The Draper Temple

Today was the day we have been looking forward to since last December; our turn to go to the Draper Temple Open house. We have been talking about this for weeks in family home evening to help the kids remember that we will need to be reverent, talk quietly and follow instructions. We showed them pictures from "Holiness to the Lord". Megan liked the sealing rooms and has said, "When you sit at the little table, you get married." I was looking forward to this day so much.

When we were getting ready this morning I heard the boys talking in their room.

Nathan: We are in our house. Soon we will be in the house of God.
Michael: What is the house of God?
Nathan: The temple.

We got to a chapel pretty close to the temple and waited for a while, then we watched a short video about temples in general, and some history of the Draper area. We then boarded a bus that took us to the temple. The kids were so excited when they first spotted the temple out of the window. (Nathan started to quietly sing, I love to see the temple.")

We saw the temple, beginning with the baptistry and all the way up to the Celestial and Sealing rooms. Liz loved the beautiful Brides' dressing room, but the highlights were in the last couple of rooms.

We had a minute to stand and enjoy the Celestial Room. Megan saw the shining chandelier and pointed out all of the "sparkles." What a treat to be in that room with Brian and our children. We look forward to that happening many more times in the future.

We were able to sit and enjoy the sealing room. The kids each got a turn to look in the mirrors reflecting into eternity. First thing when we sat down Michael looked up to confirm that it was in fact the "ceiling" room.

They were all so quiet and reverent. They spoke in quiet voices and walked as quietly as they could. And of course they were are thrilled to enjoy cookies at the chapel next door before taking a few pictures.



What a special day to be with my wonderful family, to feel the Spirit and the love of the Lord so strongly. I felt such joy as I walked through the temple with one kid on each hand, and Brian and the other two close behind. i am grateful for the blessings that temples bring to our family now and the blessings they will bring for eternity.

Tart and Tangy

Last year or so Stampin' Up! came out with a cute stamp set that included four stamps, each a different fruit. I loved it right away, but never planned on buying it because I had no idea what to do with it. Anyway, after seeing what others had done with it I didn't hesitate to buy it, and I love it! We will be using it for a super cute card at Rachel's party in March, but here is one I made just for fun. I just got some of the markers from Stampin' Up and they are so wonderful for coloring on the stamps, then stamping. This set is still one of my favorites in the catalog.

SU! Watercolor crayons + beautiful stamps = THIS

Here is a project I made to show off the watercolor crayons from Stampin' Up! They truly make me feel like an artist. They make coloring in a stamp so easy and yet it looks a lot more artistic then I thought I could possibly do. This is using the retired Summer by the Sea set but there are a few sets in teh current catalog that lend themselves to this sort of project. I want to get a frame (or have Brian make me one) that I can use to hand this in the bathroom. I have loved this set for a very long time, and I still do.

Stampin' Up!

Anyone who has been around me the last couple of years probably knows that I love stamping. I was re-introduced to stamping about 2 1/2 years ago by a good friend who help me make invites for a baby shower I was helping with. I was hooked! I used to hate the idea of stamping. I just felt like nothing I did turned out cute. But with some help of this friend, and a wonderful SU! demonstrator I learned some easy and fast techniques that help everything turn out cute.

Anyway, I am making the step from stamper to demonstrator. One reason I like stamping so much is that it gives me opportunities to get together with other women and create fun and beautiful things. We get to share ideas and learn from each. So as a demonstrator I hope to show people that creating is easy and so fun!

I am hoping to start a monthly stamping club starting in May. I hope to have about 10 people. We would meet at my house once a month, make cute projects, learn new techniques and everyone would get a chance to earn free stamping stuff. If you are interested let me know!

I am demonstrating my first party at the end of March so if anyone wants to see how fun and easy this all is let me know. It will be a blast!

I am so excited about this. You can look at past entries on my blog to see some stuff I have made i the past, and I will post some cute stuff as I get it ready for the party in March.

Oh, and a big thanks to Addie, who has been great helping me with stamping over the last couple of years.

Dad's are the greatest

The other night Brian had a ton to do. He was getting ready for a presentation for his class and had numerous other things. We put the kids to bed and I was doing some stuff on the computer and Brian was just getting his computer out. Megan and Michael came running to the top of the stairs, book in hand, saying, "read Corduroy to us Dad." I was getting ready to go up and read it to them so Brian could get his work done, but Brian beat me to it. He laid down in the middle of the hall with the kids and read the entire story. It was the cutest thing.