Draper Temple Openhouse

1/24 We went as a family to the Draper Temple Open house, Becky & James came with us also. It was so fun to see Savannah's face as we went through the doors, she was so excited! The other kids were also, but Savannah could hardly control her excitement, better than Christmas morning! When we came out Sydney said she wanted to get married there, then she went on to say that she was going to have 2 kids, Claire and Seth, and live in a yellow house. I love her mind! It was a special experience to have with our kids. Summer was sick so she didn't get much out of it, Tom carried her the whole time. I am still very happy that we ALL got to go.


The kids

getting ready to enter


Temples are considered "houses of the Lord" where Christ's teachings are reaffirmed through sacred ordinances such as marriage that unite families for eternity. In the temple, Church members learn more about the purpose of life and make covenants with God to serve Him and their fellow man. Temples differ from the Church’s meetinghouses or chapels where members meet for Sunday worship services. (quote from lds newsroom)

These pictures were taken from the church website, I didn't take any inside. And the captions are taken from the Draper Temple pamphlet. :)

In a sealing room, a bride and bridegroom are married not only for this life but also for eternity. As Jesus said, "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." (Matthew 16:19)


The baptismal font rests on the backs of twelve oxen, symbolically representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Following the Savior's example of selfless service, we can perform baptisms and other ordinances for our ancestors who have died.


The bride's room where she gets ready- beautiful


In the ordinance room an overview is given of God's plan for His children. Latter-day Saints learn of their premortal and mortal lives and of the blessings they can receive in the next life.


The celestial room symbolizes life as eternal families with our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ.


Everything in the temple testifies of Jesus Christ's divinity and sacrifice and teaches us to follow His example of love and service.



Tom said it best and simply when he came home one night after attending the Temple,

"It's like going home for a while."

Gifts

I am trying to be positive and focus on the best gifts in life...

family,
faith,
friends,
health,
peace,

just to name a few. The great pit of despair is trying to suck me in, but I am relying on my faith to keep me out, and Tom, he is so positive it's contagious. Me, I find it a little more difficult to remain positive during uncertainty, hence my nickname "worry wart".

Just wanted to share some of my temporal birthday gifts. I love my nails! I can feel pretty EVEN in my pajamas!

my jewelry box, I'm in love with it

and I love all my pictures too!

My birthday

I had a fabulous day! Tom and the kids woke me up singing "happy birthday" with donuts, a family tradition that I accused him of forgetting just yesterday, but he had the donuts hidden! Then Tom sent me over to my friend/neighbor's house to get pampered, nails and glittery gel toes! Thanks Nicole, you are wonderful!!! When I got back he had deep cleaned the whole kitchen! Major points for my Tommy! Then we got lunch and drove up to the mountains, it was beautiful and SO nice to get out of the inversion/smog! After that we were home for a while and then drove to Provo to eat at the Brick Oven, yum! I love that place! I helped Sydney get her pasta and splashed RED SAUCE all over my white shirt! It wasn't just a drop it was a giant splash! Nice.

Tom and the kids gave me a jewelry box that I have wanted for a couple years, after I saw Heidi's I had to get one, it is awesome! Thanks Heidi! :) I am in love with it! No more tangled mess of necklaces!

Now to tell some facts...All about me!

* I am an alien, if you didn't know this then you really don't know me well at all. My parents are British and I was born there. So, I have a green card, I am a resident alien. It's not that I don't want to be a citizen, I love America! I am lazy and poor and hate the immigration office! Plus, I am scared I will fail the test. Can't I just be exempt?! I went to high school and college here, give me a break!

* I am a sappy, romantical, emotional girl! I love drama in movies, books and music. I wear my emotions on my sleeve and that means I cry easily and often, well not too often, but I cry when I'm happy, sad, spiritual, or angry. I am a piece of work!

* I love kids and especially babies! I would keep having kids as long as humanly possible if I could take care of them well and if my husband let me! I guess I'll have to wait until the next life! But I count my cute class of special ed kids as mine too, so I have 10 more kids! :)

* I love my church and it is a MAJOR part of my life and who I am. Go to www.mormon.org if you want to know about it.

* I love my girlfriends! I wish I had more time to hang out. When I was a stay-at-home-mom I would go to playgroups all the time, I miss that. But I still love girls night out! I love going to the chick flicks that Tom won't go to, and sitting around laughing about life, there's just something about connecting with my besties!

* I have food issues. Granted I can blame some on my thyroid, genetics, and not being able to nurse my babies, but lets face it, I love comfort food! Chocolate is my favorite. Can someone please invent a patch for this?!

Well, I'm sick of talking about me so here are some pictures of my fun b-day...


Beautiful mountains and clean air!

Sydney wishing she could walk across the half frozen lake to go sledding on the other side...

keep on wishing...

Summer got cold so she stayed in the car with Tom who was in shorts and a t-shirt!

don't slip Zack

snow cave





Brick Oven time, Zack's penguin balloon

Savannah, Sally, and Sydney ( I took out the red sauce stains!)

Zack, Tom, and Summer

Savannah's monkey

Summer's tinkerbell

Sydney's turtle


Thanks for the fun birthday! I loved my day!

Life is NEVER boring!

That's my quote for today. I was feeling a little down yesterday, don't know exactly why,

could be hormones,
could be the migraine I was getting,
could be the kids fighting,
could be the messy house,
could be the baby weight I still have after 4 years that should be gone by now,
could be lack of sleep due to starting work again,
could be my perfectionist nature which contributes to my guilt for everything NOT being perfect

I could not put my finger on exactly why I was feeling weird. I emailed Tom and told him I was down. He called me after school and said, "So you're feeling bad?" We talked for a minute and then he said, "Can I make your life more interesting?"

UM...NO!

This is not a drill. Turns out fate would have us go through a trial we are all too familiar with AGAIN! I just laughed. I think I was in shock. There are worse things that can happen than being laid off, but seriously, again?! What is this? The 4th time in 3 years?! I HATE Human Resources! Never go into that profession! They're always the first to go when the company downsizes! ARGH!

Even though I am stressed about the un-known future, I do know we are in God's hands and He does take care of us. I also know this is such a small trial in the big scheme of things.

Last night I rearranged my primary meeting (instead of having it at Arctic Circle, we met at my house) so Tom could go to the Temple. I felt like I should tell him to go. He wanted to go but knew about my meeting so didn't ask. We are both glad he got to go and I will be going tomorrow. Tom had a really great experience there, he felt so uplifted and strengthened. He called me as soon as he was out and told me to look up a scripture. Here it is,

"Verily I say unto you my friends, fear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks;

Waiting patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of the Sabbaoth, and are recorded with this seal and testament- the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted.

Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name's glory, saith the Lord" (D&C 98:1-3)

Ever had the experience of needing comfort through scripture, and you open up to the exact thing you need to read? This is what happened for Tom and the power of reading this, pertaining to our life at this moment, was just overwhelming. What a sweet blessing!

Today Summer was sick so I stayed home with her and Tom had his last day at work. Want to know what I ate today? Why yes Sally, do share, we are all hanging on the edge of our seats...
This might make you laugh OR just feel sorry for me. I had some oreos, chips, mike-n-ikes, Cadbury chocolate, and zingers! Yep, that's all, absolutely nothing nutritious, and I feel sick! Why do I do that?!

And our treadmill died this week and Tom's steering went out on his car ...

Is that all you got?!

I actually find this all very amusing right now, I'm sure that is a stage of shock. One thing is FOR SURE,

My life is NEVER boring and I love it!

Still not done

The magic of Christmas morning, I'm glad to have it on video!


Stockings! Every gift was wrapped!



Savannah DID get a dog...he's just not real

Summer's princess art desk

Zack's Star Wars loot

Sydney and her miniature colored pencils

Summer's dollhouse

Grandma knitted one for each girl! They are FABULOUS!!!




We drove in a snowstorm to get to my mom's house on Christmas day and it was not cool to be on the roads. I was so freaked out I had a laughing attack, Tom kept asking if I was ok. We (meaning Tom) played a trick on my family saying we weren't going to make it because of the snow, so when we showed up it was funny. Everyone said, "Tom!" Yeah, he's a joker!

Millie and Hannah

Syd, Atlie and Macie listen to Syd's ipod shuffle


Sahalie's turn to listen

Dan and Ali, I love capturing reactions to presents! (Autumn, I missed yours, you have the best present opening reactions!!!)

(The boys and men, not specified.) Joe, Tim, Pops, Nick, Tom, Dan

Zack and Emma


OK, so I think I'm finally done posting all my pictures of Christmas!

And officially depressed ending that season AND saying goodbye to family AND taking down all the fun decorations, with nothing but New Years resolutions which only brings guilt...

Not really, I am excited for a new year!

Quotes December

Sydney- she brought in a worm from outside..."Guess what I named it mom...Noodle!" (Um child, do you even know how cute you are?!)

Zack- my sister Emma was talking to him about Bionicles, and he said, "I can build them on my own." Emma-"How do you do that?" Zack-"I follow the instructions." Savannah chimed in. "Yeah, but he doesn't follow instructions from adults."

Zack- "Why are we listening to rock music?" (in the car listening to Muse, my new music addiction)

Sydney- "Mom, you can't just keep having a hundred babies!!" (Uh, like I talk about babies a lot? And why not?!)

Savannah-"Mom, crap is NOT holy." (me- laughed a little then felt guilty...bad mom!)

Sally- "Tom is so NOT social he couldn't even do facebook for 3 weeks! Haha."