Back to our roots.... Manti

I wanted to take the kids to the Manti pageant this year, mainly because I haven't been since I was 12!  When I found out when it was playing I realized that it was right when Norm was going to be gone to New York and Washington D.C.  I wasn't too thrilled about making the trek by myself so I invited my parents to go along.  My Dad had never been... which I don't even know how that is possible since his mother's family lived on the temple grounds!  We took dinner down and after we got our parking spot, just layed our blanket out next to the suburban and ate our subway sandwiches, watermelon, and pasta salad.  Mmmmm... We quickly realized that we were being eaten alive by mosquitos so we slathered ourselves in bug spray and that seemed to do the trick.  We walked over to the grounds and found our seats.  We had over an hour before it was to start.  We just visited, walked around some, took some pictures and patiently waited for the nine o'clock starting time.  I loved the pageant.  It covered Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith and the Pioneers.  They have upped their special effects since I was there many moons ago.  I have no recollection of pyrotechnics and the sheer number of actors they had.  The costumes, the lighting, and sound were amazing.  It was long... over two hours and yes we were tired getting home after 2 AM but it was all worth it to be see this spectacular event... with the added bonus of knowing that we were sitting right where our ancestors walked and lived.  Amazing!