Fancier Than The Olive Garden?

When we decided to go to Utah for Tanner's ordination, we also decided that we wanted to take the nieces and nephews out to a special dinner.  Two years ago when I went to Utah for something, we did the same thing, but it was just to IHOP.  This time, we wanted it to be something super special - something they would never forget.

In the couple of weeks before we went, we called each of the kids and told them we'd like to take them to a special place for dinner while we were there.  We told them they'd have to dress up because it was a fancy place.  The best reaction we got was when we told Cristobal...he said, "You mean fancy like the Olive Garden?"  I just laughed.  Oh honey, if you only knew - we're going to The Roof!

So, the last night of our trip, we arranged to pick each of the kids up.  Melon Man took the truck and drove to Jen's to pick up Tato and Cristobal after dropping me off at Kurt and Ang's, where I snagged their van and all the rest of the kids except Holly - she was just too young still.

I drove downtown and all the while, the kids kept guessing where we were going.  They finally hit on the right place and so we talked about how we behave in a fancy restaurant.  We parked and went in to wait for Melon Man and Cristobal and hopefully, Tato.  As we stepped off the elevator, a kind elderly gentleman noticed me with all the kiddos all dresssed up and said, "My, what a handsome bunch you are!"  I politely told him we were there to have dinner at The Roof and we were waiting for Uncle and two more.  He guided us to the west observatory where we waited for the others.  I couldn't resist taking these pictures of the kids looking out the windows at the temple...

Of course, we had to grab some front facing pictures too...too bad Cristobal and Tato hadn't arrived yet...

I just love this one...their little bodies just perched in the window.  Oh, the inquisitivity of children...

Cousins...Dolly and Jack...they're growing up so fast...

I was so happy when Melon Man arrived and Tato had been able to come.  We were so afraid he would miss out on this because he wouldn't feel well.  But, he made it!  I was so glad.  This picture will be in my heart and memory forever.  It's just too bad you can't see the temple in the background.  That would have made it the perfect picture...oh, and if Melon Man had been able to be in it too.

As we walked to our table, Dilly told me, "Auntie, this IS FANCY!"  I just chuckled to myself.  Yes, honey, it is, but you are worth it!  It was also fun watching the people in the restaurant...they looked at all the kids like, huh?  Those people are bringing kids here?  I bet they either thought, oh great, those kids are going to ruin our romantic dinner, or they thought, oh gee, what a waste of money spending this much on a bunch of kids.  I think some just looked at us like, wow, they must really love those kids to bring them all here.  I didn't care what they thought...I knew why we'd brought them, I knew how much it was going to cost, and I knew how much I truly loved them and it would be okay.

The kids thought that the clear piano was really neat and they thought it was cool that the pianist was willing to play "I Love to See the Temple" for them, but wasn't able to because she didn't have the music with her tonight.  She played "How Firm a Foundation" instead and they were happy with that. 

We had an excellent dinner!  All of the kids were very well behaved.  They were so cute getting up and going to the buffet by themselves after we went with them the first time.  Even Peanut and Scooter were able to do it themselves.  The big boys went back numerous times and filled up until they weren't able to move much.  Peanut and Scooter could barely wait to eat dessert...but, we made them eat real food first!  I, of course, just had to capture the evening in pictures...

The kids were so amazed at how close we were to the temple and how big the angel, Moroni, was.  After we were done eating, we had a quick talk about why we had brought them to this special place.  We talked about how special the temple is and how that is the only place we should be married.  We talked about even though sometimes we go through hard times in our lives, we can always turn to Heavenly Father for help and guidance in making the right decisions or finding comfort.

Soon, it was time to pay and go.  The evening was so worth every penny.  We got to spend a few precious hours with these beautiful children.  It was a special evening with special memories!