The House of the Lord and The House on the Hill

Last weekend John flew in for a weekend visit from Las Vegas where he has been working for the past couple weeks and we had a great time as usual. Friday night we drive up to see the Draper temple under construction and to scope out a hike for the next day. Very close to the temple, there is a house under construction that is so big and so lavish that you can see it from the bottom of the mountain.
We drove up to it and had a look around. Thanks to loads of gigantic windows designed to give the owner limitless access to an unparalleled view, we were given a great view of the inside of the house, which had a full size indoor basketball court with fully functional score board, an entry way that looked like a ballroom and a yellow tube slide coming out of the wall in the living room probably originating from one of the kid's rooms upstairs.

That was just the beginning! This place was amazing, and as you can see, the view is of the ENTIRE Salt Lake Valley! It was pretty amazing. We speculated that perhaps a member of the Utah Jazz was building this house especially since the basketball court was painted baby blue. Who else has that kind of money and would build a full size basketball court INDOORS!?


Saturday afternoon, John and Layne and I went to the SLC temple to do some sealings. It was a gorgeous day and as you can imagine, there were more weddings at the SLC temple on a sunny summer Saturday than there are middle aged women at a Rod Stewart concert. Needless to say, getting into a sealing room and finding a sealer that wasn't already up to his eyeballs was a bit tricky. While we were waiting on the benches (next to multiple nervous and eager looking newlyweds-to-be) a worker came out and with a big grin told Layne and I that everyone had gathered in the sealing room waiting for us and that it was time. It didn't take her long to see by the looks on our faces that we had already been there and done that. It's a nice thought though that we could still pass for young unmarrieds even though we've been hitched for nearly 5 years. I do vividly remember that feeling of waiting outside the sealing room for the big moment. All those young couples had the same look which was a mix of terror, anticipation and lack of sleep that I felt. Some of their faces were slightly greener than others. It was pretty funny to observe. I'd be interested to find out how many sealings are done in the Salt Lake Temple each Saturday during the summer months. Check out this couple and their brides maid(en)s! I don't think these pictures need any explanation. This is Salt Lake people.