Mini Reunion

Joey just got back from his missionary service in Brazil at the end of September and John is leaving for his mission to Las Vegas next month, so we all thought it was a good occasion to get together in Utah for General Conference. Since we are distantly related to the Roots now (Oksana married Joe Root), and they have a big house in the Salt Lake valley, they offered to put all of us up for the weekend. Sam, Joey, John, Ben, Oksana, Kate, Tristan, Lucy, Saren, Amy, and I all stayed at their house. We wondered if the girls would understand whose house it was where we would be staying. They are pretty observant because by they end the weekend they just referred to it as "Kate's grandma's house".

Our family went down before the Missouri crew got there and visited with Taran and Stanley for a day or so. Taran is just about ready to have her baby, so it may have been the last time we would see her before the baby arrives. We watched the first sessions of General Conference with them on TV.

When everyone from Missouri came out, we had a good time hanging out and catching up. We hadn't seen Joey in two years. Little Kate has grown up in the last six months or so. No one had seen little Amy yet either.

On Sunday we all spent most of the day at Temple Square where the huge Conference Center is located. Taran and Stanley came up for a while. Jeff and Renee were out visiting Billy and Jana and so they came over to join the fun as well. We got permission to bless Amy while we were in Utah. I asked at the visitors center if there was a room we could use and there was. We got to bless Amy in a room right near the base of the ramp leading up to the beautiful statue of Christ. It was cool because all of the Melchizedek Priesthood holders in our family (my {Tom's} side) were there that day to participate. It was a simple little witness to me of the blessing of the gospel in our family and the legacy that my grandmother and her sister have created by their joining the church.

{For those of you who are not familiar with an LDS baby blessing, it is an unofficial ceremony in which a priesthood holder says a prayer to officially declare the child's name to the Lord and offer her a blessing of good fortune for her future. It is way to have an official name to go onto the records of the Church until she actually becomes a member of the Church after she is baptized. In the LDS church we do not get baptized until we are considered accountable for our own choices. Until then, little children are innocent. So in some ways it is similar to a traditional Christian christening but without the official ordinance of baptism. We usually just do the blessing in the local church building, so that is why it was special for us to do it there in Salt Lake City on Temple Square.}

Most of my family had gotten tickets to Conference and so they went into the Conference Center in the afternoon. We had the kids with us, so we just enjoyed napping and listening to the conference on the beautiful Salt Lake Temple grounds.

That night Kathy Root made a cake shaped like a beehive and we celebrated Saren's 2nd birthday a little early. It is fun to be with our family. My best friend Mike and his new wife London were there as well.

It was a short weekend, but we got to listen to the prophets speak, bless our sweet daughter, and enjoy the company of many of our loved ones.

Taran is ready to pop!

Hanging out at Taran and Stanley's (Amy found a nice little perch)

Sam and Joey with Amy

Oksana and Kate

Pop loving being a grandpa

Hanging out at Temple Square

Lucy and Amy

Beautiful Amy

Taran and Amy

Here is everyone that participated in Amy's blessing: my brothers John and Joey,
Me (with Amy), Pop, my brother-in-law Stanley, my uncle Jeff, and my cousin Billy

Saren loved playing around the "Reflection Pool" by the temple

She and Lucy also did their toddler size damage to the grounds by picking some irresistible flowers

The temple in the Reflection Pool

She's cautious at first...

...getting excited...

...stopping to pose...

...drenched but so excited!

Here we are with Salt Lake Temple on the left of the picture and the Conference Center in the distance on the right.

Saren is two!