Utah Extravaganza 2024

 Fred and I planned a roadtrip to Utah for our grandson Garrett's high school graduation.

As time passed, more events entered into our agenda.

We met with Fred's cousin Jim Daly and his wife Candace and their daughter Danika and Fred's sister Sharlotte and her husband Randy at the Draper Temple.

Fred and Jim were here to serve as proxy for their father's Arthur (Fred's dad) and Frank (Jim's dad) to be sealed to their parents. A lot of coordination took place and in the end everything worked out great. After the temple, we all went to a nearby Kneaders and enjoyed lunch and visiting.

This is Fred and his cousin Jim. They have many memories of times together growing up along with Bob (Jim's brother).

This is a picture of all who attended the temple.

Ben and Corinne (our daughter), Fred and I, Randy and Sharlotte, Jim, Candice and Danika.

Three cousins. Sharlotte, Fred and Jim in birth order.

One day Corinne took us to the Church Office Building where she works on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. She works in the Temple department. She travels to all the new temples in South America to help train and assist the Laundry and Clothing Departments before opening.

For now, this is Corinne's office space. The members of this department are not required to come in everyday. They will start coming into work everyday beginning soon. The department will be moving to another office space at that time. Clara came along with us. That dress Clara is wearing was her mother Corinne's when she was five. We bought that dress in Japan when we lived there for a short time.

She is official now!

This is a view to the Church Administrative building. The circled window is President Nelson's office. Corinne said he always has his curtains open.

We ate lunch in the Church Office Cafeteria where the story about President Nelson squishing his plastic water bottle took place.

We went into the Church History Museum. This is the children's section. 

Clara being very sweet.

This is the construction of the Salt Lake Temple. This was the main entrance. 

A good view of the temple. 

Here is a closeup of the Temple's old entrance. 

Here is the Assembly Hall also under construction.

A good Grandma and Clara moment.

Corinne with me too! 

Stepped into the Tabernacle for a few minutes. 

Corinne also got us tickets to attend the Layton Temple Open House. 

Spencer, Henry and Clara came with us. Garrett was out with friends. 

Finally the Syracuse High School Graduation. I think I remember there was nearly 700 graduates. That's bigger than my high school. 

Obviously there is Garrett.

There again.

They provided a great picture moment for the graduates.

Here's our Graduate!

Ben's parents Gary and Margot, his sister Sarah and her husband Evan, Spencer, Fred and I.

We ate at Freddy's afterwards. Garrett was busy meeting up with his friends for all kinds of activities while we were there. He was hard to pin down. 

On our way to St. George Fred wanted to stop at several cemeteries to decorate the graves of his grandparents and parents. This is Orem Cemetery where his Grandpa Daly was buried.

The weather unfortunately was not very good. Lots of rain.

This is Fred's grandpa (LaVerne Daly) 

A beautiful display for the Memorial Day weekend at the Orem Cemetery.

Next we went to the Junction Cemetery where his Grandpa and Grandma Howes are buried. 

Fred leaving flowers.

This is Fred's Grandpa Howes and his Grandma Howes.

This is the headstone for Fred's Uncle Boss and his wife Elna. We have several memories with them. I love the time we were able to spend with them. 

Veterans who have been buried here in the Junction Cemetery have these plaques posted along the drive. This first one is a cousin of Fred's on his Mom's side.

This is Fred's grandfather's grave. Grandpa Howes lived with Fred's family in So. California during the summers and then finally moved there permanently. He and Fred shared a bedroom. 

Errol is Fred's uncle (his Mom's brother).

The last cemetery visit of the day was in Panguitch, Utah. Fred's parents are buried here.

They have a beautiful headstone. 

Here is the backside of the headstone with their children, Sharlotte and Fred.

We finally made it to St. George. We were able to stay with Fred's sister Sharlotte. It was nice to be there. We ended up being at church for four hours attending some part of four different wards. Each ward now has some portion of our original Treasure Valley Ward members. We were successful in seeing just about everyone that we really wanted to see. 

We attended an endowment session in the newly opened Red Cliff's Temple. Our previous home is 1.4 miles away. That was very disappointing to be moving away from having this beautiful new temple so near our home. 

Sharlotte managed to get one parting pictures as we were getting into our car for home. 

We met up with my brother Craig and his wife Lynette. I need to take a picture of us. I don't know why I don't get that done. Corinne came along so we had a very nice visit at Cafe Zuppas (so I got my fix).

A very action packed roadtrip. It was so wonderful to meet up with some of our family and old friends. 

Now looking back, I did love my time living in Utah.