I love to see the Temple....I went inside today....

Well...it wasn't really today...we got to go to the Draper Temple open house on February 10th. It was amazing.


The night before our visit, we had a special family home evening to explain to the kids what an amazing opportunity they were about to experience. We talked all about temples, their purpose and how lucky we are to have so many so close to us. We also talked about how we need to be so reverent and quiet. I thought the lesson went well, but in the back of my mind I could just see the "wild" side of my kids creeping out while inside the temple.
We started out at a church in Draper, where we parked our car and went into the chapel for a brief movie about the new temple. Sadie insisted on bringing her baby with us...of course. When the movie started I was immediately hit with the strong, peaceful spirit only the temple can bring. I got teary really quick. And to aggravate my "teary" condition, I listened to Sadie whisper to her baby, "Look baby, that's the beautiful temple. It's very special. It is sooo beautiful. See?" During the entire movie, Sadie continued with her sweet comments. I was an emotional wreck and we hadn't even stepped foot on the temple grounds yet!

We took a bus from the church up to the temple. The boys said this was one of their favorite parts of the entire visit. They said they loved sitting on the giant bus and not wearing a seat belt. On the way up, the bus was very full, so Spencer and Matt stood, to allow others to sit. Spencer loved standing. He thought he was very cool. (he was. :) )

After riding the bus and getting off right in front of the temple, we walked through a series of tent tunnels that led to the door of the temple. The closer we got to the door, the more reverent and quiet the kids got. I stopped a couple of times just taken back with the spirit. My kids quiet in a tunnel? Really? Yes, the Lord does answer prayers!

Once inside, Spencer and Ethan were in awe with everything they saw. Both boys really enjoyed seeing the font. Ethan liked that they had already put the water in. In fact in his own words he said, "What I liked about the font, that I didn't know, that it didn't have much water." Spencer was excited to think that in only 2 years he could come and participate in baptisms!

In part of our lesson the night before, we explained they could not touch anything....ANYTHING! Well, as we were walking through, Spencer asked if he could touch the floor. I told him that would be fine. So he bent down and touched the carpet. He got a huge smile on his face and whispered, " I just touched inside the temple." That seemed to start a bit of a trend. After that, both Ethan and Spencer carefully touched the carpet, the walls, and the tile. I didn't stop them because it made them so happy.

In the sealing room, I showed the boys how you can look in the mirrors and see forever. Spencer said he can't wait until he can get married in the temple someday. And of course...more tears from me...

Overall, the experience was awesome. I could not believe how nice our kids were. I kept doing double takes and doubting those were really our kids!

Everyone had an amazing time. It was a day we'll always remember.

After being bussed back to the church, we hopped back in the car and drove up to the temple for some pictures. I have to thank everyone for being sooo patient, while Mommy spent 25 minutes taking pictures of the temple....from every angle.


You could see the Jordan River and Oquirrh Mountain temple's in the distance. On a clearer day, I'm sure I could have got a picture of the Salt Lake Temple too...I guess I'll have to go back!

At the end of the day, I felt so overwhelmed with joy and appreciation to belong to such a great church. It was great to be inside the temple with my entire family. Good feeling.

Valentine's Day...

The night before Valentine's I stayed up late....to decorate! Even though it was close to 1am when I finished the cookies, Sadie insisted on "helping".

(My cookies will never compare to Sis. Garner's, but I try...)

Valentine's morning we got ready for a full day of basketball games. It was the last games of the season, and I was hoping for a great last game. Spencer's team has never won. In fact, they've never come within 30 points of the other team. So I was hoping this last game, they could have a chance! In fact, one of the other parents told me she prayed the night before begging, "please, just let them have a good game...so they'll want to play again someday!!!" Well, prayer answered. No, they didn't win. But they only lost by 4. Spencer had 2 attempts at a basket, but they both hit the rim. But check out these cool photos! He was playing awesome!!!


Being a photographer, you'd think my kids would get used to the fact that I'm gonna take a lot of pictures. Nope, not Spencer. It was all I could do to get him to stand on the court for 30 seconds to get these shots. Thank you Spencer for holding still for a second, to make your Mommy happy. Spencer worked really hard during the game and didn't goof off much....I only got the one shot of him being silly. The game was too exciting to be silly!!

Ethan's game, on the other hand; a completely different story. Ethan was EXTRA silly, and EXTRA giggly...it was a blast. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a basketball game ever! Check out these sweet moves.... He was swinging his arm around disco style...Ethan! Hello! You're in the middle of a game! What are you doing? I was laughing my head off...And then, I couldn't believe it, I look up and see this...he's doing the splits? Really? And I love his "thinking" look, with his fingers tapping each other as if to say, "hmmm, what shall I do now?" Thank you Ethan. That was the most entertaining game!

Ok. To be fair, Ethan did play really well. He was really aggressive, maybe too aggressive sometimes, but almost made several shots. Way to play Ethan!

Ethan is the exact opposite when getting his picture taken. He will pose the second I tell him to, without any complaint. He will continue to stay posed for as long as needed. I love it!

After the basketball games it was back home to get the cookies ready to deliver. We went as a family and delivered them all. Sadie even walked up to the door to her own friends house to personally deliver "her" cookies.After a full day, we had a super romantic evening...Matt picked up Rumbi's and we all sat and watched Madagascar 2....which is a hilarious movie by the way..."am I seeing double? or is that just your butt..."

Matt did get me a rose and a cruise. So yay me! In a not too long we're off to the Caribbean! It just won't come soon enough. I love my honey! (thanks babe!)

Basketball Mania Times 2 and I'm REALLY old

Having 2 boys means double the sports. Since Spencer was doing basketball, naturally we enrolled Ethan as well. He LOVES basketball. Ethan is out at 8pm in the freezing cold practicing. And it pays off! He's a really great little player!

Ethan's Jr. Jazz team is actually quite good and fun to watch. There are several players on his team that just get it done! Ethan has made several baskets and even made a buzzer beater!! Woo hoo!

Ethan is pretty aggressive and likes to get right in there and get the ball. He does, however, just like Spencer, goof around and do silly things. But it's VERY entertaining to watch. His poor coach is so patient. We just know, it's normal, it's Ethan! This weekend are the last Jr. Jazz games of this season...I can't wait to see what happens!!

More about Ethan....

So lately, Ethan has been making this face at me...

Yes, this squinty-eyed-I-need-braces-SO-bad-crinkly-nose-I'm-crazy face.

This is the face I get when I ask,

"Ethan did you spill crackers crumbs all over the floor?

Were you eating on the couch?

Did you wear your shoes without socks?

Did you just eat 8 fruit roll-ups?

Did you just kick your brother?

Did you take Sadie's game away?

Did you just get your toothbrush wet to trick me into thinking you really brushed?

Are you really going to wear that?

Were you reverent at church today?

Did you clean your room?"

...you get the idea. I can't help but laugh every time and then immediately following think, man, when are the rest of those baby teeth gonna fall out so we can move on to phase II of the orthodontia?

Talk about making me laugh... the other day, Ethan called me into the other room and wanted to talk to me. So we walked in the other room.

He said, "Mom, let's sit on the couch."

"Okay." I told him and sat down.

"Mom, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." At this point, I'm thinking oh great, what is he possibly going to ask...

and then this question...

"Mom, when you were a little girl, did you have electricity?"

I couldn't help but smile. I tried not to laugh, because I could see he was so serious.

"Yes, Ethan we had electricity. We had light bulbs, microwaves, TVs, and even computers."

And then I couldn't hold it in any longer, I began laughing and asked him how old he thought I was!! He told me he thought I was REALLY old. Once I reassured him that there was electricity waaay back in the 70s, he laughed with me.

So thanks for all the laughs Ethan!

Basketball Mania....

So I was looking back on my blog the other night and realized something. I happen to do a lot more blogs about my little girl than about my boys. Why? I guess I'm around the little girl 24/7 and she is a laugh a minute. But I must try to be fair and grant each child equal blog time. So this one is about Spencer. He's such an awesome kid!

The Jr. Jazz basketball season started in full swing just before Christmas break. And then after taking a 2 week break, we're back to weekly games and practices. Spencer is a good player. (and he's pretty handsome too...)

One of my favorite things that makes Spencer so exciting to watch is the silly things he does in between shots. Like the picture below...if there were sound attached to the picture you would hear, (woo hoo, all right, oh yeah baby!) followed by a little victory dance. Spencer is very entertaining to watch. Sometimes it's just downright gut-busting.

Spencer's team probably has the all-time, lowest scoring, most losses, ever recorded in Jr. Jazz history. Every game they have lost by at least 30 points. But that doesn't stop these guys! They give it their all every time. Including Spencer. He does a really great job at defending and has even made a couple of baskets this season.

I'm so lucky to have a son that gives me comic relief while watching sports. I'm not a huge sports fan to begin with and I have trouble sitting still very long. So thank you Spencer, you're such a great kid. Eat your heart out Kirilenko...Spencer is here!!!