Pageant Time

It has been quite a long time since our family last attended the Manti Pageant. Owen learned the Joseph Smith story there when he was eight or nine, and our two youngest have never seen it at all. So we trekked down to Lauri and Jay's for a fun overnighter.

We had to park several blocks away because crowds were so huge. We were ready for a chilly night, but it turns out we didn't really need all of the blankets.

With Temple Hill in the background and rambunctious happy people in the foreground. Bronwyn borrowed a purple fleece jacket from Lauri that was rather large on her. I kept thinking she was wearing her own purple bathrobe from home when I saw her from the back.

This gal is a relative of Jay's. She and her family were selling food items to pageant goers. She's drizzling white chocolate and milk chocolate over long skewers of fat, glistening strawberries. I wanted several sticks to myself. Maybe next year!

Four boys mugging for the camera while Lauri tries to capture the moment on film. She's an expert photographer with a good eye for putting things together in a photo. And she's a whiz with Photoshop! It was a good thing I brought snacks to share to keep everyone happy while we waited about an hour for the pageant to start. There were cast members wandering through the crowds on the temple grounds, visiting with guests.

Matthew and Owen make faces for the camera. Matthew is wearing his I'm-pretending-I-look-profound-while-I-pretend-I-don't-know-you're-taking-my-picture look, while I can't quite classify Owen's expression. He makes this face often when I'm taking his picture. Whatever.

Bronwyn was glad to have a jacket. Thanks to the late arrival of several tall, broad-shouldered Polynesians (who truly were friendly) sitting in the row in front of us, Bronwyn ended up spending the entire show sitting on my lap in order to see. She and Owen were the only two of my children who managed to stay awake through the whole show. Evan and Liam were curled up before it finished.

I love the temple. Several years ago I had the opportunity to help Lauri with her volunteer cleaning duties inside. One of the security guards showed us several places that most patrons don't get to see. It was a beautiful experience. For the pageant there is an actor representing Moroni who perches on the top of the left-hand tower. Lauri says in order for him to be seen by the crowds beneath he has to stand on a platform on top of the small space up there on the roof of the tower. All of my kids said they would never want to have that role! Me either. But I bet the view is pretty impressive!

What a great weekend we had. Thank you Lauri and Jay!