Albuquerque Hobbs: December 2023

Sunday, December 3rd: Mike got the chance to speak at a conference in Salt Lake City, and we jumped on the opportunity so we could see Jared's family. We arrived in SLC on Sunday, and the conference started on Monday. Jared and the boys were in California enjoying a little vacation to Magic Mountain and Universal Studios while Jenny was in the Dominican Republic visiting her family and old friends again.

So Mike and I had Sunday evening to ourselves and visited other Utah relatives on Monday. After checking into the City Center Hilton Hotel, we picked up some yummy Chinese food at PF Chang's and enjoyed it in our room while we watched a show on Mike's computer (he forgot to bring the HDMI cable to hook the laptop up to the TV). Photos below are in random order.

On Monday morning while Mike was at the conference, Jenni Finch drove up from Springville and picked me up in front of the hotel. We spent a few hours at the City Center Mall walking, shopping a bit, and catching up. We ate lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and enjoyed our visit. She's such a sweet niece!

In the evening, we met Angie Hoffman and her family at a Thai restaurant in West Jordan and enjoyed a nice visit with Angie, her husband Michael, and their boys Tyler and Jason. I'm so grateful that we had that time together. If we had known that Heidi Hatch was living in Lehi (close to Salt Lake), we would have tried to see her too!

Tall buildings seen from our 16th floor window

Takeout meal from PF Chang's

Fancy lobby and reception area of the Hilton

Cool shots of Salt Lake from my window seat

Monday, December 4th: Tyler Miles with mom Angie

The Hoffman Miles family

We love this adorable niece, Angie

Tuesday, December 5th: Mike stopped at a Street Tacos place and brought us lunch at the hotel. When he returned to the conference, I went to the mall and did some shopping. I bought some gifts for Mario, Milo, and Jared--matching tropical shirts at Express. Mario especially liked wearing the shirts later and looked great in them! I also bought a couple shirts and pairs of pants for myself at American Eagle, and a shirt for Mike. It was fun shopping the sales!

Mike and I met Jared and the boys in the early evening and enjoyed playing games together and going out to dinner. Mario chose Olive Garden, his favorite restaurant. I really love sitting and playing games with them and visiting while we play. It's the best, and we never get enough time to do that--makes me feel so sad. But I'm grateful that we got to see Jared and his family while we were in Salt Lake.

Wednesday, December 6th: Mike and I had lunch at Great Steak in the mall and spent part of the day walking around the city. We loved seeing the large Nativities representing different countries displayed near Temple Square. We went to the Family Search building to get help with my Japanese genealogy and met Yumiko Cook. She was delightful and sweet and will be contacting my cousins in Japan for more information on my family line. She now has direct access to my family online as well.

We also went to Deseret Book where I purchased a set of scriptures for Elijah's baptism gift, and had them engraved--also bought a scripture case for him. We stopped at Rocket Fizz inside the mall and bought a dozen bottles of soda, a box of Japanese crackers, and some Pop Rocks candy for Jared, Mario, and Milo.

LDS Church buildings and monuments in Salt Lake City

My beautiful boys at Olive Garden

Handsome Milo with his Alfredo and chicken cutlets

Sweet Mario with his Spaghetti and sausage

Trolley Square all lit up (one of Julie Hatch's favorite places to visit)

Tuesday, December 5th: Great Steak in the City Center Mall

My steak and fries; and Mike's Philly Steak sandwich

This Nativity is the only one I'm sure of--Japan!

Mexico?

Native American?

Africa

The Beehive House under restoration

The Lion House under restoration

The Salt Lake Temple under major restoration from the foundation up!

A 6-year project to strengthen and reinforce the foundation of the beautiful and famous Salt Lake City Temple. Such an enormous and extensive undertaking even for the most skilled and experienced workers!

The brown brackets below the stairs is where the original foundation was; and below those brown brackets is where the new foundation starts!

The huge Church Office Building

The old Tabernacle with its cool metal domed roof

Inside the iconic Tabernacle with its world famous pipe organ

The Gorgeous and historical Assembly Hall building

Inside the very old Assembly Hall, the first building that LDS saints built to gather together in Salt Lake City. Pretty impressive that it still looks great and is structurally sound.

Seagull Monument

The newer Family Search Library where we met this sweet Japanese woman named Yumiko Cook and recruited her help with my Japanese family line. She's contacting my cousins in Japan and corresponding with them in Japanese.

Yumiko, our new friend

Large crane behind the Assembly Hall where the Temple is closed off to the public and being worked on. Notice the Star David on the Assembly Hall's decorative round window.

"Hurrah for Israel!" One of my favorite paintings at Deseret Book

Pretty Christmas lights all over Salt Lake City

We loved this cool building with the clock tower. It reminded us of London's Big Ben, but on a much smaller scale.

Wednesday, December 6th: Enjoying dinner with Jared's family at Hi Sushi that evening

Caroling with Garden Park Ward's YMYW activity night with Mario and Milo. Jared was one of the YM leaders in charge of the activity, and it was fun!

Our drive back to the hotel after saying our goodbyes

Thursday, December 7th: We packed up our stuff and left the hotel to drive up to Pocatello Idaho to stay with Dan and Tammy Hobbs for two nights. We got a tour of their new home that's located very close to the Pocatello Temple; visited; played games; and had a home cooked meal together.

This was the meal that Dan and Tam made the first night: roast beef with gravy, instant mashed potatoes, garlic toast, and corn. I made the salad for us. It was yummy!

Tammy made the most delicious chocolate peanut clusters

Friday, December 8th: A ton of snow fell while we slept! This photo was taken the following morning. We cancelled our planned trip to Idaho Falls to visit Steve and Linda Hobbs and Brad Hatch. But we did attend a temple session with Dan and Tam that morning.