Temple Dedication

This was such a wonderful weekend! Savanna Lake, from our old ward in Westminster, was very involved with the cultural celebration and the temple dedication so she stayed two nights at our house. She invited me to attend the dress rehearsal in the celestial room since she was to sing in the first dedication service. It was so wonderful to be able to attend and the choir sounded wonderful. I felt very privileged to go.

On Saturday we attended the cultural celebration at Hugh's stadium, which is at CSU. There were 4000 youth participating from the temple district. It was so cool! I am completely baffled as to how this was all coordinated, but it was exceptionally done. President Uchtdorf and Elder Renlund attended and President Uchtdorf was so complimentary to the youth and the examples and light they radiated. Our kids really enjoyed watching the dance numbers and they even had a huge model of the temple they put together, which was amazing. We felt so blessed to have been able to go and to have felt the wonderful spirit. There were also videos of youth whose lives have been blessed when they turned to the Lord and the scriptures. It was neat to see such a huge group of youth and adults united in their love of the gospel and of the temple.

Sunday morning I attended the 9am dedicatory session, which also had the cornerstone ceremony. President Uchtdorf is truly wonderful and full of love. He and all the leaders love their wives and it shows in how they are part of everything they do. He invited some children to come help with the cornerstone and was funny as he told them to pose since their parents would want to take pictures. Then he got the group of leaders to pose with them as well since he knew that's what parents want. He was a little messy in putting in the cement and told his wife not to clean it up, but she did. He then said "these wonderful sisters do a better job, and then are always cleaning up after us." 

After that they went back inside for the talks and prayer. I felt such a powerful spirit in all the counsel that was given. Sister Garrett, temple matron, talked about a woman who read a book and didn't think it was that special and didn't care for it. But then she went on a date with a young man and realized they had many common interests and thoroughly enjoyed being with him. She then found out he was an author and had written the book she'd read. She decided to read it again. This time she found she truly enjoyed it. Why? Because she was not acquainted with the author and the book took on new meaning. Coming to know the author of the ordinances and covenants in the temple will change our temple experience. The more understanding of Him, the more we live consecrated lives to Him. The more we understand His loving kindness. In the temple, loving kindness is two ways. We show it to our ancestors and in return, God's love is retuned to us. She quoted President Hunter "mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again."

President Garrett, temple president, spoke of how as a missionary he saw a God of miracles help another elder learn to memorize, when he was having much difficultly But when he awoke for a back at 2 am and saw this elder dressed in his white shirt and tie praying and studying, and then the next day having it learned, he recognized God's help when we seek it. When he was sealed to his wife he learned that God is the author of of eternal blessings, eternal promises, and eternal hope. He told of a horse that was blind, but instead of putting him down, the farmer had another horse with a bell around his neck. This horse was particularly attentive to the blind horse and lead him. The farmer is our Heavenly Father and chooses to not put us down even though we are weak. The horse with the bell is our Savior, who pays particularly close attention to us and leads us. 

President Waddell, presiding bishop, talked about how our labor in the temple covers us as shield of protection and power to be able to overcome the challenges of life. Life is a homeward journey for all of us. And our ordinances and covenants are our credentials to go home. And our challenge to keep them is what this mortal journey is about. The basis of every covenant and ordinance is the atonement of Jesus Christ. He also challenged us to find out what does it mean for us to go to the temple oft. What is oft for us? What does the Lord feel is an appropriate sacrifice from us? The temple is a great symbol of our membership so let us be a temple attending people. 

Elder Soares of the presidency of the seventy talked about how these covenants enable us beyond our own power and capabilities. Each temple is an expression of testimony that God lives. Temples are literally the House of the Lord. The Lord himself visits the temples. Temples are places of learning and everything in the temple directs us to God's words to Moses that "this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." It is a place of revelation and inspiration. When entering our heart should be completely turned to the Lord about what we can do to change our lives. We get help with life decisions. We receive comfort and peace from our heavy burdens or the stresses of challenges we face. Come to the temple in a spirit of prayer. He also talked about the importance of being prepared to enter the temple. No unclean thing can enter. Ask ourselves, is my heart pure? Are my hands clean? Am I a worthy servant of the Lord? The recommend signifies that we are living the law of chastity, the word of wisdom, that we are paying our tithing, that we are treating our family and neighbors with kindness. 

President Uchtdorf was the final speaker. He mentioned several times about how wonderful the celebration was last night and how it was truly a testimony of faith. He encouraged all of us, especially the youth, to document these events and our feelings in our journals to reflect on in the future. The temple is a fortress of faith. It is not closed, but inviting us to come in and seek. It is a symbol of mankind's desire to reach out to the heavens. A place of connection: time to all of eternity, us to our ancestors, and our relationship with God. To connect our earthly existence to our eternal future. God commands us to build temples so that all of his children can return home. It is our duty to share this plan. When crossing the border from Germany to Switzerland to be sealed to his family, he thinks of the symbolism of crossing political boundaries. But the temple erases borders and boundaries and brings blessings to all the inhabitants of the earth. We learn of our spiritual potential and helps us to get our true physical and spiritual bearings. It shows not only does God loves His children, but He offers His eternal life to all, regardless of race, language, or nationality. The blessings of the endowment only can come to their fulfillment by faithfulness. The temples is place to bring salvation to our deceased ancestors. Bring our friends and family to the temple grounds and teach them what the temple is about.  

Your example to your youth is more powerful than words you can say. Go to the temple often, grow in the gospel by study and by faith and let your youth see how you live close to the Lord. Learn to love the temple and its ordinances even more. Do everything in your power to live worthily and have a temple recommend. It shows that you are committing yourself to the values of the temple. Respond to the questions as if the Lord is asking them. You will know that God accepts you and your sacrifices and will sanctify you. When you come with strength of a pure heart and power of clean hands, you will be given even more peace and strength. He said he hopes and prays that he and his wife's lives will always be a testimony to their children of their commitment to love the gospel. 

The dedicatory prayer was wonderful and during the hosanna shout I felt such joy in having a temple here. My testimony is sure that this is the Lord's church. These are His inspired leaders. This is His house that has been dedicated for the soul purpose of bringing us closer to Him. My heart is so full of gratitude for not only this gospel, but for my testimony of it. I'm grateful for the gift of eternal families, eternal covenants, and for the connection between heaven and earth that is made in the temple. I marveled at all these leaders are asked to do. From coordinating the open house, cultural celebration, dedication, music, and the list goes on. These are ordinary people who were called on to do big things. But the Lord is helping those he calls. He allows us to reach to Him to stretch and learn and grown and something beautiful is created. The priesthood is real and is a power used constantly in the Lord's church. 

What a wonderful and memorable occasion this was and I'm so grateful to live here for those momentous occasion.

October

Picture day!

Early morning fun with all of Ryan's friends. Since he typically sleeps on the couch, our front room always has lots of friends out and about. 

Ryan loves his race car track. The two bins are for "good" cars and "bad" cars. 

On a walk while Lily is at school. Max wanted to pick Lily some "sunflowers" (dandelions) for when she got home. Ryan helped too, they are always so thoughtful of whoever isn't there. We have collected A LOT of rocks because Ryan and Max always want to get a rock for Daddy whenever we come across a rock pile. 

Now they are hitting the leaves off the tree to collect those for Lily. 

Ryan brought his giraffe light saber on the walk. He would yell out to people "Star Wars!" because he wanted to tell people about his light saber and of course Star Wars.  Most people were either far away or on their own walk with headphones and didn't hear, unfortunately. But he gets an "A" for being friendly. 

Lily was getting ready to eat something messy so she wanted an apron. I thought she looked like a 50's housewife: hair curled, in a dress and apron, just getting dinner ready in her spotless house, looking lovely for her husband to come home. :) That's pretty much what I do every day, Jeff's a lucky man. 

Lego club at the library. Such a fun activity because they get a whole table full of legos, and I don't have to clean it up! Their theme was space, so they did a spaceship with an astronaut. They even made it in the library newsletter. 

Max and I read books and then he just shuffled through the lego bins, which he seemed to enjoy. 

And then on to his favorite activity!

Lily wanted a picture with her library pumpkin art piece. 

I'm not sure what rules were broken, but Lily wrote a sign that Max did not follow the rules. 

Lily was annoyed that Ryan kept forgetting to turn the light off in the bathroom so she had me write this sign. She then told Ryan, "when you're about to leave the bathroom just think, wait, I need to turn the light off! And then just turn it off, okay?" She also said Daddy doesn't always turn the light off. This is funny because I'm always turning lights off after Jeff. He doesn't like that I turn them off all the time, and I don't like that he keeps them on all the time. Like mother like daughter, like father like son. 

Just doing some lego tinkering. 

Max is trying really hard to not have to get off the couch to get that ball. 

Ryan made some great shots jumping off the couch. 

Lily practicing using the selfie stick. 

Iron Man just hanging out with Max. 

His Little Feet

This was a very busy week for me and I honestly didn't know how I was going to make it through. In a moment of insanity, I volunteered to bring dinner to a non-profit organization, His Little Feet. The couple who started it are in our neighborhood and I have seen the kids at our park before. It is ministry that brings orphans living in Africa, Haiti, and India over here to join a choir. They travel the country performing songs of Christ and stay for a year. They start the adoption process while here, but it cannot be completely until they go back home. There are 20 kids and 9 adult leaders. I made a spaghetti dinner and even though that sounds easy, I'm not used to making food for that many people. Jeff was a HUGE blessings to me in helping. I don't even know what I would have done without him. Then we took the food over as a family. The kids came out to sing a thank you song to us and we just had the best feeling having served and having interacted with the kids and people in this organization. People who are serving Christ and doing His work just radiate light and are so good to be around. After we were done, Ryan said, "that was fun." Many of the kids wanted to give us hugs before we left, it was really sweet.

I had a doctor appointment and the kids wanted to go play at a park after. They did a great job at the appointment and I was happy to take them afterward. There are some hard, big kid things to do, but Max navigates it all really well. While I was watching him on a high part, Ryan wanted my help getting on this horse statue. It took a while for me to get to him, so he just figured out how to get on by himself. He said, "I'm so proud of myself!" And I was proud of him too.

The boys then discovered pinecones and how much fun it is to throw them at the tree. They could have done this for another hour, it was good practice for baseball. There's nothing better than being outside enjoying beautiful fall weather.

We went to Costco and Jeff is so good at getting the kids to help. On their own they got an assembly line going (they had done this once before) to get all the food in the house. The funny part is that Max has the longest walk. He takes the item from Jeff at the back of the car, to Ryan who is standing on the steps by the kitchen, then he gives it to Lily who places it in the kitchen. Although at first he just dropped it on the floor, and Lily kept asking him if he could just give it to her rather than dumping it on the floor. They all did a great job with their heavy items, and it all felt very easy for Jeff and me. I'm grateful for kids who want to help!

Lily was so happy to show Ryan her Abraham Lincoln hat she colored at school. On her own she cut holes on the side, found some elastic, had Jeff cut it to the length of her head, and made a headpiece. She is so proactive and independent, I was pretty impressed.

Lily had an ultrasound this week for a cyst behind her knee. It is 5cm long and full of fluid. We will need to go to a specialist to check it out more. Luckily it doesn't hurt her, it's just very strange it's there. I also volunteered in Lily's class and I always enjoy that. It's fun being helpful and having tasks that I can cross off a list of having gotten done. I have also been working on a photo book for my dad for his birthday so every spare moment I have I have been doing that. It's from the cruise and there were over 700 photos from everyone to sort through, so it was a very big job.

Because my friend was coming later in the week, we also had to clean up the house. The downstairs was pretty bad and because of my busy week. I had to do laundry, clean the bathroom, change sheets and other things and I honestly didn't have energy to do. I kept praying for strength to do it, but I was completely overwhelmed. But Jeff saved the day again! He got so much done in an hour and again I don't know what I would have done without his help. And now we have a clean house for the weekend. The kids are being really good about cleaning up after themselves now so we can all keep our house clean since it feels so much better. I HAVE to have a somewhat orderly house to feel sane I've learned, so this is important to me.

The rec center right by our house just opened up a new pool. We went one night and the kids LOVED it! There is a big waterslide the Ryan went down "a million times, or maybe 20," he said. Max was very disappointed to not be able to go down the big slide and had a big tantrum, but he made due with the baby waterslide. When I went out on Friday, Jeff took them by himself to the pool again. He set expectations and he said they did awesome and listened to him and left without crying. We are very lucky to have it so close!

The little red slide that Max likes to go down. 

Ryan went up these stairs so many times. I was amazed his legs could keep it up! Lily went on the slide a lot too, but she'd go to other things as well. Ryan was pretty much going on this all night. 

Mama Baer got Ryan an Avengers coloring book. Ryan learned how to use the tape so he has been avid about taping up his creations after he finishes coloring them, as well as some art from school. 

Ryan had to decorate a scarecrow for school. Lily REALLY wanted to help/do it for him, so we got her some supplies to do her own. We think in the future we are going to have to copy all of Ryan's homework so she can do it too. 

Ryan did this all by himself (Lily wrote his name). He put the glue on, used a brush to spread it around, and cut the stems off the leaves. He did such a great job!

Lily had crows, straw, and made her belt, eyes, ears, and nose out of flowers. She said she put some leaves on top to make her scarecrow modest. 

Lily does great castles!

A nice fall walk with Daddy. 

Since Lily is reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the kids decided to create a factory from their legos. Jeff is such a fun dad that he inspires this type of creation, and then Lily and Ryan go to town with their own fun additions. Ryan spends lots of time tinkering and building on to it. He loves doing this for mind, body, soul time. He told me he wants me to build, but every time I try and add a piece he tells me he has a better place to put it. I'm not quite the master builder like the rest of my family members.