Tulip Festival

I love the spring in Utah. I anxiously watch every year for my mom's crocus plants to start shooting up. Even though most of the time they are coming up through snow, it gives me hope that spring is actually going to come. I love to see the mountains shed their white and turn green. I love driving around town to see trees blossoming in bright pink and white. Most of all, though, I love the tulips.

For several years, I have wanted to go to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. Despite recovering from sinus surgery, this is the year I was finally able to go! My mom, sister, and I decided to have a girls' weekend. We went to visit our good friends Paula and Erin. The Tulip Festival was a little chilly and windy, but it was so nice to be in the fresh air and wander around the gardens to the sounds of the occasional bagpiper.

After the Tulip Festival, we attended the Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU. It was very touching and inspiring. I'm very glad I went. Here is a plethora of pictures. I was able to try out my new camera and want to take a photography class now more than ever.

I think the above picture is my favorite. I love the differing color intensities.

How cool is that upside down yellow tulip plant?

There was this random yellow variegated tulip in a sea of pink. Rock on, yellow tulip. Rock on.

Mom and Jessie

Erin, Jessie, mom, and me.

Paula and Erin. How cute are they!?

This picture is probably my second favorite.

Ivy in the ivy. She is so precious!

I kind of want to sit on the bank of that stream and stick my feet in there and ponder the meaning of life! It was too cold for that, but still!

Paula and mom. Two of my favorite women! This was at the BYU art museum. Pictures in the Carl Bloch exhibit were prohibited so we snapped this one afterward.

This is my favorite painting from the Carl Bloch exhibit. This is the healing at the pool in Bethesda. I learned some interesting things about this painting. It's meant to appear as though you are in the painting. You are standing at the pool and observing this miracle. Note the darkness of the man Christ is about to heal. You can see that Christ is the source of light. It's interesting also to observe the facial expressions of the people looking on. The one that struck me the most was the man in the red hat. He seems to be looking at you almost like you are intruding. I kind of think he is wanting us to think about what we are seeing and furthermore, what we are going to do about it.