Spring Break!

A few weeks ago was our spring break.  Todd had to teach, so we stuck around here.  We went to a super fun concert at BYU -- Synthesis, the jazz band.  They are terrific.  Then we went up to Salt Lake for a few nights.  We spent time at the Salt Lake Temple, Todd and Abby went to a Blazers v. Jazz game (Blazers won, yea!) and we  had fun at the zoo,  The Cheesecake Factory,  the City Creek Center Mall and and the Gateway Mall fountain.  It was so nice to get away!

McKay has so much fun at the fountains!  He loves to get wet!

Zuri the baby elephant is almost 4 years old!

Springtime on Temple Square

Every year around Easter time, our family goes to Temple Square to enjoy the beautiful flowers and take pictures.  I have a fun history of pictures from nearly every year.  It's special to us because Todd and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple, and we lived a few blocks from there the first few years we were married.  We have loved visiting this beautiful and sacred spot for many years and have many happy memories of life near there.  

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints temples are  sacred to us because we believe that they are God's houses here on earth, and it is there that we make sacred, personal, promises to God.  We believe that because of the sacrifice of the Savior and his resurrection that we will be able to live together forever, and it is in the temple that we are sealed into family units.  Our family is so grateful for this knowledge and for this wonderful time of year that we can reflect upon our Savior.   

Abby takes pictures from unique perspectives.  I love her photos!

Just our little family hanging out on Temple Square.

My parents were with us this year.  Don't they look great?

Another Abby  shot of the temple.

Abby

Todd and his boys.

The doctrine of our faith teaches us that through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, when Alex and McKay are resurrected their bodies will be whole and without blemish.  We adore them just the way they are, but we all look forward to the next life when they will be able to walk and talk with us.  

All That Jazz! (Todd and Chris)

This has been a wonderful week!  We started out with Todd's birthday on Monday... I love to celebrate Todd because he is so awesome!

This is last year because I didn't take any pictures this year.  But he looks pretty much the same.
Once you're grey, well, you're grey.

McKay, Todd and Alex in Seaside, Oregon

Todd's mom and dad came from Oregon to help us celebrate.

Todd's mom and dad -- aren't they cute?  And they are so nice!

We went to the Brick Oven  for dinner and then had cake and ice cream and presents.  It was fun.  Happy Birthday Todd!!

Then on Wednesday, Todd and I and his mom and dad had a real treat... we went to see Chris Botti in concert at Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake.

Chris Botti

He was wonderful!!  We all had a blast!!!  He played a lot of jazz that night as well as several other genres.    The fun thing about his music is that he collaborates with lots of other artists... sometimes they accompany him, and sometimes it seems that he accompanies them.  There's a lot of variety and it's exciting.

For this concert he brought a pianist, violinist, a guitar player, a bass player, a drummer, a keyboard player, and two vocalists.  They were all amazing. They played for two hours with no intermission and it was a joy!  

We all were blown away by what a great entertainer he was.  Besides being one of the best trumpet players on the planet, he was warm and funny and seemed to spend most of the night drawing our attention to the talents of the artists in his band.  He was very humble and really enjoyed just hanging out on stage even when someone else was in the spotlight.  

Our whole family loves to listen to his CDs.  They are easy to love and have a great variety of musical styes.   Our favorites are: 

Impressions

Italia

               

and

Chris Botti in Boston

The special guests on these albums include -- Andrea Bocelli, Sting, Vince Gill, Josh Groban, etc., etc.  I listen to Impressions nearly every day.

Whenever I attend a concert like this, I'm humbled when I consider how many hours of practice it takes before the artists are ready to share their talents with me. I am so grateful.

 Live music gives me so much joy!  It was  fun to share the evening with Todd and his mom and dad!