Salt Lake City and Temple Square

Saturday we made our way though Wyoming...much more desolate and boring than I was expecting, I'll be honest but then onto the beautiful state of Utah!  My long lifetime friend Susan lives there with her family.  They met up with us in the city for lunch, we toured Temple Square, home of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) and then hosted us at their home for the night - Thank you Susan and Trent and family!

We started out at Maxwell's East Coast Eatery in Downtown Salt Lake City.  It's been featured on Diners Drive-ins and Dives and had FANTASTIC pizza!

And then we took a train just a few blocks to Temple Square.  There's so much to say about the home of the Mormon Church that I'm not sure what all to say but what a incredible place to visit, so rich with history and beautiful and fascinating.  Even the kids enjoyed every minute!

This stunning building is the Visitor's Center.  I can't get over how gorgeous it is.

This is the Tabernacle Choir pipe organ with an astonishing 11,623 pipes!

Built because the Tabernacle could no longer house everyone who wanted to attend the bi-annual conferences, the Conference Center seats 21,000 (and still isn't big enough)!  The organ isn't as big as that of the Tabernacle but the building is unbelievably impressive.  There's nothing but original artwork throughout and they spared no expense making this building fantastic!

A replica of the original Christus statue in Copenhagen, Denmark is displayed in the Conference Center. Replicas of the statue were adopted by the leaders of  the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to emphasize the centrality of Jesus Christ in church teaching.

The view from the rooftop garden of the Conference Center.

Julie, Calla, Abby, Annika and Gannon on the rooftop.

View of the SLC Temple from the rooftop.

The beautiful gardens of Temple Square.

Also from the rooftop of the Convention Center is a wonderful view of The Cathedral of the Madeleine, a Roman Catholic Church. It is the only cathedral in the US under the patronage of St. Mary Magdalene.

The beautiful Salt Lake City Temple.  Susan and her husband Trent were married here.