Salt Lake City, UT

Unfortunately, I haven't seen much of Salt Lake City, except for the highways and my hotel room, and tomorrow will probably follow suit.  I left WY today, en route to the Grand Canyon, and SLC seemed like a good stopping over.  It was such a beautiful drive today, I hit my highest elevation of the trip at 7623 ft (I may be off by a foot) , and was very happy as I was coming into SLC that my ears were popping on my descent.  It really is for the birds ...hahaha get it?? High elevation is "for the birds" lol I crack me up! There were really beautiful lakes along the drive, I find the water out here so eyecatching.  It's very clean and clear, and looks so inviting.  I found out, though, that it is frigidly freezing cold.  I didn't see any moose, elk, or buffalo while I was in WY...which is pretty rare considering they roam so freely...I did see enough cattle to choke a horse...hahaha there's another one! There were countless cattle and horses, and eventually I did see deer that were still alive.  The roadkill around here is so bad, I saw at least 10 large deer (the deer here are mule deer, which are sometimes double the size of the white tail deer we have back in NY) on the sides of the highway.  It, of course, pulls at my heartstrings when I see them. 
Anyway, as the pictures I posted yesterday show, we finally got Daddy's urn open! Praise the Lord!! It was beginning to become a problem, as one of my main goals was to spread his ashes across the country, but the urn was not cooperating! So, we went to the mortuary, and the woman was so nice she worked on it a little and got it open.  I look at it like it was not meant to happen before yesterday.  Nov 2 was 6 months exactly since Daddy passed away, and so I have to believe there's something to it.  The scripture I got yesterday morning before we left was:

"His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning...You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness" -Psalm 30:5,11

I know God is helping me along that transition...and I am very grateful.  I definitely have my moments, but I am seeing a lot more breaks in the clouds.  I cried when I looked at my Dad's ashes for the first time, but smiled with joy as we spread them.  I was glad to have Tommie and Amber there with me.
And the dancing part is soooo me haha
Last night in the midst of  karaoke-ing, I was rocking out to Whitney Houston's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody', and ended up getting caught in a group of Marines! Amber pointed out how uncommon it is for Marines to even be in the area, as they were only there for their upcoming ball.  I said, well it doesn't surprise me!!

So, I am sitting here in my hotel room blogging while I'm watching "The Pacific" on HBO.  I am so happy that they are playing the series during the week of the Marine Corps Birthday.  For those who are unfamiliar, it follows the 1st Marine Div during WW2.  It really blows my mind what these men endured, for us, and it makes me so thankful.  You all know me well enough to be able to imagine the long winded paragraph I could write on this topic, but I will just simply ask/remind you to make the effort to personally thank a Veteran for their service as this Sunday is Veteran's Day.

Well, I'm gonna sign off now, I hope and pray everyone is doing well and that the sun comes out strong for u guys tomorrow!!!
miss n love u
xoxo E

p.s. Just as I was re-reading this post before I publish, one of the guys on "The Pacific" asked the other if he's ever been to the Grand Canyon.  He has a bit of a monologue, but says "you have to see it to understand it" ...how funny, I'm finally gonna see it...