The Rest of Our Utah Trip

Here are the pictures from the rest of our Utah trip:

January 1st

Lisa volunteered to make us all a New Year's day dinner. She made scallops and some strange rice, served with some leftovers from the night before. The scallops were good, but the rice was a no-go. We had pie for dessert.

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January 2--After visiting Mr. Moon's Rare books, Lisa and my mom and I went to Tootsie's house, just after picking up a few things (namely salsa and some plantain chips at a Mexican market (El Mexicano Market Tortilleria). We decided to go out to some fancy Mexican food at Sol Agave. The food is good, but sheesh its expensive. Ordering drinks and desserts can really add up! That's ok because we went there to celebrate Tootsie's birthday! After dinner, we went to the NPS store. We didn't find much, if anything. I think I might have bought some food items. I get less enthused about that place every time I go there. But there are still some really good deals, especially on food (if you're ok with expiration dates that are sooner rather than later!). A very fun day out, and we finally got Tootsie involved!

We ordered two of these delicious butter cakes, without realizing they are almost $20 each. Yikes.

Us walking to my van on the way out--my mom took this.

Checking out at the NPS store. If I hadn't taken this picture, I would probably have forgotten that we even went there.

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January 3--I fun day for the kids! I don't remember all the exact details, but I do remember (thanks to these pictures) that we took the older kids out to Devil & Angel Desserts. I went there the previous year with just Lisa and thought that Elisa would love it. And I was right! She happily ordered a strawberry match donut and a brown sugar drink. Gabe ordered some blue fizzy something or another, and Aailyah to a purple (taro?) boba drink and a funky hotdog. I insisted on trying a bite since I paid haha, it was okay. I don't mind paying for their drinks and food as long as I get a little taste! We dropped the kids off at Lisa's and then went out shopping. I'm pretty sure it was the DI, but it could have been TJMaxx. Maybe both ha. Those are our go-to places, and we've been so many times I can't even keep track anymore!

 Later that evening, we decided to take all 6 kids to the Classic Fun Center for an evening of fun! It's not a super expensive place but taking 6 kids sure adds up. I will say though, it is a relatively cheap babysitter, because we just dropped the kids off and left. We went to Ross during their play time, but I didn't find anything to buy. Maybe we went somewhere else before but I can't remember. When we went back to pick up the kids, Gabe had bought himself a train set with tickets he had earned by winning the jackpot at the arcade, so he was a happy guy. However, Aiden was nowhere in sight (big surprise/eyeroll). Lisa had to go in and fish him out while the rest of us waited for a good 20 minutes in the van. That kid...sigh.

Such fun and yummy stuff at this place! 

Gabe with his train set

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The next day, January 4th, was the day I had to skedaddle out of South Jordan and make my way down to St. George. Michael really wanted to come with, and we had enough seats so I said sure. I left around 1:00pm because I wanted to make sure to stop by Tootsie's on the way down. I figured it would break up the trip besides she was okay with it since we wouldn't be staying long. My mom came in a separate car, but obviously didn't follow us down to St. George. We only stayed a half hour because I didn't want to be driving too much in the dark. Michael didn't like my fast driving, but at least we got to St. George in a timely manner. Although we did stop and that big red barn--Rowley's Red Barn--for some ice-cream and a potty break. Michael bought some cheese, too. Erik flew up from Phoenix to meet us in St. George to drive us down. I could have driven, but I don't mind not driving. I can't remember if he was already there when we arrived in St. George or came in the morning. There's not much to be said about staying in St. George because we weren't there very long. Monday January 5 was our driving home day, since the kids started school the next day and Erik had to work. Before leaving for Phoenix, we stopped in at J-Dawgs for some yummy hotdogs. Michael forgot the cheese he bought at the Red Barn so we had to go back to the house for it. The drive home was uneventful, thankfully.

Some pictures together before we left!

Enjoying some ice cream at the Red Barn off I-15 on our way down from St. George. It was freezing out!

Not sure why I took this pic---Zetta being cute?

The boys at J-Dawgs

Sorry cutie, I'd love to take you home with us, but everyone else would miss you too much!!

Mr. Moon's Rare Books

 January 2 was spent with my mom and Lisa. We eventually included Tootsie, but our main activity of the day was going to Moon's Rare Books! Months before this trip, Mr. Moon's videos popped up on my FB video feed, and I was interested in going to this place before I discovered that his shop was located in Provo, Utah in The Shops at Riverton. I decided that as soon as I got the chance, I would go. Well, this was my chance and I took it! It was a very special outing--not just because the place was super cool, but mostly because we got a personal tour by Mr. Moon himself! Tours are actually offered for groups, and you have to reserve a time and pay for them. We were admiring a book when he came out of his office and asked us if we wanted to see even cooler books. We said of course! It was so awesome to see (and even hold!) some extremely old, rare, and amazing books. There were also lots of memorabilia hanging on the walls, each with its own story. I could have stayed at this place all day just looking at stuff! This was one of the most fascinating places I have ever been to. And it was free! Not saying I didn't spend money there, but you can just walk on into this shop/museum and have a look around. We got extremely lucky to have Mr. Moon to visit with us and show us some cool books. 

After the tour, we flipped through lots of old bibles that were put out on a table. They were selling them by the page. Lisa and I picked out some, they were pricey, but they also came framed.  I figured its better to buy home decor that is unique and meaningful than mass-produced crap from TJMaxx (even though I do buy lots of that!). I bought one for me and one for Lisa. Lisa also found a "Out of the Dust" necklace that held little bits of pieces from one of the original editions of the Book of Mormon, like a see-through locket. I thought it was too expensive for what it was, but Lisa was super excited about it and bought herself one. I guess saving and repurposing old scraps of books is a smart way to make money!

Holding a very old and very heavy bible from the 1400's! Most books (understandably) have a no-touch policy. Excepting Mr. Moon of course.

A medieval illustrated bible. It is so beautiful, I still like looking at these pictures and zooming in. They are exquisitely hand-painted and detailed for being such small paintings.

The walls were covered with cool stuff with lots of historical value.

An old bible with genealogy traced back to Adam.

An old book written in Latin. I wish I could remember what it was.

A beautiful early edition of Hamlet

One of the original Books of Mormon, owned by Hyrum Smith.

Pride and Prejudice was originally published in three books! Here are some first editions.

A first edition of LOTR with a note written by Tolkien himself

This door was from a castle in---can't quite remember, but I'm pretty sure it was somewhere in Eastern Europe

A video scan of the entry way. The bricks on the floor are genuine bricks from France, they are 200 years old!

The Mormon room, with lots of cool artifacts from the early church

Lisa flipping through the old bibles.

All of us with Mr. Moon!

Here's his YouTube channel: Moon’s Rare Books - YouTube

Lisa with her necklace and its certificate of authenticity--it had better be authentic for what she paid!

My bible page hangs in our living room.

New Years Day Revolution Run

I signed myself and my dad up for the Revolution Run for New Years Day. It was held in the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah. As far as races go, this was probably the most unique race I've participated in. I've never done a race that is indoors on a track. I was super glad it was indoors since it was raining that morning (and cold!). I was also glad that we could start this race whenever we wanted. We got there early, so we were able to start early. However, doing 12 laps (I did the 5K) got a little old after a while. I felt sorry for the people doing Marathons on that track; if I didn't first faint of sheer exhaustion, I definitely would have fainted of boredom! Actually, treadmill running is the most boring of them all. I don't know how I'll get back on that thing when it gets too hot to run outside. As uninspiring as it is running in a circle many times over, it is still fun to see/watch others around me run. It keeps the monotony of running to a minimum. I do not enjoy running as much as some people, so anything to distract me from "how much longer?" is helpful. Anyway, we were given an ankle monitor and a thumb clicker to track the laps. I also had my phone. I don't know what was going on with the signals, but my phone app for tracking runs didn't work very well, and neither did the ankle monitors, which brings us to the main "excitement" of this particular race. I kept track of my laps by using in the clicker. I believe it was around 12 laps. I ran a full lap before clicking the button; I know better than to start at one. One click meant I had gone one lap. So, after 12 clicks, I got off the track because I was finished. My dad ran the 10K, which meant he finished after I did. Since he had to go around so many times, he wanted to make sure that he had ran enough laps, just in case his clicker count wasn't accurate. So, he asked the guy who was monitoring the runner's laps via a computer. The guy told my dad that he needed to complete another lap in order to fulfill the full 10K. My dad ran one more lap, and then the guy told him that he still had another lap to go. So now we knew the ankle monitor wasn't working correctly because we witnessed it failing in real time. When it came to my laps, it also said I was missing a lap. But by the time I saw that, it was a little too late in the race and I was already put in second place by default because I "didn't finish" the race. Normally I'd be happy with second place, but not when I know I was actually owed first place--I decided I wasn't going to settle for 2nd place! The time that I had ran (according to my phone) also testified to the fact I had ran a full 5k--if I had actually one more lap to finish, there was no way I was that slow of a runner, not even on the trail. So, I let the lady who was managing the placement medals know that I was actually first place and not second. I felt a bit like a cheater even though I knew I wasn't. She said I could have the first place. Yay! There was supposed to be a ceremony for the winners (my dad also placed--he usually does!) so we waited and waited and waited around. I guess lots of other people were having issues with the monitor (or something) not counting their laps. So after a few pictures, we finally left. We should have right after we found out we both placed first, but I stupidly wanted to be a part of the awards ceremony because I rarely even place. Oh well. The medal were pretty cool though. It was a fun race, minus the waiting around at the end.

I liked that you could start this race whenever you got there. We were a little early, so we started early.

All finished?

An accidental pic, but you can kinda see all the medals waiting to be passed out.

So many laps!

We should have just left after taking this picture, but we hung around longer only to find out there would be no awards ceremony due to technical issues counting the laps.

 

I guess this is as much as an awards ceremony as we could hope for--pictures taken on the podiums!