Light Up the Night!

The day after Thanksgiving, we had our annual tradition of watching the lights come on downtown. For many years, we went to Temple Square, sometimes even watching from the roof of Crossroads! (Those were some pretty cool pictures.) Since the ZCMI Center and Crossroads were torn down and parking around Temple Square is impossible to find, we’ve been going to the Gateway. We get a little bit of shopping done (Franklin planner refill pages, Ryan’s Build-a-Bear’s birthday/Christmas present, etc.), have a yummy dinner, enjoy the John Schmidt concert, and watch the lighting of the tree. This year was even better since it was about 40 degrees warmer!
This year we went to Jason’s Deli for dinner (VERY good, by the way, if you haven’t tried it yet). A free soft-serve ice cream cone is included with dinner. We finished dinner at about 7:00, about the time the program was starting on the complete opposite end of Gateway. So we ate our ice cream cones while we walked through Gateway. We went to our normal spot to watch the program – the west balcony directly across from the steps where they have the program. Well, that’s when we had a minor trauma. Ryan was leaning on the railing, and accidentally dropped his ice cream cone. He looked at me with this horrified look on his face and told me. Then I was the one with the horrified look on MY face! We looked over the edge to see who it landed on, and it was perfectly precariously perched in the little groove between the bricks on the ledge.....ice cream side out.....dripping. (Remember…that 40 degrees warmer that WAS a good thing until now). So…if you were at the Gateway Friday night and can’t figure out how you got ice cream drops all over your shoulders and head, I have now solved the mystery! We had a lot of fun Saturday, too. We tended Alice and Claire for a few hours while Marc and Frances went on a date. Here I am with the girls… And here’s another picture of the cousins…