our weekend in Salt Lake City

Get ready for a novel of epic proportions on this one. I won't blame you one bit if you decide to skip over the story and go straight to the pictures. They might tell a happier tale but I still needed to document it for personal reasons, because it is part of our story. And it ends happily, I promise. :)

Here we are again, a bittersweet Sunday. We just pulled into the driveway this afternoon from a weekend spent in Salt Lake City. I've spent the last month or so thinking about taking Liam to Salt Lake City during Christmas time. There is truly nothing more incredible than Temple Square lit up at night time. After witnessing Liam's reactions to the lights on peoples' homes just in our neighborhood, it convinced me even more that we should go. So we planned this weekend ... booked a hotel room and got excited about the thought of Christmas shopping in a big city, a trip to Ikea, walking around Temple Square, and a fun night splashing in the hotel hot tub. Well, this weekend is proof that things don't always go as planned.

We left Saturday morning and drove right into a torrential rain storm. It was difficult to see much more than 10 feet or so ahead of us as the rain continued to pound on the windshield but we were excited about our weekend plans and remained optimistic. About the time we hit Malad pass and we felt our wheels slide even the slightest bit, we took the rest of the drive slowly. Between the constant pounding rain giving us an equally pounding headache, a restless toddler in the back seat, a crack to our windshield from a semi truck's flying rock (DARN IT!), and a drive that took closer to three hours when it should have been two, it didn't start off on the best foot.

When we finally made it to Draper we were all starving and had plans to stop at Quiznos for lunch, we discovered it was closed down. We scavenged my bag of snacks for a couple of cliff bars to tied us over and headed into Ikea for a few of Liam's Christmas gifts. It had been a little less than a year and a half since the last time we'd been there so we spent most of the time reminiscing about our last visit with a tiny little Liam who I had to nurse in the car! While Nic paid, I took Liam to an area where he got to drive. ;)

After Ikea we found a place to eat and were in better spirits. The day seemed to be turning around! We had an hour to kill before we could check into our hotel at 3. Liam was growing restless from all of the car travel and hadn't had a nap yet so we stopped into a Target for him to stretch his legs, keep him preoccupied before we could give him a nap in the hotel, and finish a bit more Christmas shopping. We rolled out of there just after 3 and still at a 20 minute drive to get back to Salt Lake where our hotel was (parenting fail #1) so Liam was losing it in the car. 5 minutes of crying/driving, 10 minutes of crying/driving, 15 minutes of crying/driving, just when we were about to lose it and were only 5 minutes away from the hotel, he fell right to sleep. It was one of those moments where part of you hears the hallelujah chorus in the background (he FINALLY stopped screaming!) but the other part of you is screaming NOOOO (you know there is a good chance once you get him to the hotel that he won't nap anymore)!

My knight in shining armor checked us in, carried in all of our luggage in the middle of the rain storm, got Liam's pack n' play set up, and held an umbrella over our heads as I carried a groggy Liam into the hotel. The elevator naturally woke him right up (so many fun buttons, lights, and sounds!) but thankfully he was able to be rocked back to sleep and got a little bit more of a nap in before the evening.

Our biggest plans for the evening were to go see the Temple lights but the rain still hadn't let up, not even a little bit, so we thought if we went to the City Creek Mall (covered) across the street and had dinner first it might give the rain time to settle down. When we walked into the mall food court we were immediately corralled into a room packed like sardines. The line to get food wrapped double the length of the ordering counter and there we found ourselves, inching along at the pace of a snail. If you've ever waited in line with a hungry and very wiggly two year old you know what a good time that is (parenting fail #2)!! We breathed a sigh of relief when we made it through the line. Little did we know, our troubles were just beginning. There was absolutely nowhere in sight to sit. We walked and walked and walked around and saw people SITTING ON THE FLOOR eating because there wasn't any room left. The frustrating part, most people who did have a table weren't even eating. They knew what a rare gem they had (a dry place out of the rain to relax) and didn't want to to give it up. So frustrating to see though when you are the one at the moment with an angry toddler who just needs a place to sit and feed their child dinner. A lady stood up from a counter stool and we quickly grabbed it. Nic being the absolute gentleman he is gave it to me. I tried to get Liam to sit with me but NO MORE SITTING he insisted. Nic held him WHILE standing AND eating his pizza. I truly know how lucky I am. I love you Nic Williamson! 

We ate that pizza faster than we've eaten anything in our entire lives so that we could scram. Surprise! It was still dumping down rain. Christmas shopping it was for a bit a longer but with very little success because we struggled to find anything left on our list. Store after store with empty hands. This is right about the time I started breaking down emotionally, Liam was DONE, and Nic was equally frustrated. There was no letting up on the rain so we let go of the idea to see the Temple Square lights and went back to the hotel, ate ice cream, and jumped on the bed instead. The best way to end any day, good or bad. ;)

Our trip definitely had a lot of unexpected downfalls but that's life. It doesn't always work out the way we want it to. Even when you are trying to be on a fun adventure! The good thing is, there is always a new day to start over. We all woke up this morning to clearer skies and happier hearts. We walked hand in hand to Temple Square where I said to Nic along the way, "We had a lot of hard times this weekend but there is no one I would rather go through hard times AND good times with than my two boys!" And there is no better note to finish our weekend on than walking around the incredible grounds of Temple Square, even if it wasn't lit up at night like we had originally planned. It was equally as beautiful with partly cloudy skies ...

Beautiful Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus on the reflection pool ...

A very similar picture of a much smaller Liam here. So much nostalgia! 

He was much happier playing in the fountain (even though it was cold outside) than he was taking a picture with me but I still love this picture anyway ...

And this one too!

A couple of cute Insta Story videos from our trip!

Like I said before, there is no one in the world I would rather spend the hard times and the wonderful moments with than these two! It was a weekend to remember.

P.S. We vowed to never do City Creek Mall on a Saturday in December ever again! ;)