LDS Temples...

Eighteen years ago today, I went to the Temple for the first time.  It was the week before I married Jay.  Here we are on September 13, 1995.

Little did we know then that we would turn into nomads and spend almost two decades moving around the country.  One of the first things we would figure out before moving to a new place was how close the temple was going to be.  I received my own endowment in the Salt Lake Temple and was also sealed to this wonderful man there.  A year later we moved to Baltimore, MD and the Washington DC Temple was where we would go.  When we moved back to Salt Lake it was back to the Salt Lake or Jordan River Temples depending on who our babysitters were.  Then it was off to Seattle, WA and 

the Seattle Washington Temple.  

           

When we moved to Rexburg, ID the closest temple was the Idaho Falls Temple, but while Jay worked at BYU-ID they announced and built the Rexburg, ID Temple.  We attended the ground breaking ceremony where the spirit was so strong just being in the field where the temple was to be built made tears stream down our faces.  We watched out our kitchen window as the temple was built from the ground up.  After we moved the temple was completed and we took our family back over the holidays to attend the open house before it was dedicated.

We moved back to Cache Valley, where we met, for four years.  In so many ways we felt like we were moving home.  The Logan Temple became our temple for those years there.  It was so nice to be so close to a temple again.  It only took about 5 minutes to get there from our house in Providence.  We drove past it numerous times a week and would always point it out and sing, "I Love to See the Temple" when we would pass.

For the past 2 years the Portland, OR Temple has been our Temple.  We were able to have some wonderful evenings and chapel sessions there with our ward and stake.  It was especially meaningful as Jay served as Bishop of our Felida Ward and was able to conduct the chapel sessions as part of our Ward Temple Nights. We also had a temple sealer in our ward there, Brother Cowie, who would encourage us to come to the temple as often as we could.

Today I went to the Kansas City, MO Temple to celebrate 18 years of Temple Service. 

 I LOVE the Temple.  It truly is the House of God.  I have never felt uncomfortable there.  It has always been more a feeling of belonging and going home.  The spirit of peace prevails and you can't help but be enveloped in it.  I love how it expands our perspective, gives comfort, and is a place of revelation.  The love of our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ are ever present and tangible there.  We feel that and know there is a plan for us and they will help lead and guide us to be successful and progress in that plan.  No matter which Temple you attend regularly, the Spirit is always there and we are all invited to come to the temple, participate, serve, and partake of the blessings that await us.

So here are some of "our temples" where we have spent a lot of time over the past 18 years.  I'm so thankful for the blessings of the temple, most especially being sealed to Jay, our children, our parents, and extended families.  I am so blessed to be part of such an amazing group!

Matthew's First Loose & Lost Tooth!

Loose

Lost

 Matthew came home from school all excited because he had his first loose tooth.  Apparently, in his kindergarten class, they sing to you if you lose a tooth. :)  So after a little wiggling...all gone!  He thought it was pretty awesome that the tooth fairy came last night too!  Katelyn said, "Mom, it's your last first loose tooth!"....made me kind of sad, I seem to be having a lot of last -

 firsts lately.

Spencer's New Instrument...

Spence has decided that he wants to learn to play the clarinet in band this year.  So we went last night to pick it up.  He learns how to put it together and has his first "lesson" today at school!

Volleyball!

Kate tried out for the volleyball team at school.  There was a huge group.  She made it to final cuts.  So she's getting her volleyball fix at church playing stake volleyball!  We only have 9 young women in our ward (there are 2 other wards with 30 & 40 YW!), but they play hard and have fun.  Katelyn did make the school play, Into The Woods, and has started rehearsals for that, so look for future play posts in October!  

Yeah, she's pretty awesome!

Labor Day at Liberty Jail

Jay did labor on Labor Day, but when he got home we drove up to Liberty Jail.  It is awesome that we are so close to some of the church history sites!

Matthew thought the replica of the Gold Plates was pretty cool!

Cute Kids! Love them Tons!

The boys were all matching one day for school (not planned), so I thought it would be a great pic to get them all together in color coordinating outfits, right?  Well, then mouths opened and certain people didn't want to stand by other certain people, so we ended up with separate pictures.  Kate just looked really cute this day, so we took a picture of her, and she was in blue too!

Our First Visitors!

 Andrew and Jessica were in north Texas with their girls, Emma and Juliet, for a medical school interview.  They figured they had already driven 20 hours, so what was 7 more to come see us?!  We were so excited to be able to spend some time with them! 

 Their babies are so adorable!  

My cousin, Thomas, was in Kansas City for work that day as well, so he came for dinner.  We had a wonderful time visiting, talking and Laughing A LOT! :)  

Thanks for coming!  We love visitors! (hint, hint)

Kansas City Chiefs

Our first of many KC games!

 Spencer and Logan enjoying the view of their dad's handiwork (the field)!

Jay and his boss checking on the damage after the game.

First Day of School 2013

Matthew - All Day Kindergarten

Spencer - 5th Grade

We started school on August 14th this year. 

Katelyn - 8th Grade

 It made us kind of grumpy since we had just moved half way across the country the week before and had been in school last year until June 18th in Vancouver. 

Logan - 11th Grade - Junior

 It was crazy getting everyone registered, finding and buying school supplies and clothes. But WE DID IT!  Logan even started early morning seminary the first day too!  And everyone came home the first day with a smile on their face!  I was so happy to see them after a very long day of unpacking.  I'm not used to being alone at home, I haven't been in 16 years and I was working then!