Manti Temple Road Trip

Ryan and I have been discussing going on a road trip lately. Vegas, too over-rated. Yellowstone, too far. When Jack came home from his mission and started trying to put together a trip to do a session in the Manti Temple, we decided that was the perfect spot for a mini-vacation. It seemed short enough that we could manage taking Lilly, and it was definitely something we've always wanted to do. Now that we've gone, another trip to Manti is already planned for next month, minus baby, so that we can actually do a session with Jack. The car ride up was pretty uneventful. Lilly doesn't care much for her car seat and her tolerance ran dry shortly before we got there. Once we parked and decided what to do next, we realized it was way too hot for a picnic outside, so we enjoyed homemade popcorn chicken and salad in the refreshing AC of the car. Lilly enjoyed laying on daddy's lap, watching him eat. She must have grown a bit of an appetite while watching us eat, because she started screaming when we had only been out of the car for 5 minutes. We pulled over the stroller, gave her some water (since she had just eaten...PIGGY!), cooled her down, and picked back up on our journey. We started walking around the temple when we stumbled upon a dead end. "Now where do we go?" I asked Ryan. He pointed to a very LONG staircase that held the path to the point that we were trying to get to. Hmm...After much deliberation, we decided to look like fools and embarrass ourselves by carrying, not only the stroller, but all of the extra junk we brought along, UP the stairs. Phew, that was hard...and hot! But we did it and high-fived when we reached the top. We finally found the picturesque spots that we were searching for, but Lilly needed another pit stop for some water. It was a hot day and we were all drinking tons. This experience was one that I truly enjoyed. We all matched (by accident), so the pictures were adorable, the weather was perfect, the temple was gorgeous, and we were a happy, eternal family. I'll always remember the memories that we created today.