dripping with passion

i can't get over the views from my parents' condo in downtown salt lake city. and i am just majorly crushing on that salt lake city! i spent a couple of days of my spring break working from the twelfth floor overlooking those views. i took a morning run around the city blocks and took the new citybikes for a spin a couple of times. and, as usual when i visit salt lake, i felt so grateful that that place is and always will be my hometown. {i also spent a day and a half at my parents' house in park city, and as i was working on saturday afternoon i looked out the windows to see snow falling from the sky !!! i was so excited and giddy about it. nothing says home  quite like late april snowstorms!}

when i’m in utah, i love making my rounds to spend a little time with many of my dearest, dearest friends. lisa, megan and i had a sleepover at my parents’ downtown condo. we stayed up too late talking, and slept three deep in the master bedroom. in the morning, we got some breakfast at eva’s before bringing lisa to the airport for a trip to california. it’s been nearly eight years since i met these girls during my time as a visiting student at byu. love them to bits. i met cath and her baby boys downtown for a quick garden stroll and lunch at city creek. i hadn’t seen charlie since the day after he was born, and the last time i saw sam he only knew a few words (now he talks like crazy!). i love those sweet boys so much, and the fact that catherine calls me “auntie charity” to them. we had a traditional high-school-friends dodo lunch on friday. as per usual, we pretty much all ordered the smoked turkey sandwich, and stayed at our table talking and laughing for about two hour...

i happened to get to salt lake city probably on the very  day  that the gardens at temple square peaked in their spectacular beauty. on wednesday evening, my sister saren and her kids came down from ogden to meet me downtown to marvel at the ridiculously gorgeous tapestry of color and texture blanketed over those city blocks. we were all blown away! of course we snapped pictures all around, but these pretty photos don't even do the spring wonderland justice. it felt like heaven strolling around! {please excuse my rolled-out-of-bed-i'm-on-vacation look...} temple square is, to me, one of the most beautiful and sacred spots on earth. i love being there, especially with people i oh so love. and the blooming of spring! such a beautiful gift of mortality. 

-watched gracie give an awesome talk in church on easter sunday, and helped shawni with singing time in primary.  -saw shawni and dave's new house and became its first overnight visitor! shawni put so much thought and love into designing this home, and it is basically a work of art. it was so fun to see the fruit of allllll her and dave's work. it's really beautiful in so many ways.  -pulled claire and lucy out of school for a lunch date, and then grace the next day. i didn't take a picture at my lunch date with grace, but luckily i have about two dozen selfies that she took with my phone to make up for that :) we had so much fun lunching and chatting. boy howdy, i love those girls. -visited my brother josh's new school and got to see his classroom and meet his students. it was the awesomest. josh is the best elementary school teacher in the world. it was fun to talk to him about teaching and see how much his students adore him.  -watched elle play tennis ...

shawni and i took my niece elle out of her last couple of classes at the end of the school day on tuesday to go to the desert botanical gardens in phoenix together. it was so so so hot , but also outrageously beautiful, and we had the best time. there was a special exhibit of chihuly glass sculptures places around all the cacti and desert wildflowers and palo verde trees. all three of us were snapping pictures like crazy. it is so fun for me to be around people that have the same nature/art/beauty-appreciation genes as me. we were going wild about how gorgeous everything was. here's about one tenth of the pictures we took: we remembered it was earth day about half way through our wanderings - and what a spectacular way to celebrate! did you notice how i am on my tippy-toes in every picture where i'm standing next to elle? i love that tall girl so much - i just think she's the coolest fifteen year old there is. we had to rush back to gilbert to get her to a tennis mat...