I love to see the temple

"I love to see the temple.
I’m going there someday
To feel the Holy Spirit,
To listen and to pray.
For the temple is a house of God,
A place of love and beauty.
I’ll prepare myself while I am young;
This is my sacred duty.
-
I love to see the temple.
I’ll go inside someday.
I’ll cov’nant with my Father;
I’ll promise to obey.
For the temple is a holy place
Where we are sealed together.
As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth:
A family is forever."

Can I just say that temples are the most wonderful places in the whole world! I love the incredible spirit that you feel as soon as you walk through the front doors. Every temple is so beautiful and unique, but no matter what temple you go to you always feel the awe-inspiring love from our Heavenly Father. Going to the temple always gives me such peace no matter what trials life presents.

I love being able to do work for those who have finished their journey here and feeling their love and appreciation. Knowing that there are people on the other side of the veil that are just waiting for some one to do this important work for them is such a great responsibility for all of us. It is amazing when you are holding a name in your hand and realize that they have been waiting for hundreds of years and then knowing there are so many others who have been waiting for even longer.

I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for all that I have... especially for a current temple recommend and that I am sealed to my wonderful husband and family for time and all eternity.

Happy 2010!!!

At the beginning of this year we have so much to be grateful for. Heavenly Father has truly blessed us so much! We have our health, our home, the love we have for each other, our jobs, our little Gemma, family and friends, and most of all the gospel! A few of our New Year Resolutions for this year are to get out of debt, be a better husband and wife, gain a testimony & grow stronger in the gospel and closer to our Heavenly Father, and to get healthier and in shape.

The Sunday after Christmas we left to come back home. We brought along Paige, Cam, and their friend Rachel. They stayed with us for a week. While here Cam and Rach had fun making hats, they even made one for Gemma! We were even able to celebrate the New Year with them. We went down to St. George and ate at a place called Pirate Island Pizza. The food was really good I thought, especially the breadsticks. The inside of the restaurant was really neat! They had a cave entrance with skeletons everywhere, a swamp, a tiki hut, a skull rock, and a huge pirate ship with cannons that went off with lights and smoke, and they even had a thunder and lightning show with sounds and effects. It was so much fun to see everything! After we went & played blacklight miniature golf. It was so fun! Cameron was being kind and helpful by hitting everyone's ball into the hole except for his. They had a lot of fun posing with the hole themes. I laughed so hard the hole time! Next we went to First Night which is a huge outdoor party thrown by St. George City. They had Rock Band contests, rockwall climbing, a skating rink, rides, food, and a lot of other things. We all signed our names on a big wall, took lots of pictures, and walked around and looked at everything. Rachel bought Cam a lightsaber that he absolutely loved. She also climbed the rock wall. When we were heading back to the car they started off the fireworks. We couldn't see much cause the parking garage was in the way - but what we could see they were awesome! We then came home and played games until 2a.m. It was a really great New Years!

The next day mom came down. It was so fun having her here. She even played Mario Kart with us on the Wii. It was sooo funny watching here drive. She didn't do well but she gets an A for effort! I was laughing so hard while watching her. We all went shopping the next day. Mom helped me buy the most perfect thing! It is a little mermaid carousel sea horse! For those of you who know me I have always been in love with the little mermaid and I have collected carousels for what seems like forever.... so it totally fit me to a "T". Thanks mom!

I hope you all had an enjoyable New Year and we hope this year is a good one for you. We love you all!

Merry Christmas

Ryan & Karen Ford

Brent's sister Karen was married to Ryan Ford on the 19th of December in Fairview. It was so wonderful to be able to share this experience with them! They looked so happy & so in love. Karen made such a beautiful bride! Their ceremony was so nice, it reminded us of our own wedding almost 5 years ago. Welcome to the family Ryan. We wish you both every happiness in this new journey together! We love you.

Celebrating the Season with...

... work parties and going to the Messiah.

Brent had is work party on the 9th at the Garden House. We played games where we had to guess what song a funny sentence referred to & ate yummy food. I particularly liked the cream of vegetable and chicken soup - it was sooo good! I had my work party at Rusty's Steak House on the 15th. The steaks were so mouth watering good!

On the 14th we went to see the Messiah performed at the Heritage Center. It was a really great experience! The music was so beautiful and moving & gave both Brent and I chills numerous times. The spirit was so strong and it really made me think of our Savior and his humble birth and how grateful I am for him and his gospel in my life. In the lobby of the Heritage Center they had some of the coolest trees! I so wish we had our camera and were able to get some pictures of them. They had a Harry Potter tree, one for Sponge Bob, one for every Disney princess (yes including my favorite - the Little Mermaid!), one that had a mannequin torso on top with the tree designed to look like her dress skirt, one that was all pink, one that was Strawberry Shortcake, and a whole bunch more! It was such a fun and neat experience to go to!

Decorating the Tree

I love the spirit of Christmas, listening to carols, lights on the tree, and drinking wassil and hot cocoa in a cozy warm blanket.

After we got home from Thanksgiving we decided to put up our tree for Family Home Evening. It turned out so beautiful!

A Time of Thanks

This Thanksgiving we have so much to be thankful for! We are so grateful for our many wonderful friends and our family, and for our little Gemma. We are grateful for our home, for our jobs, for electricity, indoor plumbing, & our health. For the love that we have for each other & for our eternal marriage. For this great country, the freedom that we have, & for all those who have given so much to keep us safe & to secure our rights and freedom. But most of all we are grateful for the gospel in our lives. To know that we are children of god, having the priesthood & the spirit constantly in our home. For our wonderful Prophet and leaders of the Church, for the many missionaries preaching the gospel to others. For our savior Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice for us all. For his humble birth and the exemplary life he lived.

This year we were able to travel up to my parents house. The trip up seemed so long - I was so glad that Gemma did so well traveling. We brought a blanket with us and she crawled right under it and slept the whole way. For Thanksgiving the next day we went over to my Aunt & Uncles place to eat dinner. My DeLeeuw Grandparents were also there. It was so good to see everyone & the food was so delicious! Both Brent & I ate way too much!

On Friday we hung out & watched movies. We didn't want to wake up early for the madness of "Black Friday" so we waited until we knew the rush would be over before we went. We didn't get much besides movies for Christmas. That night we went to the town light parade. It was short but fun to watch, they had a lot of clever ideas. They had the Polar Express, a bunch of Who's from Whoville & of course the Grinch and Santa Clause. We took Gemma with us ... she loved being warm & snug in Brent's coat.

On Saturday we went up to see Brent's parents. It was really nice to see them & some siblings. We ended up helping Karen make her wedding announcements (which turned out really cute). When we got back to my family's, we watched Star Trek & played the longest game of cards ever with my brother Cameron and his friends. It was really fun & we all laughed so hard!

On Sunday, Mom made muffins for breakfast. After we ate them all we had a hilarious fight with the foil liners. We turned a bunch into Frisbees & even more into foil balls. We were all laughing & running all over the house. Mom & Cam were being especially silly!

It we such a great weekend! I loved seeing & hanging out with so many family members. It will definitely be hard to go back to work and to snow after such a wonderful trip!