I Love to See the Temple

A few weekends ago, we took the kids to meet up with my dad and my sister's family to walk through the Brigham City Temple Open House.  It was such a special experience to be able to take them.  I hope their little minds and hearts - which seem to absorb EVERYTHING these days - really took in the Spirit and the joy they felt there.  I am SO THANKFUL we were close enough to attend an Open House before the temple is dedicated. 

One of my favorite quotes from the introduction to the temple that day was by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "I don’t know how to speak of heaven . . .in the traditional, lovely, paradisiacal beauty that we speak of heaven…I wouldn’t know how to speak of heaven without my wife, or my children.  It would not be heaven for me.  Now, you can say that’s wishful thinking, you can say, ‘ Well that’s just because you love each other and you’ve gotten cozy here on earth and you like each other’s company.’ It’s a lot more than that.  There is something eternal in the statement that neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man in the Lord.  That isn’t just good sociology it’s good theology, it’s eternal" (Holland, Between Heaven and Earth).

I, too, would NOT be in heaven if David and our children were not there with me.  An eternity without them would be an eternity of hell.  I am SO THANKFUL that I don't have to know that misery.  And the hope of it makes me want to live to be worthy of it SO MUCH MORE during my time with them each and every day on this earth.

One of my favorite moments at the Open House was with Isaac.  He couldn't get enough of the 12 Oxen - symbolic of the 12 Tribes of Israel.  When he saw them, he said, "Wow!  Mom - look at that!" And as he stood at the head of the Baptismal Font, he exclaimed, "That is just PERFECT!"  Then he proceeded to explain to me the differences between oxen and cows and bulls and yaks.  I still don't even know how he knows what a yak is, but these ARE my kids who request to watch Animal Atlas and Word Girl on Netflix! LOL!  We had talked about the oxen and looked at pictures online, but I honestly don't remember ANY mention of a yak! :-)

One of my other favorite moments was when we first got there and my sister's little boy, Elliott, asked where his brother, Isaac, was.  With SO MANY girl cousins, I'm SO GLAD these two have each other!  I think they will always be great friends, even more so as the age gap narrows. And since his last visit with the girl cousins on Dave's side of the family ended with him asking in his prayers that they never had to come back again, I'm glad we live close enough that he can enjoy some "boy" time with Elliott.  Just this last weekend when we got together with them, they were making all sorts of animal noises and grunts and growls at the breakfast table.  When we asked them to stop, Elliott said, "But we boys!" LOL!  Already, they're getting each other into trouble! :-)

I LOVE Living in Utah

NEVER thought I would say that.  But I do. Let me count the ways . . .

1. Dave only works FOUR DAYS a week and gets home just 15 minutes later than he did the ENTIRE time we lived in California. AND we are within five miles of any small town we could ever want to live in.  Which means he can also bike to work - and we save about $200 in gas every month.  PLUS we get to have fun family days EVERY WEEK, no extra sacrifice required.  LOVE it!
2. I am NEVER afraid to open my garage door and see huge cockroaches scatter.  And really, even the biggest spider I have killed here was STILL smaller than the smallest cockroach I killed there. I will actually step outside my door without shoes here because I don't have to be prepared for the worst all the time.  And the only thing I'm afraid of the kids finding in the backyard is mud . . . that they made themselves with the sprinkler.  Not a bad trade, if I do say so myself.
3. We live SO CLOSE to so many temples!  Within 30 minutes, we can have a fun family getaway and be home again in the time it would have taken us to GET to the temple in Spokane or Los Angeles.  HUGE blessing!!!  And I may actually get to go to the temple while breastfeeding a baby this time around without having to plan my entire life around it.  I may go by myself, but with four children ages four and under, I am SURE there are worse things than a temple trip all by yourself!
4. The weather here is getting PERFECT for family outings.  We can take the kids walking, hiking, camping, biking, it's PERFECT!  And great as well for an early-morning getaway before the kids wake up.
5. There are so many things you can do in Salt Lake without having to LIVE like you live near a big city.  We have access to all the cultural and social perks that we could ever WANT to take advantage of without having to live in the middle of all of those who want the ones we wouldn't choose.  We can be to the country with cows, horses, farms, barns, and fields within 10 minutes of our house.  Or the city within 30.  Great arrangement!
6. My sister lives close enough that we can get together once a month.  I don't even have to PLAN a trip to her house if I don't want to.  And since I am pretty sure Isaac is FEELING his lack of male cousins, it's great to be around the only one his age for them to grow up together (however long it lasts) and not get ganged upon or left out by all the girls.

So those are my top six.  And with such a FABULOUS top six, do I really NEED any more?

Last Sunday we went for a family trip to the Salt Lake Temple and took pictures of the kids.  We also ran into some friends who have recently moved here from California as well.  So even the difficult time making friends here so far may have just been solved!  Heavenly Father has blessed us SO MUCH.  Our entire family dynamic has changed.  And I am SO THANKFUL for that.