FEBRUARY 2009

On Thursday, February 5th, I took Ian, Anakhan and Azure to the open house at the new Draper Temple in Salt Lake. I picked them up early from school to drive them. The temple is right before the point of the mountain. We had to park at a ward house, where we watched a short video temples. Then we rode in a bus to the temple site. The temple stands high atop the mountain in Draper. The rode is very steep going up there. I was surprised that the outside is not white, but concrete gray, but is very beautiful against the mountain backdrop. We were unable to see the temple grounds. They had constructed a long, covered walkway all the way to the temple entrance. The building is georgeous inside. There are so many beautiful paintings in every room. The kids were impressed with the baptismal font...Ian was very excited that when he turns 12 later this year, he'll be able to do baptisms for the dead for our families and for others.
All 3 of the kids were most impressed with the celestial room. It is so georgeous. It's much smaller than I thought, but the large sparkling chandelier and it's matching wall sconces made it very beautiful and very sacred. Anakhan stated that he really felt the spirit very strongly in that room.
We then viewed the other rooms, and we went into one sealing room, where we had a couple speak with us for a few minutes about their experiences in the temple and how blessed they are to be able to visit the temple often. Ian loves the mirrors in the sealing room, which signify how life goes on through eternity. He remembers them from when his Mom and Dad were married and he was sealed to them in March 2008.
Azure thought everything was beautiful and awesome! After we saw all of the rooms, we went through another walkway to a chapel where refreshments had been prepared in a large cultural room; in there, they had missionaries and others to answer any questions that anyone might have about the temple and why we love to go there and renew our vows and covenants with our Heavenly Father. Our visit to this new Draper Temple was very special and very sacred, and I was glad that I could take 3 of my grandchildren there.
Valentine's Day was nice. Ian spent Friday (2/13) night, with us, and that's always fun. Richard and Angela went out to a "Valentines Night Out With The Animals" at Hogle Zoo. On Saturday, we took Ian to the mall with us and made him wait while we got our eyes checked for new glasses. Then, we took him to the "Macaroni Grill" for lunch. (If you ever go there...don't expect to see any 'macaroni' on the menu!) That night, Bob and I spent the evening at home just hanging out and watching movies together.
Bob left again for Ruston on Feb.17th, and he'll be home on Feb.27th!
Saturday morning, Feb.21st, I went to our Stake Relief Society's Women's Conference. It was great! Our guest speaker was Carole Mikita...from KSL Channel 5. We see her on TV all of the time, but to see and hear her speak in person was a real treat! She is a very humble and very spiritual person, who loves the gospel so much. She has travelled the world doing reports about the church and its people and temples. We were fortunate to hear some of the experiences she has had in her 30 years in journalism. She has a strong testimony and a great love of the church.
On Sunday, Feb.22nd, Monica celebrated her birthday. We wish we could see her everyday. She is a great daughter and mother, and has always been a blessing to us since the day she was born. We love you, Monica!
[I still have to add pics to Monica's B-Day blog and I'll publish it!]