Utah trip day 8...

Friday was another fun-filled day!  It started out with my brother arranging for me to meet his good friend and author, Jason Wright!  He is the author of "Christmas Jars," "The Wednesday Letters," "The Seventeen Second Miracle," "Recovering Charles," (one of my favorites) and others...he is a good author!  Anyway, he just happened to be in town the weekend we were there and he agreed to meet me!  What a nice guy...Eric had joined him and another friend for breakfast and then they drove over to our hotel for a "meet and greet."  It was very fun to chat with him for a few minutes and of course to take a picture!  I would have brought a couple of my books for him to sign had I known I would actually get to meet him! 

 Jason, my brother Eric, and Funk...very funny people!  It was a fun way to start the day!  Thanks Jason for taking time out of our busy schedule for us (he was on his way to Pocatello for a TimeOut for Women) and thanks Eric for twisting his arm to greet a fan.

 Jason and Funk headed to Idaho, Eric headed to work, and us McKinneys headed to Temple Square!  It wasn't far from our hotel at all...

 It is always so special to be on Temple Square, to see the sights and visit the different "tourist attractions" and just feel the spirit of being in such a special place. But one of the things we never seem to have time to go to is the Museum of Church History and Art.  So we decided to go there FIRST.  I am so glad we did!

 It is a huge building (3 stories) full of artifacts from church history and a lot of beautiful art...we enjoyed our time in there...

 We took a ton of pictures, but here are a few of my favorites...the death masks of Joseph and Hyrum Smith...there is such a spirit there as you read about the martrydom and to be able to see what their faces looked like is just an indescribable experience...

 John Taylor's pocketwatch which took a hit and saved his life...and also his cane...and the letter he wrote telling of the deaths of Joseph and Hyrum...very humbling to be able to view these items...again, indescribable...

 This trunk was Brigham Young's and even though you can't tell very well, his initials are on the top of it made with some kind of nails or studs...the grooming kit next to it belonged to Willard Richards...I love seeing "old" things from history...I REALLY ENJOYED our visit at the museum...can't express that enough...

 Joel stood behind the podium, modeled after the one in the conference center...he practiced his talk for the next general conference...

 They had a very cute area for kids to play, dress up, and do all kinds of hands on activities...Joel is on Nephi's ship...he was nice enough to model for me...

 Then there was the art...a large quilt display was upstairs, there were also sculptures and all kinds of paintings...this is a new Greg Olsen painting and I LOVE IT...the Savior sitting on the stairs with a modern day young woman...love his artwork!

 This is a beautiful stained glass 3-panel picture of the first vision...huge...and lovely...

 I took a lot more pictures, but will stop here for now...next we went to temple square just to walk around a bit, feel the spirit, and take pictures.  It is always such a pleasure to be on the grounds and see all the beauty...We of course talked to some sister missionaries and enjoyed that to...they told us that their goal for conference weekend was to get 6000 referrals...and they reached their goal!  Impressive!

 While we talked to the missionaries, Dave took a few more pictures....

 Such magnificent structures...and built by pioneers without power tools!  Always so amazing to me...

 Assembly hall...

Joel, me and Dave...enjoying the beautiful weather and beautiful temple square!  We bought some lunch on the way back to Eric's house...where we had even more fun stuff to do...that will be the next post...stay tuned!

Utah trip day 7...

Thursday was a busy day...First we went the cemetery.  It was covered in flowers and flags!  It was a beautiful sight! 

Of course it was after memorial day so my cousin Joni had already placed pots of flowers and Eric and Randa had gone on Monday and placed more flowers.  But I had to add some of my own since I don't get up there very often.  Eric had polished up the headstones nicely...

 Dad and Mom...

 My sister Lori...A very beautiful setting... I wish I lived closer and could place flowers more often.  I appreciate my cousin Joni always putting flowers out on holidays and anniversaries. 

Next up was a trip to...can you guess?  Deseret Industries!  I can't believe I didn't take a picture of it!! Randa and the kids met us there and we had fun shopping. I found a great lot of books!  And a few books for Kai and Makayela (Kai was at school, but Makayela picked one out for him) then I let her pick out a toy.  She bought a 50 cent "puppy" and we really got our money's worth with it!  She carried it around the rest of the time we were in Utah!  Loved my stop at DI and the cemetery.  Those were my two "have to dos" in Salt Lake and I got them done in one morning!   We met Eric for lunch at his work...then, it just happened that my Aunt was flying in to Salt Lake and needed a ride to Provo...since we were there, we volunteered to do it!  I got to see another one of my mom's sister!!!  Aunt Adona arrived right on time, but the waiting boards outside the airport said her flight was delayed...so we just kept waiting.  After about 20 minutes I called the 800 number for her airline and it said she had arrived 20 minutes ago!!  I rushed in to find her and she was standing off to the side with her luggage, trying to decide who she should call!  I felt so bad that I hadn't been there to greet her off the plane!  She was fine and we loaded up her luggage and headed for Provo.  Never imagined I get a Provo stop on this trip!  It worked out great!  And I was so happy to see another auntie.  Aunt Lew and Curtis had come up to Provo earlier in the day for a dr. appt. and said they would meet us at University Mall in front of Macy's. 

 Aunt Adona and Aunt Lew...in front of the mall...very appropo for two sisters who LOVE to shop!  Auntie Adona went to Torrey for her visit and to be there for the Brown reunion.

 Couldn't believe we were at the Y!!  We HAD to shop at the BYU Bookstore.  LOVE that place!  Joel got his CTR ring (the IOU from his birthday from me), I got some cards and a CTR tie and tie tack for Kai's baptism, and of course basketball shorts for Joel and a T-shirt to take back to Clif. 

 They are building FOUR new dorms where they tore down U Hall (that's where Amanda stayed her freshman year!)...it was amazing to see what they were building...

 And then we HAD to stop at the Creamery because Randa needed salad dressing. But we needed ICE CREAM!! The lines were crazy long so we just bought an ice cream sandwich and the dressing and got out of there quickly...Back to Salt Lake...because Kai has a ball game!!

 Kai at bat.  They have a pitching machine and those kids do pretty good!

 Kai running the bases!  Notice he has a jacket on...I did too!  It was a little chilly that evening!

 Eric is the coach...I love this picture...he is "coaching" and not one kid is listening...but the other men are paying close attention...

 Most of them were more interested in playing in the dirt...not sure what Kai was interested in...anyway, it was a fun game to watch...

 Kai does pay attention when he's at bat and on base...he is a good little ball player!  Reminds me of his dad when he was little...

Carson likes to wear the batting hat and ride the skateboard...he is a safety conscious kid!  That was our busy Thursday!  Can't believe there are only two days left of this wonderful, memorable, vacation!

Utah trip day 6...

Wednesday morning, June 1st, we said our goodbyes to Torrey, Bicknell, and Loa.  It was wonderful being in Wayne County with my mom's sisters and to drive around her old stomping grounds.  We loved every minute (except for the wind!) and are so appreciative of our hosts...Aunt Lew and Curtis...thank you! Thank you!  Thank you!  You guys are the best!

After saying goodbye in Torrey, we drove through Bicknell and on to Loa, to say goodbye to Aunt Bev.  She had 3 books that I have sent her over the past year or so, (we share a LOVE OF BOOKS!) and she wanted me to sign them.  So we had a little book signing before we said goodbye.  I now know not to send her a book unless I write in it first!  Aunt Bev also knew we were on our way to Manti, and she told us her sister-in-law works at the Manti temple and told us to be sure and ask at the rental counter for someone to take us to see the spiral staircase!  She made us assure her that we would ask and be sure to see it!   

 We were soon on our way to the beautiful Manti temple!  This was one of the most exciting parts of my trip.  I have never been to this temple.  It is where my parents were married, also both of my grandparents, and probably other ancestors too, I just don't know.  It is a BEAUTIFUL temple.  Really, they are ALL beautiful, but this one was just amazing to me...so ornate and intricate craftmanship...from the ceilings, to the chandeliers, to the paintings and furnishings, even down to the gold door hinges...ORNATE is an understatement.  Everything was in pink/rose tones and blue.  Very lovely.  They do "live" sessions there, meaning the workers say all the lines and parts, there is no movie.  You also move from room to room, all with big beautiful murals.  It was a wonderful experience and I just felt it was such an honor and privilege to be there that day.  I tried to imagine my parents as young newlyweds attending this temple...the 3rd operating temple in Utah...

The Manti temple sits up on a hill and we tried to get some good pictures of it. 

There were many wires and speaker mounts, and other things in the way as they are preparing for their summer "Mormon Miracle" pageant.  But we got a few good ones...

 After the session, we actually ran into my Aunt Bev's sister-in-law, introduced ourselves, and before we even had a chance to ask, one of the men asked us if we'd like to see the spiral staircase!  YES!  We went with another lady who let us look up into the staircase and gave us a little history of it.  It is a wonderful sight to see.  If you ever get the chance to go to this temple, ask to see it!  There are two of them, one in each tower (which is the part of the temple on each side of the tall steeple-like part) and as you are looking up at the one, you can look across a waiting room and see the other one on the other side.  For more info on this temple and its architectural history, go here.

 Afterwards, we went down to the cafeteria and had us a late lunch.  Then we were on the road again to Salt Lake.  What a wonderful, beautiful, spiritual morning we had in Manti.  I hope we can go there again sometime. 

 We could not believe the snow still on the mountains!  It is JUNE!  Everything looked pretty and green though.  I am sure there is danger and worry of flooding having so much snow at this time of year.  We arrived in West Valley City and checked into our hotel.

 This is our modest room...no special "comforts" just a typical hotel room I think. 

 Queen beds...

 and the old fashioned A/C you adjust manually as you see fit.  We never  really used it.  The weather was quite nice the whole time we were there.

 There was an ironing board and coffee maker, but no fridge or microwave.  I still vote for Comfort Inn next time we travel.  This was Country Inn Suites and they had a sweet rate for 3 or more days stay, we stayed four days so we got our money's worth...

 After unloading and changing our clothes, we drove on over to Eric and Randa's place, just a few miles from our hotel!  We were happy to see Joel!  I think he was happy that he would have a bed to sleep in that night.  :)  He slept on Eric and Randa's couch...and he never complained, he is a boy scout after all...and Eric helped him make this little bottle cooker...for campouts!  They made it out of a mountain dew bottle and it is really cool! 

 Joel will have to tell you how it's made and how it works, but they did a demonstration and it put out quite the heat!  Perfect portable, lightweight camp stove!  I'm sure it will come in handy when he goes hiking this summer...

We gave all our gifts to them and just visited for awhile.  It is fun to be with family!  Wednesday was just a lovely day.  I don't know what more I could say!

Utah trip day five...

Tuesday, guess who came through town?  Dr. Bob and Janeen!  They were taking Collin up to the MTC for his mission to Oklahoma!  Janeen is Aunt Lew's daughter and one of my favorite cousins!  Bob was sleeping and we didn't get his pic.  Collin is so tall!  It was fun visiting with them for a bit.  They live in Kingman, AZ and we don't get to see them much.   Pizza was ordered for lunch and then they had to hit the road. 

 Aunt Bev had come back and we finally got to sit down and do what I came to do!  Work on life histories of my Grandpa and Grandma Brown!  I need these Aunties to give me lots of input because they are the ones to remember it all...my grandparents had each started a life story, but they didn't give a lot of detail and it finished when they were in their 50's.  So there is a lot more to add!  I am going to give it my best shot, so I was there to glean all the information out of them that I could!  They obliged.  And now they are expecting a miracle from me.  Uh oh, what have I gotten myself into!?  But really, I am very excited to work on this project. 

 Auntie Lew, Me, and Auntie Bev...

 Dave and I...in front of the Stephenson-Cook bed and breakfast...It was actually not very windy this day!!

 This is the view out of their front picture window. With the zoom on...Beautiful!!

 Same view from the porch, without the zoom....Wayne County is beautiful country!

 And here is what Dave did while we visited, scanned pictures, and took notes on family history...Smallville Marathon!  He was content...don't let his somber look fool you...

My aunts gave me a very nice gift...a watch with changeable bands!  They brought a selection of watches and bands for me to pick from (something you can do in small towns where you know the store owner/crafter personally!) and this is what I picked.  I love my new pink/black watch!  They are thanking me for working on the histories, but it is I who should be thanking them for all their priceless help, as well as the meals, the  place to stay, and letting us come and just hang out for so long with them!  It was a very memorable few days!  

Utah trip day four...Memorial Day.

Memorial day was a pretty relaxing day.  Auntie Bev came over from Loa and we had a real nice Barbecue.  Auntie Lew and Curtis can cook up some darn good chicken!  I need to get her marinade recipe...very delicious!  And only 3 ingredients, but I can't remember what they were!  There was so much food!  A truly wonderful meal! 

Auntie Bev and Auntie Lew ~ two of Mom's sisters.  Since I can't be with my mom, it is the next best thing to be in her beloved Wayne County with some of her sisters! 

Auntie Lew and Curtis Cook...our cook! 

 Uncle Valoy and Aunt Elaine were there too...and he is getting after me for taking his picture! 

 And proof positive we were really there...me and Dave...enjoying this wonderful meal!  Everyone left after lunch so Auntie Lew went with us on a drive to point out some houses I have been wondering about...

 This house I know about!  It was my Grandpa and Grandma Brown's in Bicknell.  Aunt Lew owns it and remodeled it so it looks quite different now, but I would know it anywhere.  After Uncle Jim passed away, she later married Curtis and moved to his home in Torrey.  Most of her things are still in the Bicknell house and her kids and grandkids stay in it when they come to town.  We had fun walking through it...and even though it is a lot different now, I still see it as it was when I was a child and my grandparents lived there.  Like it was yesterday.  Is that weird?  I can still just visualize it so well...

 This is on the outskirts of town.  It was the Grist Mill...Aunt Lew says someone in the family bought it, and it is still in the family (Ellet extended family that I obviously don't know).  There is a house back behind it and some other cabins and she said it had been turned into a boys' ranch at one time. 

 But here is one of the two places I have been wondering about...Mom refers to the "ranch" in her life story...and we know the Ellett's lived somewhere in Bicknell at the ranch.  I don't know why no one has ever pointed it out before, in all these years...but I ASKED.  It isn't far out of town and we drove down by it...some Ellett's still live there.

 You can see how old the buildings are...

 And this is the house.  The "ranch" is located by what they call the Bicknell Bottoms.  My aunt wasn't sure why they call it that, maybe it's the bottom of town?  Anyway, it was fun to see it's location and imagine my grandma riding her horse to town from here...and also to imagine my mom as a little girl visiting her grandparents here.  I have a lot of imagination for the past, if you can't tell...

 This is the second house I wanted to know about...It is the first house as you come into Bicknell from Loa.  I never knew!!  This is where my Farnsworth grandparents lived when my dad came home from Korea and met my mom (who lived just down the street a ways and was a senior in high school..).  Why have I never been told this was their house, or have it shown to me in all these years???  Well, my aunt knew which one it was and so we drove by and took pictures!  Here are some more shots from the front and other side...

 It is a cute little house.  I am so happy to now know where it is.  We also took pictures of the old church which now houses the school board offices or something.  And some other old buildings that are of interest to no one but me.  It was fun driving around Bicknell and remembering my times coming to visit over the years...I am happy to now know two more places where my parents and grandparents have been...it was a wonderful day.