Flat Courtney

We had a visitor for a couple of days.  Her name is Flat Courtney from Clovis, California!  She got the chance to see what it's like to live with a Utah family who has a mom, a dad and seven kids.  Oh, and one dog, one cat and one fish.  Flat Courtney got up early Friday morning with Araceli and me, the mom, Circe, and went to cello.

Elliott, the cello teacher, thought it would be funny if Flat Courtney hung out with the Halloween decorations.  Musicians have a nerdy sense of humor!

Flat Courtney didn't want to go to junior high after cello, and I don't blame her!  She wanted to see some sights, so Tziporah took her to Salt Lake's #1 tourist destination, Temple Square, headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The grounds and the temple are beautiful, and the fall weather was perfect.

A missionary introduced Flat Courtney to the Christus statue, which is a majestic replica of a statue by Bertel Thorvaldsen, in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Speaking of Denmark, Flat Courtney met missionaries from all over the world during her visit to Temple Square.  There were many from Spanish-speaking and Chinese-speaking regions, the two languages that most tourists to Utah speak.

When in Salt Lake, one must sample some goodies from the Lion House Pantry.  This traditional restaurant is located in the historic Lion House, where early LDS church leader and prophet Brigham Young lived with his very large family.  If you visit there, you will hear stories of some Utahns' pioneer ancestors crossing the American plains over the Oregon Trail in covered wagons or pulling handcarts.  Shen they reached the Salt Lake Valley, they irrigated the land and created a beautiful community.

After Flat Courtney's day of tourism, she accompanied Xanthe to her piano lesson.  She sat on the piano so she could see if Xanthe's fingers were nice and round.

She said hi to Xanthe's dad at his law office.

Flat Courtney helped the kids practice their music, then dropped off Freestone at ballet, and Xanthe at Nutcracker practice.  She will be a Sugarplum in the Nutcracker this year.  Flat Courtney wanted to go to ballet class like everyone else, but she...was too flat.

Friday night was a special night to be a visitor with the Dopp family because it was our turn to host Chinese Playgroup!  In case you haven't noticed, one of the Dopp children is adopted from China.  Her name is Xanthe, and she has a big group of friends who were also adopted from China.  Flat Courtney got to accompany them on a hayride at our local waterslide and mini golf have, Cherry Hill.  There were some not-so-scary skeletons to spot along the hayride.  Afterwards, there was cider and donuts and LOTS and LOTS of giggles!

Saturday morning was Utah Youth Symphony rehearsal for some of the kids and more ballet for others.  Flat Courtney went to youth symphony because it was in the big city, and she wanted to see the Utah State Capitol and the University of Utah on the way.  Go Utes!

Flat Courtney really loved hearing a Brandenburg Concerto on a Saturday morning...

...but she got hungry, so she skipped down the street to Einstein's Bagels and got a baker's dozen.  That's a lot!  I hope she shared!

Later, Flat Courtney went to a baby shower, and a birthday party for the Dopp kids' great-grandmother Nana Ruby, who turned 99.  Hooray for Nana Ruby!

Then there was a visit to Circe's violin shop, where this lucky girl got to try out some violins and buy one to take home.  She is going to be in her school's orchestra.  By this time, Flat Courtney knew all about orchestra, but she knew even more about bagels.

Flat Courtney, being a girl, got to go to Park City, in the mountains, with all the girls in the family, for a special Saturday night retreat.  There was a meeting being broadcast live to all the girls in the world, talking to them about their unique potential, all the important things they can accomplish with their lives, and all the ways they can help and serve others.  Girl power!  Oh, and there was ice cream.  Everything is more fun with ice cream.

Sunday morning Flat Courtney went on a hike in Deer Valley before leaving the mountains.

The drive back down to the Salt Lake Valley was beautiful because of all the autumn leaves.  Flat Courtney and Ruby jumped out of the car to admire one of our favorite local landmarks, a pair of granite slabs called "Devil's Slide."

The Dopp family was so happy to have Flat Courtney with us for a few days.  Next , bring the whole class!