This is the Place

Brenda, Aelora, the girls and I went to This is the Place on Pioneer Day.  It felt like a perfect day to visit and remember the pioneers, our heritage and history.  I thought it was really neat...we had never been before.  Some of us liked it more than others.  Gabby wants to go back soon (which probably won't happen..it's a bit pricy).  I wish we could have seen more than we did.  But I loved what we saw.

Joseph Smith and Brigham Young...they had seen the Salt Lake Valley in vision before the Saints came here.  Brigham Young is my great, great, great uncle.  Or his brother, Lorenzo Dow Young, is my great, great, great grandfather.

A reminder of the great sacrifices of those who crossed the plains pulling handcarts.

Right after we arrived, we caught the tail end of a bird show.  We didn't get to hear much...but one really interesting thing that we learned was that owls' feathers glow  fluorescent colors...that's how they appear to other birds.  Bright fluorescent pink or green or so on.  (We can see it if we shine a black light on their feathers at night.)  That's part of the reason that fake owls don't really work to scare away other birds.

We got to ride on a little trolley to get around the park.

We were able to tour Brigham Young's home.  It used to be in Sugarhouse but they moved the home to the park.  This wasn't the home he resided or spent most of his time in.  I loved seeing the period clothing.

Trunks from the 1800's

I thought this china was beautiful!

Brigham Young's home

Heber C. Kimball's home...it's exactly how it would have been...except the fence was much taller back then.  That's because when new immigrants would arrive, he would hire them to build/add on to his fence so that they could have some money until they were able to secure steady employment.   I wanted to tour this home, but the bank robbery was almost ready to start so we headed over there.  It was a cute drama but the crowd was so big that we couldn't see or hear as well as we would have liked.

Ella gets a shave...but they offer to also pull a few teeth or amputate any limbs, if she wants.  Apparently, barbers used to do a bit of dentistry and surgery.  (Yikes!  So thankful I live now!)

Cool bank notes...many signed by apostles of the church

After the bank robbery, we got some ice cream.  Then Gabby and Michelle tried a bit of leather crafting.

Children were invited to participate in the Pioneer Day Parade at This is the Place.  Gabby and Aelora decided they wanted to be a part of the parade.

Do you see Gabby and Aelora holding signs about the telegraph?

That's my girl!

I sure loved having this week to spend time with Brenda.  I'm so grateful for her friendship!!

Gabby's favorite part was definitely the Indian village.  It was pretty cool.  I would have liked to stay and see the dancing that was about to happen, but some of our children were tired and cranky so we decided to call it a day.  Except Brenda did want to do a little souvenir shopping so I went outside and read the plaques around the monument.