This post is going to be so unbelievably LOOOOOONG, yet I still won't be able to give all the detail I feel is appropriate. Words cannot begin to express how much I love this trip with my family. The last time I made the trip was with my mom in 2008....so its been a three year dry spell for me. In total, I think I have made the trip to Women's Conference five times since 2003. But this was the first time my sister Sarah joined the crew, so this was all very fun and exciting.
As an extra BONUS my dad offered to pay for the conference tickets, airfare, hotel and rental car for all five of us to attend conference. My dad is absolutely such a blessing to me and my family and I am thankful he made it possible for all to attend together. It was very special!
Wednesday morning I woke up at 3:15am so I could leave the house by 4am. I needed to be at the airport bus station downtown by 4:30am to take the 5am shuttle to LAX. EARLY morning. I get my seat on the bus and of course I had to sit behind this mom and her teenage daughter who argued about money for the first 30 minutes of the trip....loudly. I wasn't having a great start to this spiritual trip of mine....since I wanted to tell them a few not so nice things at 5am.
I get to the airport and through security pretty quick but my flight doesn't leave until 11:35am. So, I sit and read....and people watch. I do believe that is the best part of being in the airport. Watching all of the strange people and wondering where they are headed. The flight is less than two hours and I wait another hour in the SLC airport for my mom, sister-in-law and two older sisters to arrive from Sacramento. Everything is cheap at this airport compared to LAX and I am loving it. They are also very quick. By the time I got to the baggage claim everyone was gone and my bag was practically the last one on it. Sweet!
Our first stop after the airport was Temple Square. We went to he newly expanded Deseret Book, did a little shopping....took a few crazy pictures. (In typical Baer fashion!)
We met some nice sister missionaries from all over the world in Temple Square. We went on a tour of the Beehive House and met a missionary from Pakistan---pretty neat to hear her story.
Dinner at the Lionhouse Pantry. We have never eaten here before and its cafeteria style...so we could grab as much food as we could fit on our trays. Delicious!
After we make the 30 minute drive to the motel in American Fork we settle into our rooms. Then we exchanged trinkets we bought each other. I brought pens, and others brought leather bound journals, home made notepads, lipglosses, mints and good smelling glitter cologne from Victoria's Secret, and bookmarks.
Lindsay painted nails and we called it a night!! Thank goodness because by 10:30pm I was ready to pass out.
Conference-Day 1:
Thursday morning our goal is to leave the motel by 7:30am....thinking that would give us plenty of time to get a good parking space at BYU. We were gravely mistaken. The beautiful thing is the motel we stayed at offers a hot breakfast every morning for free so we at least were nice and full before we hit traffic in Provo. Needless to say, out goal for Friday will be to leave a little earlier!
As I make it to the Marriott Center within minutes of conference beginning I hear something calling me from the concession stand. Its a mint brownie...and we have quite a history together...which is why I couldn't resist snagging it and stuffing it in my backpack for later.
Waiting for class to start....
Day one of conference was fabulous! The classes we chose were very uplifting, encouraging and gave me a lot to ponder/pray about. The walking, on the other hand, was another story. The classes are such a long walk and everywhere we turned there were women...10,000+ women! :) Lines everywhere...and it was tiring. By the time we called it a day, we actually got a little lost on the uphill mile hike back to the car. Thankfully, we participated in the service projects on campus first to put us inthe right spirit! We helped box up the hygiene kits after they were assembled/packaged.
Dinner had to be at the Cracker Barrel in Springville. It was about a 10 minute drive from Provo, but it was soooo worth it. It was the first time Lindsay, Sarah or Jody have eaten at one, so it was fun. Our waitress, Joan, brought out a few servings of grits and warm maple syrup for us to try.... said it tasted like candy. She was right.
Chicken fried chicken! MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm.
Conference- Day 2:
We managed to leave the motel 30 minutes earlier and we got a SWEEEEEET parking spot, with minimal traffic. It started the day off just right.
Lindsay braided my hair for me while we waited for the opening session of conference. I loved it since I never do anything creative like this for myself.
A bigger difference today was the weather. Yesterday the weather was so nice I didn't even bring a jacket. Today, it was forecasted to snow...and it did right before the last session of the day. Crazy...since back in California my kids were swimming.
Conference wrapped up at 5pm after Elder Bednar and his wife spoke. Conference is only two days--which in some ways is enough and in others, I wish I could get another day or two.
Traffic leaving campus is terrible, as expected, and the freeway traffic makes me want to scream. We decided to make the 10 minute drive back to the motel to drop off Sarah and Jody so the rest of us could do a little shopping at the Provo University. After all was said and done we got a little over an hour of shopping in by the time we ate since the mall closed at 9pm. Bummer!
Saturday:
We thought we'd be able to sleep in a little bit compared to the last few days.
We bought $20 "Groupons" a few months ago for manicure/pedicures at a salon in Salt Lake City and our appointments begain at 10am. So, we needed to leave the hotel by 9:15am to make it in time.
Our mini-van:
After two hours of scrubbing, buffing and polishing....
We headed to lunch at Cafe Rio...which was a hit. Thankfully they had the daily special, Cancun Shrimp tacoes. Muy Bueno!
After lunch we headed to Temple Square to do sight seeing! A lot of fun...as expected. We even squeezed in the updated version of the Joseph Smith movie in the Joseph Smith Building. It just recently came out and has added footage from the original version. It is now told from the perspective of Joseph's mom and we really LOVED it. It was a great way to spend an hour in the afternoon.
Singing our hearts out in the Assembly Hall in Temple Square:
The Tabernacle-
Visiting my friend Brigham at the Visitor's Center:
In the bookstore at the museum:
Another late night! After Temple Square we got lost trying to find a store (using Google Maps)where Lindsay could shop for a temple dress. We found her the perfect one that is beautiful for her first trip to the temple in a few weeks. Then we headed to the "Gateway" near Temple Square to find some nail polish and eat. We gave mom her Mother's Day gift yesterday and she found a bracelet and charms at the Brighton store. Perfect!
By the time we left SLC around 9:30pm, we drug ourselves into our motel around 10:15pm..... EXHAUSTED! You might imagine a trip away from our kids would enable us to get more sleep, but not this one. My body was achy from sleeping in a strange bed and not getting enough rest. I guess that means it's time to head home!
Sunday:
Alarm goes off at 4:45am. We need to leave the motel by 6am so we can get to the airport by 7am. My flight leaves at 9:40am but the girls need to be there earlier since they depart at 8:30am. Thankfully we are departing from the same terminal. What are the odds?!
While we wait we take more pictures (of course) and give hugs. Can't believe the trip is over!
Thankfully the flight was quick and I didn't have to take the airport bus back to town. Luke and the kids picked me up at the aiport. I couldn't wait to see their faces and give them kisses!! They all looked so good.
They were happy to see me! I missed my family sooooooo much!
Being so close we had to stop by Sprinkles on the way home and we ate lunch in Valencia at Claim Jumper's.
Thank you pops for making this 5 day getaway to Utah to possible! Thank you Mom, Jody, Sarah, and Lindsay for a wonderful trip. I love you all very much!
And I have to tell my husband how blessed I am for how well he took care of the kids and balanced everything in my absence. You are a great blessing to me!
