wind was still blowing in his face so we had the Sister missionaries take us in the visitors museum and give us a tour. There were lots of photos that Jamie knows well. It was so nice to get to see these pictures that we know from copies in real life. They were amazing! i wish that I could have them in my home to enjoy everyday.Jamie enjoyed talking to the Sisters and showing off, even though she acted shy for the first part. at the end of the tour we saw the Christus. Jamie called it "Jesus in the sky". Mom just thought that was the cutest thing. We had hoped to look around more but the kids were getting sleepy and it was too cold to be outside so that ended our temple square viewing. We did go back later with a tour but I'll tell more about that some other time.
On the last day of our trip we took Jamie to the Discovery museum. there were so many things for her to play with and do we could have spent the whole trip there and she still would want more. She got to go in a helicopter and "flight" it. There was a water section, and what kid doesn't like to play in water. Even Michael enjoyed splashing in the water. but sadly our timing was not the best. Due to Michael not getting good sleep at night he was in need of more naps through out the day, and it was nap time so we had to leave early.
All in all we had a wonderful trip and more or less stress free.I hope to go back some time soon and go more in depth on somethings. I hope that next time Jason can come with us , I know that there are many things that he would enjoy as well. So I will end this here and post a few photos take on the trip.
lots of love ---Melissa, Jamie and Michael