October Blur...

This picture is how I felt pretty much the entire October. We had general conference, fall break, Arizona State Fair, Temple Open House, Halloween and a lot more! Here is pretty much our month.

I Love To See The Temple!

We had the wonderful opportunity to tour the Gilbert Temple last Saturday. It was such an awesome experience for all of us. We had 29 tickets and used all of them! My mom was able to bring some teachers from work, John was able to bring some co-workers and then we had our family. As we went from room to room the boys would ask questions. When we were done, we asked them what their favorite part was. Both Rebecca and Thomas loved the Baptistery. Taylor and I loved the Celestial room. John loved the Sealing room and Jonathan loved the windows and everything. Here are some pictures of the temple, and a special they did on the local news that was excellent! I think it was nice for Jonathan & Taylor to remember everything from the groundbreaking to seeing the construction and then the final product. We prayed for the temple in every prayer. As we left all four children wanted to know when they could go back. Taylor is excited he can go to the dedication. Thomas will be able to go to the dedication of the Phoenix temple when they dedicate that. Now if we can hold off a few more years, Rebecca should be able to attend the Tucson one. :-) Here we are in front of this beautiful building!

Our family

First Temple Trip!

You know you have to be doing something right when your child turns 12 and the one thing he wants to do more than any other is go to the temple. Last Tuesday, we were able to take Jonathan to the temple. 

Spring Break 2013

So according to some of our children, we had an uneventful Spring Break.  However...it was still a break and it was good for everyone to have those every once in a while.

Monday-
I had a meeting with work in Chandler.  We did not do much this day.  The boys got to watch movies most of the day.

Tuesday-
"Look for dad dress shirts day."  I took the kids to Arizona Mills Mall to see if we could find John some dress shirts.  He is a little picky about his shirts as our boys quickly found out. They thought they found one and then I would point out one more criteria he needed to have with his shirt.  They had a great time looking in toy stores, the Disney Store and Rainforest Cafe. They also split some gelato.  I heard no complaints about that. However, I can still hear, "MOM...please don't make us go in another store. Why can't dad just wear the shirts he has now?"

Wednesday-
Mom worked most of the day. We did hit Costco though where we found dad some shirts!  He loved them too.

Stake Temple Grounds Day

I am finally finding a moment to get caught up on a few blogs that only I can do because Sarah wasn't there. I meant to blog about the morning the boys and I fulfilled a stake assignment to work on the temple grounds. This is the third time I have taken Jonathan and last year Taylor went for the first time. This year, Thomas joined us for the first time.

They divided everyone into two groups. Our group was assigned to weed all the nut grass out of a Palm tree garden. There was nut grass everywhere in this approximately 30' x 80' area on the east side of the visitors center.

(The entire area was like this)

I was very proud of how hard my boys worked. Because we don't own our own home, I often worry that they are not developing a very good work ethic. (Maybe because it often takes them four or five hours to clean there room on a Saturday.) However, it was interesting to see their personalities. Jonathan moved along at a good pace. Taylor, on the other hand, was meticulous. He made sure there wasn't a blade of grass left behind. He frequently commented on how much Jonathan and others missed. Thomas was a good help, but enjoyed making hills ("towers") in the dirt.  Thomas sang "I Love to See the Temple" over and over.  Many who were working in our group just smiled at him.

'

Hard at Work

(Meticulous Taylor)

It became hot quite quickly. We started at 7 am and finished at 9. By then, it was down right hot.

(Almost finished.)

I don't remember what else we did on Saturday, July 16th, but I was a proud father of three very hard working boys. I remember we were in a hurry to get home, because I wished we had time for a treat. They deserved it!

 Thomas fell asleep not long after we came home.  Of course, right in front of our front door. :-)

Gila Valley Temple Open House

Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit the Gila Valley Temple Open House.  We went with my dad, sister Kathryn and a sister and daughter from our ward (Sylvia & Rachel Squires).  Our goal for this trip was to be a testimony building experience for our boys.  We left at 9:30 and got there around noon. (FYI-I learned that Burger King has salads with shredded cheese on them and you cannot take it off.)  My brother, Steven told us about Taylor Freeze in Pima.  It was packed, but we did get a picture of Taylor there:

We pulled into the parking lot and went to the church, which is right next to the temple.  Inside, they had you sit in a room and watch a short movie about temples and this temple.  Then they took us through the temple.   We got to wear the little booties around.  We first went into the Recommend area where you would show your recommend before entering.  Then the baptistry, bride's room, locker room, chapel, the two instruction rooms, celestial room and finally the sealing room.  It was very beautiful and painted to fit into the Gila Valley. I loved the celestial room.  When we walked in, the boys eyes popped open as they saw the chandelier in the center of the room.  I had images come to mind when we will be in a room like that in the future with them.  It was a piece of heaven to be there.  In the sealing room, John took Jonathan & Taylor to see the eternal mirrors.  I had Thomas and said, "Thomas, do you know where we are?"  He took his pamphlet and pointed to the picture of the sealing room.  "Here mom."  He smiled and jumped over a line in the carpet.  (Thomas is really into jumping right now and will jump over or off ANYTHING!)  After the temple, we went back to the church and had a snack.  We saw a lot of people from the McQueen 2nd Ward.  It was their youth trip.  It was so nice to see familiar faces again.  We miss our friends in that ward.

Here are some pictures that we took.  (I love the one with Thomas in the background with Taylor.):

 As we left the temple, we went to see the home where President Kimball grew up.  It was a beautiful home and there is a plaque in front of it:

Our drive home was a little rambunctious in the backseat.  Three boys who have had energy all day long, sugar in their bodies and no place to go is not a good combination.  We made it though and in asking them what their favorite part was, it was going inside the temple.  They each felt the spirit and knew it was Jesus' home.  Even Thomas said he saw Jesus there.  It was a long, but good day!

Temples

It seems that the media has put the focus on the temples again in our church. This video does an excellent job of explaining why we have temples. It amazes me everytime I think about what those members did 200 years ago in order to have a temple. They were driven from two temples that they had built. Now there are over 140 temples around the world.

I too love going to the temple. I am able to remember why I am here on this earth. With everything going on in the world today, it is nice to have a place where I can really commune with God. During my own personal trials and struggles, I turn to the temple even more looking for guidance as to the direction I need to go. I love the temple and grateful that we have a place like this on earth!