Spontaneous Weekend

Last weekend we did something totally somewhat spontaneous, which is not me. I discovered however that being spontaneous made me really happy. On Monday I called my friend Alyssa to see if by chance if we went to Utah if my kids could spend the night on Friday. Alyssa said they could and that her kids would be very excited. I told her we weren't 100% certain because of Lou's craziness at work but I wanted to make sure it was a possibility. I wanted to go to the Jerry Sloan retirement ceremony at the Jazz game on Friday. That night I talked to Lou and said we should probably decide because every time I looked at tickets they were going up in price. Lou said he couldn't commit 100% because a lot was going on at work but to get the tickets to be safe. I thought the worst that happens is none of us go, the second worse that happens is that I go with the kids and take a friend with me to the game and the best outcome, we all go to Utah together.

The next day I bought the tickets for me and Lou. They were the cheapest I could find so not fantabulous seats but I was just so happy to be going to the game. Lou worked very hard all week to be able to take this little trip on Friday. Lou was on the phone as far as his phone had service while we were driving, or had me sending texts to work people, which was a sacrifice on my part because of my motion sickness, but anything to help Lou since was doing all this for me.

We left Boise a little before 11 and arrived at Alyssa's about 4. The kids were so excited to see their friends and I was just as excited to see my friend.  Lou and I didn't stay long at Alyssa's, because Lou had to get to the hotel to do some work before dinner and the game. Oh yeah did I mention that we stayed in a hotel. I found an absolutely amazing deal for Little America online so we did it.

Driving into downtown Salt Lake with Lou was a blast, we listened when we could to the Jerry Sloan press conference that featured Jerry, John and Karl.  (we could listen when Lou wasn't on the phone, have you noticed Lou is always on the phone?).  We checked into the hotel. The room was very pretty, it had english carpet, real glasses instead of plastic cups. a vanity with a chair, where I totally did my hair and makeup sitting down! I couldn't believe how nice it was for how little we paid. Thank goodness for internet deals. Lou did work and I had fun texting my Jazz BFF, Moni. We texted about the press conference, the excitement of the game and ceremony and texted that we wished she could be in Utah for it.

I loved all the details in the hotel, like this soap dish, and that our soap was from London! 

Before the game we met some of my SLC Dunk friends for dinner. We took the TRAX to the Gateway where we ate at La Jolla Groves. La Jolla Groves is my absolute most favorite restaurant in Provo,  when I saw that they had opened one at the Gateway I knew we had to eat there.  Dinner was so great, the food was delicious, the water was amazing and we couldn't have asked for better company.

Our view of the ceremony

We walked over to the ESA and got there in time to say hi to another Jazz friend. We made it to our seats just in time for National Anthem and the player intros. The arena was decked out all honoring Jerry, showing pics and stats on the new screens. The game was pretty fun to watch (for this year's Jazz team). The halftime ceremony was amazing, they did such a good job honoring Jerry. The Jazz unfortunately lost the game but being there with Louis and watching Jerry's ceremony was worth it. After the game we met up with some different Jazz friends and talked for awhile, they are super nice couple.  We finally took the TRAX back to the Little America. On the way back to the hotel, Lou said I could get used to commuting like this, I thought the same thing. It was so fun to just be in the city for the night and be like a city person.

When we got to the hotel we decided to walk around the lobby a little bit (our hotel room wasn't in the tower but in one of the smaller buildings). the lobby was so beautiful. They had a nice fire going so Lou and I sat in front of the fire and talked.

The welcoming fire in the lobby

The next morning Lou woke up and did work once again, and I slept.  We made it to Alyssa's to pick up the kids around 11:30. We stayed for a few hours. It was great to talk with Alyssa and Jared. They are such good friends, some of our oldest friends.

On our way home we went to Lou's grandparents house. We called them earlier and said we were in Utah and wanted to stop by. We went to a grocery store to pick up a box of chocolates and a flower for Grandma, since she had had surgery earlier in the month. The grocery store is named Dick's. It reminds me of Day's in Provo. Its much larger but has the same feel and everyone is so friendly. Everyone smiled at us, I love that small town feel in not a very small town. When we got to Lou's grandparent's house they had pizza for us, chips, and other yummy foods. They are the best hosts. We always love spending time with Lou's Grandma and Grandpa Allen. They are so kind and loving.

Billboard we saw leaving Bountiful

We finally had to drive back to Boise. It was very hard to leave Utah with all the love we felt from friends and family. On the way home we listened to Primary songs which invited great conversations.

It was such a perfect weekend. I love our family. I love that our kids are old enough to to do fun things like take somewhat spontaneous trip to Salt Lake.

Gratitude Corner:

Maybe I'll have friends soon :)

Yesterday I received an email from a member of the stake Relief Society presidency. She came to visit with a member of the ward relief society a few weeks ago. She was super kind in the email and we are planning a dinner or a movie night.

A few weeks ago BYU played Gonzaga. A family in our ward invited us to watch the game. The same day they invited us we found out we were visiting teaching companions.  The game was a ton of fun even though BYU lost.