Music City Escape

Dave had some conferences to attend in September in Nashville through his employer, and we figured since the hotel and Dave's flight and food were paid for, I could tag along too and we could make a trip out of it.  It was a super fun place to visit, neither of us had been there before.

We left from Salt Lake International airport early Tuesday morning (thanks for the ride, Julie!).  We checked in, went through security and all that jazz.  I hadn't flown for about 6 years, and it seems like it even takes longer now, though the system is more efficient with online check-in and scanning tickets on phones.

Southwest selfie!  Nashville bound.

We had a layover at the Denver airport, where we had some breakfast and walked around.  Then we were on the flight to Nashville the rest of the afternoon.  We then waited for our rental car for 2 hours.  It was cray cray, but enjoyed chatting with strangers.  That's always kind of fun.  When we made it to Brentwood to check into our hotel, we were pretty hungry.  So we went to Judge Beans BBQ, who a friend recommended.  I'm not so much of a meat eater, so it was just okay for me, but Dave loved it!  It was a fun little place though, I loved the atmosphere.

Then we went on a drive to explore downtown Nasvhille.  We saw all of the famous landmarks.  It was a beautiful night!  It was so humid, we were not used to that since we are so dry where we live.

We checked out the Parthenon replica next.  It was quite the place!

Then we drove down Broadway, opened our windows, and listened to all the honky tonk.  All of the bars and restaurants on this street have live music.  Many have open windows or seating, so you can really hear it.  That was fun!  And the lights, it's almost like a mini Vegas!

My cousin is on an LDS mission in Nashville and recommended some places for us to visit.  She said Jeni's Splendid ice-cream is good.  So that is where we finished off the night.  Mmmm...it was tasty!  We drove around some of the neighborhoods surrounding that after, I love the sweet Southern style homes.  They do have so much charm!  And it was great to just be with the two of us.  We got to focus on each other and talk and enjoy and not be interrupted.  It was nice company!

This was the courtyard of our hotel.  I thought it was cute!  That night, we crashed.  We were so tired!  The next morning, Dave got up early to go to his training.  I just slept in a little, read, then I got ready and took the hotel shuttle to the nearby mall. I stayed there almost all day and shopped 'til I dropped.  I got some sweet clearance deals, had a yummy lunch by myself, and just enjoyed looking around without having to take someone to the bathroom every half-an-hour or telling somebody every few minutes "just look with your eyes, please, not with your hands."  Then I went back to the hotel, watched some TV (what!?  I can't tell you the last time I just sat down and watched except for Family movie night), read through some magazines.  It was seriously such a relaxing day!  Then when Dave got home, we headed out to the Nashville, TN LDS Temple. Unfortunately, once we got there, there were no cars in the parking lot, and no one was there.  I called again, and they had changed the message on their phone line and the schedule that day, so that day was no longer one of their regular days open!  Jinxed!  But that's okay, we got to walk around it and feel the peace of just being near a House of the Lord.  It was so pretty!  I loved how green everything was, and all of the beautiful "tropical" type of plants that grew there.  It was lovely!  And I'd always pictured Nashville being so flat, but there are lots of hills.  And never-ending thick trees!  For dinner, we went to Corky's BBQ (got to get in all the southern barbeque we could).  It was so yum-o!  I got fried chicken tenders with cornbread, potato casserole, and fried corn.  Dave got a sampler plate.  Greasy goodness right there!  Then we went back to the hotel and went swimming.  It was fun, we had the pool at hot tub all to ourselves.  So nice to just be together and not have the stress of keeping the kids in line all of the time.

Thursday, I went swimming by myself, took a nice long shower after, and then got ready slowly without interruption.  Then I went for  a long walk in the neighborhood, shopped a few cute boutiques and other fun local stores and a bakery called "The Puffy Muffin".  That afternoon when Dave got done with his training, we went to the Opryland Hotel.  It was seriously my favorite thing we did there.  It was beautiful!  We went on a boat ride on the indoor river system they have that includes water from each of the fifty states.  They had so many neat plants; all kinds of fruit trees, waterfalls, fountains.  The atriums were a feast for the eyes!  They also had a fountain show set to music we watched for a while.  Then we had to stop by the Grand Ole Opry, it was a neat building.  I just wish we could've gone to a show there.  Sadly enough, when we checked three weeks before our trip, no one was scheduled to play there.  But we found out the day we left Rascal Flatts was going to be doing an impromptu show, but it was too late and tickets were all gone.  But we got to see it.  Then we went to Opry Mills Mall, which kept on going, and going, and going.  It was a fun one!  After that, it was off to downtown again.  We went to the Wild Horse Saloon for some grub and entertainment.  As we walked in, there were some trees outside that were so crowded with birds chirping, the cars parked on the street below were white from the birdy doo doo.  We were laughing about that when I felt something on my head!  EWW!  It was gross, but I cleaned up and got over it.  For dinner, it was more BBQ for Dave, I chose a chicken salad sandwich.  The performer that night was Larry Frick, he looked 14, but could sing and play and was very talented.  Even Dave enjoyed that country noise.  :)  They have line dance instructors there, so that was super fun, anyone who wants can go on the floor and learn to dance.  Way fun!  Lastly, we headed to Broadway to find some little gifts for the kids and those who watched them.  We found some harmonicas for the kids and a train whistle for Cov, which they enjoyed.  We thought about cowboy boots, but didn't want to check on a bag, since we just used carry ons.  We looked around at some other stores, and walked by the bars and street performers.  There was one band of high schoolers that were playing all kinds of instruments - saxophone, trumpet, trombone, guitar, clarinet...they sounded way good!  It was a fusion of many genres of music.  They were my fave.  Then we headed back to the hotel to crash.

We woke up Friday morning, got everything together and headed to the airport to make the flight back home.  And we even flew right over our little town!  So that was kind of fun.  Dave loves looking out the window and does it almost the whole time.  It was good to be home to our kids.  Emma came to pick us up with Grandma Sue!  We were so happy to see her and the rest of our little ones!  We sure missed them!  But I don't know if they missed us they had so much fun with grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles!  ;)  No, they were glad we were back, too.  Thank you so much to all who helped watch them!  We love you so much and are so grateful to know they are in good hands, we don't have to worry about them.  Thanks for the good times, Nashville!

Emma's Baptism

Did this just really happen?  Our little Emma chose to get baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on September 6, 2014 in the Sweetwater River at Martin's Cove.

Emma has been looking forward to this day for a long time.  Ever since she was three or four, she was talking about baptism and how she was going to get baptized.   We've always made it clear it was her choice, no one forces baptism.  That's one of the beauties of this Gospel, the gift of agency to choose for ourselves.  Em has always been so obedient and truly thirsts after the light and truth of God.  So it would make sense she would want to make the first step on her covenant path back to Heavenly Father.  For more the ordinance of baptism,  go here.  We had some great Family Home Evenings this past year on getting ready for baptism.  From discussions from "Preach My Gospel" on baptism, to the shiny penny experiment, and having Daddy and Emma practice,  it was good to all help us learn more about baptism and be reminded of the covenants we have made or will make.

The night before,  Grandma Sue and Grandpa Dan & Uncle Jeff and Aunt Shirley came up.  Tje kids were so happy they made it!  Grandma brought Emma some kitties and legos for ger birthday, so that kept her occupied for most of the night.  We had sone ranch chicken raxo salad and black bean dip for dinner. And talked and watched some football.   That afternoon, the skies were so dark and there was a bunch of thunder and lightning. We told Emma we may have to do her baptism at the church.   But she was disappointed, and I told her if it's important to her, it would be to Heavenly Father too, so to pray and ask for good weather.   I had been praying all week for that, as well as some sweet people in our ward.  God so delivered thanks to everyones prayers, and the weather was perfect!   The Sister missionary at Martin's Cove said she wasn't sure we were in WY anymore because the weather was so beautiful, not even windy at all!  Also, Lucy got sick Friday night and started throwing up.  She began crying in the middle of the night saying she was sad she would have to miss Emma's baptism.   I told her though that just like Jesus healed people when he was on the earth, He could heal us through our faith.   So we offered up several prayers and in the morning, she woke up healthy and happy and no one else got sick. I'm so thankful for a kind Heavenly Father who cares and listens to us and answers our prayers.

Saturday, we got ready for her family barbecue at our house.  Dave smoked some pulled pork and chicken the night before and day of.  The rest of the family came up and we were so happy almost everyone except Adam and family and Mark were able to come.  How blessed we are to have such a fantastic, supportive family.  Emma is our meat eater and she wanted a nice bbq.  We had some salad, baked beans, chips and turquoise punch to go with the meat.  I didn't take many pictures, I'm usually too busy running around to stop and remember to do that!  :)  But it was fun.

After that, we caravanned up to Martin's Cove, about an hour away.  Martin's Cove is a very special place.  When the early members of our church were trekking west to seek freedom from religious persecution,  they often used handcarts to cross the plains.  A few groups left later than scheduled, and chose to go anyway.   They ran into snow, bitter cold, and wind, as well as starvation, lack of proper supplies and sicknesses.  They stopped in Martin's Cove for refuge.  There are some incredible stories and accounts of miracles, along with the tragedy.   These pioneers always showed faith and truly followed the Savior. As a youth, I was able to go to Martin's Cove to have a trek experience. It is truly sacred ground and I felt the Spirit so strongly there.  So how appropriate it is that they allow baptisms there,  in the spirit of these faithful pioneers.

I made Emma's dress, she wanted this style.   I didn't use a pattern and kind of free handed cutting it all out, so don't look too closely.   ;)  She helped pick out the fabric and wanted turquoise accents.  I thought she looked so beautiful!  And props to my sister, Amy, who took these amazing pictures! You're the best!

All of our family, except for Adam, Meghan and kids, who live on the other side of the country, and Mark, who had to work were there.  We had the Mills and the Millers there as well, and a few other friends who were going to come, but things came up.  So much support for Emma!  She’s so lucky to have a great family and friends who love her!  Down by the river, the service was simple, yet sweet.  They had a few rows of benches for baptismal services, and it was neat to be right by the water.  Aunt Julie said the opening prayer.  Then we had an opening song.  Aunt Stacy led the music.  Brother Mills from our ward, came with his family, and welcomed everyone. Grandma Sue gave the first talk about baptism.  She talked about how when she was baptized she got into the font with her father.  She saw a spider come down from its web right into the font.  It creeped her out a bit, but said that didn’t matter.  She told Emma she would be in the water with a lot more creatures, but it would be okay.  Grandma Sue said that she didn’t remember much about her baptism.  She didn’t remember all of the people who were there, or many details of the day, but she did remember love.  The love of her family and the love she felt from and for Heavenly Father when she was baptized.  She gave Emma a book about the covenants we make when we are baptized and talked about those covenants.  And she gave her a bracelet to help her remember her baptism day.  Next, Amy played the violin and I played the flute to “To Be A Pioneer” and “Baptism”.  The second one was a flop, I felt bad, but we got through it.  We should’ve practiced before, oops!  Next, Grandma Di spoke about the Holy Ghost.  She related how she went to an aquarium in California not to long ago, and was fascinated by the sea horses.  They were all holding on to plants with their tails at the bottom of the aquarium.  She was curious as to why they did this.  So she researched it when she got home and found out that sea horses are very weak.  They need to hang on to those plants so they won’t drift away and can stay with their families.  Then, when they need to, they will have the strength to go where they need to and not get washed away where they don’t want to go.  My mom likened this to us, how we need to “hold on” to the Holy Ghost and get the inspiration, help, direction, and comfort we need in order to make it to our destination.  She gave Emma a seahorse frame to put a picture of her on her baptism day to help remind her to stay close to the Holy Ghost.  Then all of the cousins sang “The Family is of God”, Emma’s favorite song.  It was so neat to hear them lifting their voices together, expressing their growing testimonies.  I could tell they felt what they sang was true.  Service missionaries Brother and Sister Moench spoke next. They held up a picture of Jesus when he was baptized and talked about how similar it looked to where Emma was going to be baptized.  They talked about how the ordinance of baptism is the same now as it was in Jesus’ day and since then.  They also talked about the pioneers, and those who crossed through Martin’s Cove, and how dedicated they were to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  And what they sacrificed, and then gave Emma a card and a handcart necklace as well.  It was then time for the baptismal ordinance.  Dave helped Emma into the water, and they walked out a bit to where the deepest part of the river was.  As Dave held Emma and was about to start, all of the sudden he said, “Woa! A fish just touched my leg!”  That wasn’t the only animal we saw, either. We saw a muskrat swimming across the water and other fish and insects.  He regained his composure, said the baptismal prayer, and Emma was immersed in the water, symbolizing the death of the old, and birth of her new self.  She has begun her journey on the covenant path and was beaming!  It was touching to see.  I took her and Dave towels, and they changed.  While doing this, the kids played with the white rag dolls and the whirly gig pioneer toys we made.  As soon as we got Emma dressed again, we went out for her confirmation.  Dave confirmed her, and in the circle was both Grandpas, Uncle Jeff, Uncle Randy, Uncle Jerry, Uncle Brian, Uncle Kolby, and Brother Mills.  A confirmation is to bestow upon the person being confirmed the gift of the Holy Ghost, and becoming a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The rest of the blessing was really good.  He blessed her to be able to remember the day and that Heavenly Father would help her with the decisions she could make.  I felt so proud of her, as well as thankful to have a husband who is a worthy Priesthood holder to bless me and our children in so many ways!  Mayela said the closing prayer, and it was time to eat.

After the service, we had sack dinners on the picnic tables that were right there near the river.  We had all kinds of rolls and breads, meats and cheeses and toppings, chips, fruit, and skittles (think: “I like to look for rainbows”).  It was nice to sit and visit and be outside.  But dark clouds started rolling in, and luckily everyone was just finishing up and it was time to pack up and go.  We felt such gratitude that the weather held out and our prayers were answered.  It was a neat experience. 

We went back to our house to have pie, per Emma’s request, instead of cake.  We had key lime, salted caramel apple, chocolate, almond peach crumble, and pumpkin.  It was fun making them, Emma helped a bit.  And it was perfect because we call Emma our sweetie pie.  And we enjoyed visiting and saying goodbyes. 

I’m so proud of Emma in this decision she’s made to follow the Savior!  She’s such an obedient, sweet, full-of-light kind of girl!  We love you, Emma Ann!  Congratulations!