Music City USA

Josh and I just got back from Nashville. We went there for the National Boy Scouts of America Leadership training conference. What a wonderful experience! We flew out on Saturday, August 2. We were greeted in Nashville by hot and humid weather. We decided to rent a car, which was a great decision. Abigail came along and Josh's mom came too to help us with the baby. What a blessing she was. We are appreciative of her coming to help. On Saturday, we checked into the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. Wow! Over 3,000 rooms and over 9 square miles of enclosed atriums and hotel space. It was an awesome sight. We drove around Nashville, saw a historic plantation and then finished the evening with the 9:30 PM showing of the Grand Ole' Opry. It was an interesting and enjoyable cultural experience. We were so happy to see my brother Allen and his wife Beckki. We have not seen them for over 3 years. Throughout the conference, we were able to re-connect with them. As fate would have it, we were actually seated at the same table at the closing dinner -- a complete fluke, but a wonderful opportunity. Sunday morning, we attended church with several hundred other LDS Boy Scout employees and family members. It was nice to enjoy the meeting (minus a messy mishap with Abigail and her diaper -- sorry Allen). President Charles W. Dahlquist, Young Mens General President, was the presiding authority at the meeting. Afterward, we left the hotel and toured the historic Hermitage, the home of President Andrew Jackson. It was awesome. We learned so much about him and about the southern culture of the day. We ended the evening by attending opening dinner for Josh's conference. On Monday, Josh's mom, my sister in law Beckki, and I went to the Country Music Hall of Fame, saw the famous Parthenon, and caught a little shopping. In the evening we picked up Josh from his conference and went to Franklin, Tennessee. It was a cute little town. Very old and rustic. We loved it. We visited a Civil War Cemetery and plantation. This was the highlight of the trip for Josh, he loved it. I have to admit, we arrived at dusk, there was a mist over the fields and a quiet reverence within the cemetery. It was picture perfect. We ate dinner at a true Southern cafe -- the Loveless Cafe. We had pulled Pork, corn cakes, biscuits, creamed corn, and potatoes. YUM. We would go there every day if we could! Tuesday, I took in some conference sessions while Josh continued with his. We concluded the evening with the closing dinner. We had to get up at 2:30 AM the next morning to make our flight back to Utah. A BIG thanks to my parents for watching our other 4 kids so we could make this trip.