Temple Square

We had the opportunity to visit Temple Square with some friends this weekend. After some complaining from my kids about how dumb it was going to be, walking around looking at lights, I drug them all the way up to Salt Lake City anyway. The car ride in the Excursion was probably the worst part of the trip. I don't know why but we can't even leave Spanish Fork before the first fight starts. In the end I think they enjoyed the trip more than they thought they would.We stopped in at the Joseph Smith Memorial building and saw this gorgeous christmas tree. Wow! the building is beautiful.

Temple Square has many different nativity scenes to look at, this one happens to be in the middle of the fountain surrounded by floating candles.

The Salt Lake Temple is my favorite temple, this is the temple where Ty and I chose to get sealed ten years ago in August. This temple happens to be where many of our ancestors were sealed. It is so amazing to look at the details on the outside of the building and imagine what efforts it took for the pioneers to build this building. Here are some of the facts that were posted outside of the temple.

The temple was started in 1853 and took 40 years to build. It was built out of granite which was hauled down from the Little Cottonwood Canyon 23 miles away by ox-drawn wagons. The walls are 9 feet thick at the bottom and narrow up to about 6 feet thick at the top. All the way to the top of the tower where the angel Moroni sits is 210 feet tall.

The lights at Temple Square are always turned on after thanksgiving and they are spectactular. This is a huge tree and every branch is wrapped with lights.

Here is a picture our family at Temple Square, one of the cool things about this trip is that when we were walking through the temple grounds we saw Elder L. Tom Perry one of the apostles who was with his wife looking at the lights. It was funny the reaction people had when they realized that an apostle was in their presence. The crowd was quiet and some stopped what they were doing just to watch him. Not everyone in the crowd knew who he was because Temple Square attracts visitors from all around, not just members of the church.

Aubrie and Sadie looking at the statue of Joseph Smith.
We happened to have parked across the street from the temple and right next to the Conference Center. We noticed that the doors were open and people were able to go on tours. We took advantage of the opportunity to see where General Conference takes place. The building has quite a reverent feeling about it. We were able to view the 21,000 seats this building holds, it is always full during conference and it is beautiful. Trees, and plants are growing on top of the building. You can see the pulpit behind us where the prophet speaks and the huge organ.
I think this will be a trip my kids will remember for a long time.

What? No Turkey!

I could post some pictures of our family stuffing our faces, but I won't. Instead I thought I would only tell you about us stuffing our faces. First of all, our family started a new tradition about four years ago, I let the kids help choose what we will eat for our thanksgiving feast. This year I asked the kids to vote on what we would cook this year. What do you know, turkey did not win! Ty's famous hot chicken wings won instead, so that is what we had. Here are some of the kids other favorite foods that we had; celery stuffed with cheese, olives and pickles to pick at while I was cooking. The pies that they chose were pumpkin, chocolate pudding pie and orea pudding pie. They also wanted nacho's for thanksgiving, so we did that too. Of course we can't forget the jello jigglers (that is a tradition my mother started when I was a kid), and my favorite is the rolls. I cheated this year and bought frozen dough instead of making them from scratch.

Happy Thanksgiving to every one!
I asked each of the kids to tell me what they are thankful for this year and here are their answers.

Dallin- food
Jayden- my dog Titan
Sadie- the whole family, animals, and house
Aubrie- icecream, Titan, food, family, our house, friends
Halen- brownies and chocolate pudding pie
Ty- my family and my job
Tamie- family and friends, my house

Bucket list

Ok, so it looked fun counting the "big things to do in life list" or the "bucket list" whatever you want to call it. So here it goes. Just copy and highlight the things you have done. Try it and pass it on! I scored 53 out of 99, only half, apparently I am not ready to kick the bucket any time soon.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii(soon)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (no way I will ever do that)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (in your heart count?)
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (only as a kid, sorry mom)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (never had much, I am still happy)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (never will)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Romania, Poland, Austria, Germany,Czech Republic, Slovakia,Hungary(ok I changed it)
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Gone without food or water for 24 hours or longer
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud (practically every day of my life)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Stayed up for 24 hours with NO sleep at all(too many times)
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Changed a lightbulb
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Mowed the lawn (too many times)
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (prevented a mom from running over her own child,that counts!)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (in two's, beat that!)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

I miss summer.....

I am so missing the lazy days of summer, cooking in dutch ovens and sitting in the sunshine. After about two weeks of somewhat cold weather and staying indoors much more than I would like to. I thought that it would be fun to remember the great times we had this summer with friends.

Ty's graduation dinner

Wow! Ty graduated with honors. It has been a long five years but he did it! He actually finished his last class in August but on Friday night we were able to go to a fancy dinner with everyone from his graduating class to celebrate. We had yummy prime rib and shrimp, and of course my favorite was the dessert. I am so proud of him, and the best thing is that he really enjoys the work that he does (except the cold weather).

Happy Anniversary November 21st

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad, 35 years, WOW! To think that almost all of those years were spent putting up with me! and KC! I don't know how you have managed but thanks for always being there for us. Love You.

Congratulations

We just wanted to congratulate Jayden and Dallin for a super start at Junior High, there is nothing better than hearing that all five of your students are doing excellent in school. I am super proud of all of the kids putting their education at top priority. Dallin was awarded a certificate for a 4.0 grade point average! Jayden came extremely close with all A's except one B. I am proud of both of them, they all know that I only expect them to try their hardest.