We had a great time with Katie, Joey, Jackson and Abby for Thanksgiving this year. Katie and Joey invited us to share it with them, so we did! The weather cooperated, so driving wasn't a problem and we even enjoyed nice weather there.
We went on a long walk with Jackson Wednesday in order to give Katie time to prepare some things for the next day. He loved Pioneer Park, a few blocks south of their home.
After the park, we walked up Center Street and looked in some stores. The pet store was his favorite.
We took a look at the new temple (old tabernacle) to see how it's coming along. The outside walls are standing on their own, but there's a long way to go! I'm grateful it's being rebuilt after the fire. It was a landmark we wouldn't want to lose!
We thought we'd go to the temple later that day, but found it closed at noon the day before Thanksgiving!
Abby lives just a few blocks from Joey and Katie, so rides her bike to their house. We were happy to get to spend some time with her!
Joey took us on a tour of his work. I took some pictures to give an idea what it looks like. It's a company with lots of young workers, and to make the job more fun and retain employees, they have lots of amenities not found at most workplaces.
Here's Joey and Jackson in a conference room. Jackson picks up remotes, erasers, or anything rectangular and holds it up to his ear and says, "Hello!"
This is the central part of the main floor, where most of the cubicles are located. The VW bug is a snack bar, stocked with popcorn, candy, crackers, and all kinds of treats.
This shows some of the work spaces.
There is a fully-equipped fitness room for their use.
Here is their full-sized kitchen, where employees can enjoy cereal for breakfast, snacks, ice cream, etc. The freezer has a whole bunch of five gallon buckets of BYU ice cream in it.
They have these beach cruisers all over the building so if an employee is inclined to take a ride through the office, rather than walk, that's an option. Joey can ride it carrying Jackson in his arms!
Jackson enjoyed the tether ball on the upper floor.
Katie cooked a delicious meal for Thanksgiving. The croissants were a very big hit. She also made cornbread stuffing from scratch, apple pie from scratch, a brine-soaked turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and delicious sweet potatoes (my personal favorite). Abby made the green bean casserole and I brought pecan pie. It was quite a feast!
There's a mall in the river bottoms near Joey's work where we checked out the lights. Although it was pretty mild weather, it was quite cold at night!
Friday night we went up to Salt Lake to check out the City Creek Mall and Temple Square. They turned the Christmas lights on that evening. We were really impressed with the mall, but Temple Square was magnificent!
I wanted to get a good picture of the Assembly Hall, but this doesn't do it justice. It was beautiful.
