Christmas outing

Well, Pork Chop and I finally got up off our duffs yesterday evening and went down to Temple Square to check out the lights. Of course it was ridiculously crowded, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway, especially because we didn't have to fight traffic to get there.

I'll have to grab some of the pictures and post them later, but we especially enjoyed some of the large-scale international nativities that they have around the Church Office Building. The one in front of the north visitor's center is a traditional one that they've had for as long as I can remember and is very impressive with its nearly-life-sized wise men on camels, etc., but they had some highly stylized ones from other cultures that were very interesting.

We also went into the Assembly Hall on a whim and heard a full Christmas concert by one of the local high school choirs. It was pretty good, although we both had a bit of a laugh over a born-and-raised 17-year-old Utah girl singing a solo intended for a gospel soul singer of ample proportions.

Pork Chop was really fascinated by the construction in the Assembly Hall, specifically an ornate wooden spiral staircase that evidently leads to the roof. I realized I had never been inside it before, although it reminds me a lot of the interior of the Provo Tabernacle. After the concert, we took a few more pictures and then hurried home before we froze to death. Along the way, we realized that we were keeping pace with the horse-drawn carriages that circle the block. Those horses are in no hurry, and I keep wondering at what point the city will finally ban them, since they really tend to snarl up traffic as everyone has to go around them.

All in all, we had a successful outing and in celebration of our first real Christmas excursion, I came home and topped the evening off with a homemade sugar cookie and hot chocolate.