Temple Square Christmas Lights

Our friend Helen invited us to go see the Christmas lights on Temple Square in Salt Lake City on Dec. 23.  It sounded like a good idea, so we went.  Looking back, it was a good experience.  But at the time, it felt like the most INSANE way to spend an evening.  (Helen's family lived in American Samoa when we did, and we've had quite a few insane adventures together, so really, this was nothing new.) Ephraim had to work, so my sister Rachel innocently agreed to come with me.

It was super stressful!!  Freeway traffic, downtown driving, parking garages, being late, cold weather--all things I despise.  Temple Square was unimaginably crowded.  You probably know, you were probably there.  The whole world was, apparently. And we had a mass of kids. I don't know how many times I counted heads that night.

But we did snap a few happy pictures:

After seeing the sights, we got hot chocolate, and luckily found a nice place to rest, warm and dry... 

...until two cups of hot chocolate spilled all over the table and floor, and my little guy burnt his tongue... and started puking.  Then sadly it was time to go... back through the mass of strangers, through the maze of mall to hunt down the parking garage, locate the car, dig around for the ticket, and wait in traffic to leave the city, and white-knuckle my way on the freeway home.

Helen joked that she couldn't wait to see my blog post on this. I assured her that I wouldn't post about it because I only post about good things now.  But here we are with a blog post.  This trip has turned into a good thing in my mind.

Telling Ephraim about it later I said, "Think of the worst things that could happen." Fire, injury, kidnapping, blackouts, diarrhea, death. None of those things actually happened. So really the evening wasn't that bad. 

Yes, it was crowded, but everyone was way courteous and friendly. Not grumpy crowded like Black Friday at the mall. Pleasant crowded like the hallways after church.  And how cool that that many people wanted to be at the temple celebrating Christmas with their families!

Yes, we spilled hot chocolate all over the table and floor, but at least we were in a little cafeteria where they had a sink, soap, and paper towels. So great, right?

Yes, I misplaced my parking ticket and couldn't get it validated, but we prayed and found it in my wallet, and then didn't even need it after all.  Bonus.

Anyway, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I hope.