Our 15th Anniversary Getaway

Jaime and I decided we wanted to go somewhere to celebrate our 15th anniversary. We're half way through thirty years! To be honest, it does not seem like 15 years. Waiting for my 15th birthday seemed longer than my 15 years of marriage. I've always told Jaime how I'd love to take him walking through temple square during the holidays so he could see it all lit up. I remember my first time going. I went with my family. Dad got us a nice hotel room. There were lights everywhere. It was so beautiful. I'd gone multiple times during college as well. So when thinking about where to go for our anniversary Jaime decided he'd get plane tickets to Salt Lake. He didn't stop there! He booked us a beautiful room at the Grand America Hotel. When we got there we were upgraded to an executive sweet, had $300 credit to use at their stores, restaurants, room service, and spa.

Such a beautiful hotel. I would recommend staying there to anyone who asked and I am sure I'll stay there again!

We landed in Salt Lake on Wednesday December 27th, our anniversary. We had time to check in to our room, unpack, then we changed and went for our reservation at the Roof Restaurant on top of the Joseph Smith Memorial building. The Happy Anniversary sign on our table was a nice touch. I remember watching the movie Charly and seeing them eat dinner at this same restaurant and having a beautiful view of the temple. 

We had the same beautiful view but with beautiful Christmas lights as well. 

I didn't know the restaurant was a buffet. With as many people are there and the place is pretty small, it felt tight trying to get through the long lines trying to get food. The food was delicious, but with how little we ate, we definitely over paid. ;) I guess it's the experience we were paying for. Our waiter was kind, our holiday drinks were super good, and their lyon house rolls of course are super yum. 

We found a Light the World vending machine!

After dinner we walked around the Joseph Smith Memorial building. Taking in all the Christmas decor, and walking off dinner. We were pretty full after we ate, even though we didn't think we ate very much. Hahaha

We went back to the hotel to walk around and look at the displays through out the hotel. People come in all day and evening just to look at them. This gingerbread house was huge, taller than us! They make a new one every year. I never thought I'd see a gingerbread house with deck before. 

Aren't these window displays adorable?! I love the Santa with his curled hair and beard of paper.

The lights in the courtyard of the hotel looked so sparkly. The pictures just aren't the same as seeing it in person but it is still very beautiful.

Their little treat shop window is adorable. I think of Olivia whenever I see macarons and these giant ones hanging made me want to take a picture for her to see. 

In our gorgeous room they turn down the bed, put chocolates on your bed and leave you fresh new slippers every night! 

Thursday morning we had breakfast in the Garden Cafe at the hotel. Then we went to the Salt Lake temple for a session. It's the first time Jaime or I have ever been inside. A few years ago when we were in Salt Lake with Mom and Dad, Jaime and I wanted to go but the temple was closed for some work. The temple is beautiful. I am in awe by the work the early church members were able to accomplish. I liked seeing the paintings, gold leaf, decor, and all the craftsmanship. It was neat to go from room to room, up stairs, and just enjoy the feeling of being there with Jaime. 

Immediately following the Salt Lake temple session we headed to Provo to go to the Provo City Center temple. We did sealings there. All temples are so beautiful. I love all the dark wood in this temple. The stained glass window in the front entry that came from an old church is so vivid and bright. When given directions to where I go to do the sealings I was told I could use the elevator or walk 70 something stairs. I opted for the stairs so I could walk through more of the temple. I'm so glad I did. Plus from all the sitting in the Salt Lake temple and in the car it was nice to get some more walking in.  After sealings were done we went in to the celestial room. Again, amazing beauty. It's hard to imagine that the celestial kingdom is brighter, more beautiful than anything we see here. 

The first picture I took when we got there, the second with Jaime is just before we left. It's getting dark!

We drove to In-N-Out to grab some dinner then headed over to the Marriott Center to watch a BYU basketball game. 

Jaime said the game was at 6pm. We hurried through our dinner to get to the game knowing we'd miss the beginning of it but didn't mind. We follow the crowd to the stadium, buy our tickets and go find our seats. It seemed like there were a lot more people when we were walking in to the game but once we sat in our seats the place looked almost empty! Instead of being 20 minutes late at 6:20pm, we were 4o minutes early because the game started at 7pm MT, 6pm Pacific. hahaha

It all worked out ok. The place filled up and the game was fun! Kinda slow at the beginning but the second half it really picked up and the cougars pulled away with a big win. 

When we got back to the hotel we were greeted with a sweet surprise on the coffee table. 

Upon checkin we were asked what brought us here. Jaime said our 15th anniversary. Obviously he was making notes on the computer and this scrumptious cake was made just for us. And the best part, it was barely even cake! There was a quarter of an inch of chocolate cake on the bottom. The rest was a raspberry mouse with a yummy vanilla frosting. And the chocolate covered strawberries were of course divine!

Friday morning we slept in, took our time getting ready and had room service bring our breakfast. They treat you like you're really someone important. They set everything up for us, the table, dishes, and pour the drinks. 

We spent the day walking around and shopping at the City Creek mall. We didn't buy much (had to make sure everything we bought would fit in our bags going home.) 

After we were done shopping we went to a late lunch at Rodizio's Brazilian grill. Ate too much and had to do more walking around the Trolley Center, and to kill some time. Then we headed back to temple square to go walk through the Church History Museum. 

We wanted to see the new Joseph Smith History and First Vision exhibit. 

This desk actually belonged to Joseph's brother Alvin. The name is carved in on the bottom right of the desk.

It's quite the display that's set up in the museum. The First Vision theater is pretty sweet too. Just a short video of his vision. 

After walking through the visitor's center and church history museum we walked around temple square looking at all the lights. 

We stopped to listen to the nativity story. The lights would shine on each group, shepards, wise men, stable, as it was told over the loud speaker system. I liked the light that lite up above the tabernacle being the star above the stable. 

I love the lights floating on the reflection pool! The temple at night is breath taking. And being able to walk around it and seeing how enormous it is, just wow. Truly a miraculous building. 

All of this happens because of him. Jaime plans our trips. It's really his gift to me for my birthdays when he takes me somewhere in October and also for our anniversary. We don't go away for every anniversary but he's when we do it's because he's planned and set it all up. What a guy.

After walking around temple square we headed back to the hotel. Looking at what else we could do there I decided to get a massage. I mean, we have that $300 we need to use! A customized hour massage sounded like just what I needed. 

The quiet, serene atmosphere with drinks and snacks makes for a nice place to just sit and relax while waiting for my massage. Of course a quick sit in the sauna was nice as well. My massage was amazing! She'd use hot towels on my back and feet. She'd run her elbow up my back and around my shoulder then down my arm and run her fingers through mine. Odd how something so simple can feel so relaxing. Then she'd take both hands and rub one from the hip up the back, the other from the hip down the leg at the same time. Continue up my back and again around my shoulder down my arm, and through my fingers. She found the tough knot in my back on the right side and she worked on it for a while. Oh and the seasonal oils scent of cinnamon and apple was super good! When she was all done, my bed was raised up in a sitting position, she laid my robe on my lap and said I could stay there a bit longer if I needed and that she'd be waiting outside the door for me with my water. Talk about being pampered! I should have gotten a 2 hour massage!! Next time ;)

Because we had a late lunch at Rodizio's we realized we were hungry about 10:30pm. So Jaime ordered up a sandwich, salad, and fries. :) I seriously could get used to people fixing and bringing me food to my room all the time. We enjoyed our late meal while watching a movie. Being able to do whatever we wanted without interruptions is really what helps make a getaway a getaway. 

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the Garden Cafe again but this time ate from the buffet. We had to check out by noon and we didn't leave a minute sooner. I could have stayed longer!! Thank you Jaime for taking me on such a wonderful, beautiful vacation. This truly was a vacation. A perfect way to end the year. And of course, I'm so thankful Bel wanted to have my kids. She asked Jaime if we were going to be going anywhere for our anniversary and that if we did she wanted to keep the kids. So when Jaime found out we'd have a sitter for sure he started seriously looking at vacation plans for us. Happy Anniversary Jaime! The next 15 years are going to fly by.