A Magical Christmas Get-Away

We decided to give Gary's mom a "Magical Christmas" as our gift to her this year.  One of the fun parts is that we were part of the "Magic."  At least, Jena, Gary and I!!  All she knew was that we had tickets to a concert and we were spending Saturday night somewhere.

Gary picked her up at 1:45...and she was trusting enough to come with him.

Jena and I had headed out first as we had to usher one more matinee at Centerpoint Theatre.  Here is the cutest usher in the place:

Then we zipped out to "fly" down to Salt Lake so that we could meet Gary and his mom in time for the first event.

The Mannheim Steamroller Concert in the new Eccles Theatre in downtown Salt Lake.  I was only slightly familiar with their music, but was looking for something new and different to start our Christmas vacation.

It was a combination of a variety of instruments, lights, and video.  The musicians were amazing and the variety of instruments used throughout the concert was so fun.  It is not a concert for everyone but I really enjoyed it, especially "Away in the Manger" and "O Holy Night."...really most of their numbers I loved.  Moat of the music was familiar Christmas carols and so the words traveled through my mind while the instruments played the amazing arrangements by Chip Davis.  Definitely worth going to at least once.  The new venue is beautiful.

Right behind us was a family from our Stake and when I text Tosha right before it started to answer a question, she mentioned that Austen's dad and step-mother were also in attendance at the same concert (although we didn't see them in the crowds.)

The theatre is located on Main Street, so when we exited to head for dinner, you could see the lights of the city as well as the Main Street Plaza of Temple Square right away.  We caught the Trax for a quick ride up the street and around the corner to our hotel and the restaurant for dinner.

Jena and Grandma Hall

Jena riding the Trax

As we hopped off the Trax, I took this photo of the Assembly Hall at Temple Square.  It was a beautiful night, but very cold especially when the wind blew.

 Jena lining up to make her shot at the target Gary (out of the picture) set up for her.  What do you do when your spouse has taught your children this bad habit?  Playing football while waiting for the food to arrive.  Fortunately the football remained within our booth this time.....

When I booked the hotel, the website stated "Temple Square view".  I assumed that meant from the rooms, but actually it was from the end of the hallway.  This is our view out our actual windows...

Noticed the light panels at City Creek, switch from red to green and included falling snowflakes.

This is the Temple Square view from the end of the hallway (through the window, of course, which is why you see my reflection in the photo.)

We changed to the warmest clothes we had to make the journey to our next destination.  We walked along the south side of Temple Square to avoid the masses of people inside, but the wind was a bit brutal there.  I am not sure we made the best choice.  We passed two singing groups along the way, playing Christmas music.  One was a small group of people playing instruments.

and then there was the singing Santa with his guitar.  He was quite good, especially considering how cold the night was.

Our destination was the Joseph Smith Memorial Building......it was good to get inside--to get away from the cold and also to see the new Family Discovery Center they have added here as well as in the Family History Library.  We will need to make a stop here when we have our Giberson Reunion in June.

We made our way throughout the wallways into the main lobby with this beautiful tree.....

and some long lines............

 all waiting to be a part of "How Will you #Light the World?"

Some background:  The "Light the World" campaign was something that the Church had organized to encourage members to look for ways to serve each day of December.  There was a calendar which had Bible verses printed on each day from December 1 through the 24th which gave a hint on how to direct your service for that day.  There were things about loving your neighbor, your enemies, feeding the hungry and clothing the naked....all the things that Jesus did while He lived on the earth.

As part of the whole campaign, the Church placed these vending machines in the lobby of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  There were four machines--two for local charities and two for global charities.  They were set up like traditional vending machines in that you choose the "product" which wanted, then paid by credit card or cash,and  the item then fell to the bottom of the machine.  The difference was that mostly there were pictures or cards with the names of items on them that you could choose to donate and you didn't grab anything out of the bottom of the machine.  The Church has partnered with several local and global charities to create these vending machines.  Depending on what items people donated, those funds would be directed to one of the charities working with the Church. There were a large variety of items represented from--bottles of water for homeless people to water wells for Africa.   There were things for just a few dollars to things that cost $25 or $75 or more.

We stood in the global line which was about a 35 minute wait.  I loved watching the families with their young children, selecting things to donate and talking with their children about how this will help people far way from Salt Lake. When we finally got there, we didn't spend much time looking at the choices because the lines behind us had continued to grow.  We had decided back on the first day that we heard about the vending machines--2 chickens for Jena (and two more for Grandma Hall who was sitting in one of the chairs in the lobby) and a goat for Gary and I.

A goat---it was just a vending machine in front of me, but I teared up as I pushed the buttons for the goat and chickens.  It seemed like a funny place to have tears running down my face, but it was a sweet moment, even if it was just a vending machine.  I had waited all month to be here and donate a goat to a family in need.  I have walked in some of the poor parts of the world and I know somewhat about the impact that one goat can have on a wife and mother and her family.  Earlier that day, I had been talking to Jena about the donation vending machines and what she might like to donate.  As I talked about donating a goat, I started to cry then, too.  I felt this overpowering feeling that "our" goat did matter and that it was important for us to make the effort to make this donation today.  I was very surprised to have that feeling. Gary and I donate to a variety of organizations that we support.  I doubt that I have ever prayed much about those decisions or expected any type of spiritual confirmation about donating.  But today, I received a witness that this did matter.  What each of us does to help another person--in our own house or across the world matters and never occurs without being noticed.  So now our donation of a goat goes with my prayers.....that the organization will be guided, that the goat will be healthy, and feed and provide a better life for the family where she (or he) ends up.  I imagine this goat will be mentioned in my prayers from time to time for a long time.

And then the magic kept coming as we took a slower walk back through the lights and sounds of Temple Square at Christmas time.  It has been several years since we had been here at Christmas time to walk through to see the lights, but for Gary's mom, it has been around 30 years.  She said that last time she went, Dad Hall dropped her and Gary's grandmother , Grandma Brown, off at one end.  He then drove to the over side and picked them up after they had walked through.

I was glad to be with her as she walked the beautiful grounds of Temple Square at Christmas time.  It was crowded with people, but you really felt like it was Christmas in the city and I loved it.

 The lights and the temple....

 The "Christus" statue in the North Visitor's Center.

We stayed up in our room and watched some Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel, because it is Christmas time.

And the colors of the sky are amazing without extra "lights" as dawn breaks over the Salt Lake Valley.

And our "Temple View" from the end of the hallway.......

 You might think that we were done, but no, we still have two more events left.....

"Music and the Spoken Word"...this is the longest running radio show in the world and has been on TV for a long time as well.  In December, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcasts this program from the Conference Center to accommodate the larger crowds which was a good idea for their Christmas program on December 24.  There were lots of people in attendance.

Waiting for it to start.....

Because it was broadcasted live, the audience couldn't clap after the numbers.  In fact, they told us to do all of our coughing before the show started.  It was hard to listen to this amazing music and not clap when it was ending.  It was such a great way to start Christmas Eve.  I think we will attend it again next Christmas season.

Gary grabbed the car from down in the parking garage and came and got us so we didn't have to walk too far.

 The sun through the haze of the morning.....

We grabbed some breakfast and then packed up and headed toward home, but we had one more thing to do.  We got back to Syracuse in time to attend Sacrament Meeting at the South Bluff Ward.  Our stake only had one hour Sacrament Meetings due to Christmas Eve and so we couldn't make it back to attend our ward or Gary's mom's ward so we settled for South Bluff.  They had a sweet meeting with beautiful music and sweet messages.  Gary's mom had been a part of this ward in the past and many people greeted her and us after the meeting.  It was the perfect way to END our Magical Christmas Get-Away and start our Christmas Eve Celebration.

Thanks, Mom Hall, for being a brave support and sharing this magical Christmas get-away with us!  It was a perfect way to continue our holiday celebrations, but also to pause and enjoy the music and the reasons for the season.