We made it all the way to Pendleton, OR where we ended up staying the night. I kind of felt like Mary and Joseph in the way that there was no room for us in the inn. We drove all over just trying to find a hotel. When we finally found a Super 8 they were only accepting online reservations because there was a poker tournament going on that weekend. They were sending everyone downtown to the Knights Inn. When we arrived at the Knights Inn it was this rickety old building off the main drag and the parking garage was leaking. This place was so nasty, and I about died when I saw the room. They gave us the honeymoon sweet. I don't know who in their right mind would want to stay there for their honeymoon. I don't think that place had been cleaned in a very long time. A ketchup red wall above the jacuzzi tub that looked like you might catch something if you touched it. The shower was a joke. No water pressure at all, and it kept getting hot and then cold and staying cold. Plus it smelled, and you could hear every noise in the entire hotel.
After our exciting night in Pendleton we made our way to Brigham City. We were able to spend a couple of days with Nathan's Aunt Sue and Uncle Richard. It was so much fun. Sue and I have a lot in common. She loves Anne of Green Gables, Little House, The American Girls, and crocheting. We were able to see many of the cousins while we were there, my old house that I lived in until I was 3, and the starts of the new temple.
The rest of our week was full of family time. Emily got to meet her Great Grandpa's Leale and Gray, and my Mormor. It was kind of a bummer because we didn't have a ton of time to be able to see everyone that we wanted to especially when the end of the week came.
One of my favorite parts of the week was when we were able to do a session in the Salt Lake temple. I highly recommend doing that. It was really cool being able to see a live session. That temple is so beautiful, and awe inspiring to think that everything was hand made by those early pioneers. To see their faith in every door knob, mural, staircase.
My brother Nathan's graduation was Thursday and Friday. On Thursday we attended the Carl Bloch exhibit. He is a Danish painter who has painted many pictures of the Savior's life, and many altar paintings. Here is a link about the exhibit. That afternoon we went to commencement and was able to hear Richard G. Scott speak. Friday was convocation, and we had to wait until later in the afternoon to go to his, and just so happened that his ended up being the largest college at BYU so it took forever.
Emily did really well on the trip. She didn't complain too much from being stuck in her car seat for so long, and when her schedule was so messed up she did really well even if she wasn't getting dinner until 9:30 at night. Here are a few snap shots from our trip.
Emily with Grandpa Gray
4 generation picture with Mormor
Our little family on Temple Square
The Gang at Nate's graduation. The girl in front of Matt is his girlfriend, Tiffany.
Uncle Nate and Emily