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.

What's in a name?

Great Grandpa Williams holding the littlest one of our family. I think I am going to use photoshop on that finger, though.

Last Sunday was the day that my little sister, Misty, and her husband, Clint, blessed their little girl, Brookelin Capri. The debate goes on as to whether we should call her Brookelin, or Capri. Maybe I haven't spent enough time with her, but I can't get it the same two times in a row. Of course, every time I am around my little sis, I end up calling her by my daughter's name, and I start calling my daughter, Misty. When I visit my Dad, I start calling him Doug. What is that about? Why do I have that problem? I'm sure it says something bizarre about me, I'm just not sure what it is. Maybe I just don't get out enough. I am working on it, though. Someday I will remember to call people by the correct name, at least that's what I tell myself.

This was one of the rare occasions that our family was mostly all in attendance. We didn't have a chance to get pictures, because not everyone could stay for the luncheon afterwards, but out of 10 siblings, 7 were in attendance. One lives out of state, one has passed away, and one couldn't make it. We also had my Dad's parents there. What an amazing thing for this family, we almost never get to see each other all at the same time. That was a pretty good turn out, considering. What a keepsake photo to use for her genealogy. Her four generations together to welcome her into the family.

I wish you could take a picture of the moment when all of the men gather together to give her a name and a blessing. My Grandpa at 90 years old, standing with his oldest son (my Dad), who is standing with his own sons, and the sons that became his through his daughters. All joining to show support and love for a little baby and her father in asking our Heavenly Father to watch over her. Such a powerful moment. We had a chance to celebrate a new little girl in the family that belongs to the youngest in my family. How fortunate are we that we have that opportunity? Quite a reality check. I guess I thought Misty would always be the baby, now she has one of her own.

Grandpa's 90th

Last Saturday, my Grandpa turned 90 years old. Wow. I know. Who would ever think that both grandma and grandpa would still be here? I am glad they are. I love that Miriam gets to know her Great-Grand's as well as she does.

She calls great-grandpa Williams "the grandpa that taught her to put rocks in her pockets". The first time they met, she was wearing a cute little pair of yellow overalls, with lots of pockets. We were in Logan helping my parents build their house, and there were plenty of pretty rocks around. Great-grandpa came over to meet her, and explained that pockets were for keeping your most favorite rocks. She filled every pocket. To this day, 8 years later, I still find rocks in her pockets. Our poor washing machine.

We had a huge family party for him at the church in Dayton, ID. I think we doubled the city population. It is always so fun to see all my long lost cousins. Unfortunately, in the rush to get all the food we needed to the car with us, I forgot my camera. I had to steal a picture from my little sis. This picture is of my matriarchal sister, (I am trying to not say she is oldest) Vauna, and her eldest daughter, (yeah, I think that's better) Brianne, surrounding our cute grandparents. May they live long and prosper.

Calling all Ghoulies!

It's Witch's Night Out once again! Every year all us girls go to Witches Night Out at Gardner Village. We have a blast. We pick a restaurant to have dinner before the event, and of course, there are always questions from other diners about why we are all dressed up.

Dinner at the Paradise Cafe with my family: soon-to-be mommy, Misty, new sis-in-law, Tori, and new mommy (again), Trina.

I loved my sis-in-law, Melissa's red shoes. Every good witch should have a shiny pair of ruby slippers, don'tcha think?

This year, Miriam got to come. She was very excited, until she realized that all we do is walk around in the cold, shopping among huge crowds of crazy witch women. The verdict is still out on whether or not she wants to go again next year.

Gardner's Village is always decorated so cute for Halloween. I think that's the real reason Miriam wanted to go. She loves it there on Holidays. It seems there are many, many witches in the state. It was crowded enough that Miriam wouldn't let go of me at first. She was afraid we would get separated.

I found my place to hang out. By this time of night, my hat was a little droopy. It had been used in many spells and a few too many frogs had hopped away with it, I think. This year, none of us could find all our costumes, so we were doing good to come up with hats. Next year we have to make up for it, though. I just hope I find my real hat and costume by then. Moving always seems to take a few boxes and absorb them into the Borg Collective. I may never see them again.

I think this witch is the most tired of all, If you can't miss this building on your broom, you are in real trouble. This is one of Miriam's favorite witches that they put up every year.

This is one of the last shots of the night. We cackled and cackled until we cried when we saw it. Ok, when we saw me. I am always good for a laugh. I just think the witch behind us looks like her spell didn't work.

All in all, we had a great time, and plan on going again next year. And the year after that, and the year after that...... I just hope that I never have a cat and mouse infestation in MY skirt. That could be tricky, especially when riding my broom.