Adventures in Comic Con

So, this weekend I went to my first ever Comic Con in Salt Lake City.

I went partly because I was curious, but mostly because I had family that was going to be there: my sister and her husband were going, and my uncle and cousin were presenting--and my uncle's whole family was going to be there, including the cousin I haven't seen since we were teenagers.

Dan was gracious enough to take the kids to his sister's house and hang out there and let me play. Well, wait through the massive line (it took an hour to get in, even with pre-purchased tickets!) and then wade through the enormous crowds. I'm pretty sure Dan would have hated it.

There were some highlights, though. I got to see the aforementioned family and a few local friends (hi, Helen!). I went to a funny panel with Shannon Hale and Brandon Mull, two authors I admire. I got to people watch (fascinating--though I have to admit I don't think I have sufficient geek cred to really carry off Comic Con--I only recognized about 1/3 of the costumes I saw there). And my cousins and I witnessed a really touching Make a Wish Foundation effort involving a little boy who really wanted a Dr. Who experience and who was given a sonic screwdriver and helped two of the "doctors" repair the Tardis before becoming a Time Lord himself.

But mostly--did I mention the crowds? It was insane. Talking to another attendee on the Trax on the way home, I discovered that during the afternoon they stopped letting people in for a while because the fire marshall had said there were too many people in the building.

The rest of the weekend was a little more subdued. We went to my  niece's baby blessing and then hung out with my brother and sister and their respective families for a while before driving back home. It was lovely to see everyone--and I was particularly touched to see Dan and the other Melchizedek priesthood holders from my family helping to bless that little girl. She's certainly very loved. (I also got to hold her for a while--it almost makes me wish I had one of my own. Almost.)

I don't remember a whole lot from the rest of the week, only that Oliver and I (well, mostly me) were trying to frantically finish canning all our peaches before leaving town. I think I canned 22 quarts of peaches this week (which is approximately 88 cups of peaches--and I must have peeled about 300 peaches). Needless to say, I won't be purchasing any peaches anytime soon.

(I do have pictures, but I'm still trying to figure out how to download them onto our new computer  . . .)