Catching Up Finally!

Wow, it's been a busy couple of months for us here in the Surdukowski household.  I haven't had tons of chances to update the blog, but I managed to find a few spare moments where I can finally do that!

First, I took off to Salt Lake City, Utah the end of September to attend the baptism of my niece, Taylor.  I flew out there with Wyatt in hand and my sister by my side!  We had a great time.  We stayed with some of the greatest people I've ever met, which made our time there so much more enjoyable!  I was able to see a friend of mine from when we were teenagers.  Hadn't seen her in 10 years, so it was fun to see her and her girls! 

While we were there, my mom, dad, sister, Wyatt, and I spent a day at our church's Temple Square.  We walked around the Salt Lake Temple, managed to see a few brides and grooms as their pictures were being taken.  We also walked around inside the Tabernacle, which is a rather large auditorium with this amazing organ.  While we were in there we got to catch a glimpse of Richard Elliott practicing the organ.  He's such an amazing organist, definitely fun to watch his feet work the pedals!  We stopped in to check out the Assembly Hall, which is another auditorium-type building.  We also took a tour of the Beehive House, which was used as Brigham Young's personal office and home.  It's fun to see how people lived in the mid-1800s.  Definitely worth the trip!

It's incredible to me that the buildings that encompass Temple Square were built in the 1800s.  They are magnificent!  The details on the Salt Lake Temple are extraordinary!  The architecture for the Tabernacle to have a non-supported roof to add exceptional acoustics at that time is mind-boggling!  It just goes to show you that when the Lord wants something built or done, He gives His people the right tools and know-how to get it done!  I love that!

After that we walked across the street to take a tour of the Conference Center.  That place is incredible!  The artwork that adorns the walls is amazing!  My favorite part was the Hall of the Prophets where all the busts of the modern day prophets are, from Joseph Smith down to Gordon B. Hinckley (Thomas S. Monson's hasn't been completed yet)!  Very cool!  We were able to go up on the roof and check out the gardens and meadows and forests they have up there.  Imagine this, on the top of this gigantic building that takes up an entire city block all by itself, there are over 4 acres of canyon-like foliage, desert-like foliage, and a waterfall & river to look at.  You'd never guess that you were ontop of a building.  It really felt like you were standing in a meadow!

We ate at some really great places while we were there.  We had lunch one day at the Nauvoo Cafe and had lunch another day with my uncle at the Lion House Pantry!  We ate dinner one night at the Roof Restaurant, which is located in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (that's a cool building!).   We dined on some great food while we enjoyed the view of the lit up Salt Lake Temple from the top!  All I have to say is Lion House Rolls are AMAZING!!

We spent time with my brothers, Scott and Eric, and their families.  It was good to see them.  The baptism was great.  Taylor looked amazing in her white baptismal dress.  She was so excited! 

It was a nice getaway, but it was great to get home to see my own family.  I really wished that they could have come with me, but one day we'll make it out there as a family to do all the church history sites!

The day after I got back from Utah, Bennett broke his arm.  Spencer pushed Bennett off the trampoline.  Broke both of the bones in Bennett's forearm.  He's in a cast that goes past his elbow at least until the first of November.  He's managed to cope really well with it on, but he does get very frustrated at times because he can't do all that he wants to do. 

We've also been dealing with this on-again-off-again fevers with Bennett again.  He gets these fevers that spike over 103 degrees but then come down, sometimes go away, but always come back for 4-5 days at a time.  He gets no other symptoms but a fever.  This is the 5th or 6th time he's had them since March.  So this time I called the doctor and had them check him out.  They checked him for strep, but thankfully that was negative.  So they sent him over to have bloodwork done.  The doctor thinks he has what's called Cyclic Fevers.  They occur in young children every 3-6 weeks and last from 2-6 days at a time.  The doctor said that he'll grow out of them, so hopefully that happens soon.  The diagnosis was kind of a general one that doesn't really explain a whole lot, but for now that's all I have to go on...

It's been a busy month of lots to do, but it's been fun.  I really did have a great time in Utah, but there really is no place like home!