Aaahhhhh. Valentine's Day.

For Valentine's Day, Doug sent me roses. Sometimes I get roses, sometimes chocolates, sometimes both. Sometimes I can't predict what he will end up surprising me with . This year, Doug knew that he wouldn't be home most of the day, so he sent them to me on Friday. He planned on having them arrive after he had left with his scouts, but they came while he was still home. He handed them to me, and explained that he was going to choose red (because I love red roses), but saw these and thought they were perfect. A rainbow in a vase.

These are my roses the first day. Different phases of blooming, but all beautiful.

Here are some of my favorites on Saturday. All starting to bloom. I love to see the petals gradually open. Roses go through such a change as they open up. So pretty to watch.

I took tons of pictures of them, but I love this one. You can see the velvety texture of the petals. They smell so good, and my whole house smells like roses.

Here they are, all open and beautiful. The yellow have been the last to open, but they are finally on their way. I have truly loved my rainbow in a vase. Thanks, sweetie!

Our day in the Draper Temple.

On February 7, I took my little family to the Draper Temple open house. We had some extra tickets, so we invited my 2 sisters and their families to go with us. It was so fun to go together. The Temple itself is beautiful, but of course, I am wild about temples. I am always so glad I live in a time where there are so many. It never ceases to amaze me that I am lucky enough to live at this time of the earth. What if I had lived back when the Levites were the only ones that could do ordinances? What if I had lived in a time where the gospel had been removed from the earth? I would never have the chance to experience the miracle and wonder of Temple work. What did I do in the pre-earth life that gave me the opportunity to live now?

The Draper Temple has the Sego Lily motif recurring in it's decor. It is in this glass,

and in the rug in the Bride's room, as well as other places. The design has a very relaxed feel, and there is a depiction of wildlife everywhere you turn.

I really liked these stained glass windows. They are beautiful in the sunlight. Very arts-and-crafts-y. I love that style.

This is my cute sister, Trina, with 2 of her boys, Jayden and Bridger. I am not sure they really understood what we were doing there, and what they were seeing, but I think they still had fun.

They especially liked the cookies at the end. So did I. We all wondered who had made them, and how many they went through every day. With the size of the crowds, that had to be tons and tons of cookie dough.

After we went through, we all stopped to take a picture. (After we finished our cookies, of course.) This is my littlest sis, Misty, with her hubby, Clint.

This is our little family of 3. I think we were all tired, and Doug was ready to go home. He needed some down time. Does it show? I am seriously rethinking the straight hair thing, and Miriam looks like she is eyeing another cookie. Definitely time to get us all home to relax together.

This is such a great opportunity to show our families and friends what a temple is really like. Most people never get the chance to enter one. Miriam feels so lucky that she was sealed to us. She just loves that she has been inside of a Temple to do her own work. I downloaded these pictures from the church website. You can view them, or you can download them to keep for yourself. There is also tons of information about the building, itself, and a few videos, as well. I was waiting to post so I could include one of them, but for some reason they are not all working. Still fun to browse, though. My favorite thing was the Celestial room ceiling. I could have stood there for hours staring at it, at least until my neck gave out.

Wouldn't you just love to have that on your bedroom ceiling, and wake up to it every morning? I feel so blessed to live in a time where these buildings are becoming so prolific. In just a few more months, we will have the opportunity to attend the Oquirrh Hills Temple open house. Even as a child growing up in this state, I never dreamed we would need so many temples. It is wonderful to be driving at night, and see a temple all lit up. They are so beautiful, and you can see them for miles.

In answer to my question in the beginning: I believe that I was sent here as a member of the church at this time, because I would be faithful and passionate in going about my Father's business. We are members of the church at this point in history, because we can accomplish his plans for those who came before. If there was one thing that I want to do while I am here, it is to bring my family, those who are here now and those who came before, to the temple to be together forever.