Park Slides and Piggy Back Rides

Jeff and I had a great time celebrating our 17th anniversary together in Manti. I have ALWAYS wanted to go back to Manti, we had talked about it, but never made it much of a priority. I always had felt guilty about never taking the opportunity to go back, and I wondered why we had picked a place that was harder to get to when there were so many other Temples closer. I remember as a little girl looking at pictures of the beautiful Manti Temple, and dreaming about getting married there. Jeff received his endowments in the Manti Temple just before entering the MTC. His great uncle was a temple worker at the time and took him on a short tour of the Temple after his endowment session. He had told Jeff about the spiral staircase that led up to 2 sealing rooms. Jeff had made a decision that day that he wanted to be married in the highest sealing room in the northwest tower.

After Jeff and I began dating and becoming more serious we had talked about where we wanted to get married and to our amazement we both wanted to be married in the Manti Temple. His uncle was still working at that Temple and was a sealer, so we were lucky to have had a family member seal us. Like I said earlier I had always wondered why I had picked a Temple that was a bit more difficult to get to. I had had this feeling over the years and it had bothered me that we had never been back. As our anniversary approached I wasn't about to let another year go by without visiting the Manti temple. I book a room at this cute B&B directly across from the Temple.





We arrived on Friday evening and ate dinner at a local restuarant (which is about the only one in Manti). We drove around to see if we could find a grocery store, because I had forgotten my shampoo and conditioner at home, after wondering around Main street and other side street without any signs of a grocery store, we decided to just stop at a gas station. I asked the cashier if there were any grocery stores and she said that there were, but they closed at 8 pm. WHAT? On a Friday night? That's just crazy, I grew-up in a small town, but the grocery store was open until 10 or 11 pm. Anyway...we bought my shampoo and a few snacks, and headed back to our room. We had a nice romantic night together and the best thing about getting away is having no children waking up at the crack of dawn and asking for breakfast. After sleeping in a bit on Saturday morning we got up and got ready to go to the Temple, ate breakfast and headed to the Temple for the 10:30 session. We I walked into the doors, it was just as I had remembered it. Beautiful, ornate, majestic, etc. etc. I was in awe the whole time. The sessions are still live at this temple, and moving from room to room is a good way to keep you awake and on your toes. The paintings in each room were georgeous. We spent some time in the Celestial room, and contemplated about asking someone if we could climb the stairs to see "our" sealing room. We decided to go back downstairs and ask someone there. Jeff asked one of the men in the hallway, and he had told us that he couldn't give us permission, but he would find someone who could. He had us sit in the marriage waiting room, and after about 5 minutes he came and told us that he could take us up there. We climbed the stairs (I was out of breath and my legs our sore today), to sealing room 7. We he opened the doors, I had an overwhelming emotion take over me. It was just as I had remembered 17 years ago. The worker closed the doors and Jeff and I took a couple of minutes to reminise about that day. I was so grateful to that Temple worker who had taken the time out for us to see "our" sealing room.

Manti Temple at night!

Don't you love our squinty eyes? This was about the 10th picture we tried to take, the sun was SO bright!!

I LOVE getting away with Jeff, even if it is for only 1 night. I'm already looking forward to going again next year. This was one of the best get-aways we've had together.