Having Fun in Salt Lake City

 I'm still out in Salt Lake City, having a great little vacation to celebrate Jean's birthday. It's been snowing out here!

Yesterday we watched two NCAA games.  The first started out very exciting as I realized that one of the players was an alumni of my school.  James Robinson, wearing number 0 for Pittsburgh University, had been an 8th grader when I first arrived, and already promised to become a great basketball player.  So it was a thrill to realized that we'd be seeing him play.  Unfortunately, both his team and the opposing team, Wichita State, were having terrible days and played a game which my sister said was "sloppy," and neither team had much luck getting their balls into the basket.  My sense of thrill quickly turned to embarrassed pity as I watched both teams play badly. In the end Wichita won, but it wasn't a pleasant game to watch.

The second game, however, Gonzaga versus Southern University, reminded me of what watching great live basketball is all about.  Gonzaga came in as the sure winner, but found a worthy opponent in Southern, who wasn't going down easily.  Over and over again the winning score switched from one team to the other.  In the end Gonzaga won by a few points, but underdog Southern had really given them a run for their money.

The NCAA games in Salt Lake happened to coincide with the RootsTech conference, which brings together people working on family history and companies which are developing technology to help them.  My brother, Jim, is a family history specialist at the Mormon Church's Family History Library and was participating in the conference, so he got us into the exhibit hall where we all had an interesting time checking out the latest software programs and web sites devoted to genealogy and family history.  The Mormon Tabernacle Choir offered a special concert in conjunction with the RootsTech conference and we all enjoyed it.  Afterwards, we checked out the Family History Library and Jim's office. 

  

This morning Jean and I and our dear sister-in-law, Kathy, joined our friend, Janice, at a local spa for a few hours of R&R.  I loved this sign we spotted on the way in.

Then it was off to Park City for Jean's special birthday dinner at the Cafe Terigo. We met up with Jan's husband, Blaine, and the six of us had a wonderful time together. 

Can you tell that there were some "snow showers"?  It was cold but lovely.