Temple Dedication

Last weekend was full of events tied with the dedication of The Gila Valley Temple. At the beginning of the week I expected to be, for the most part, an active participant in all the festivities at the Stake Center, watching broadcasts of the different events. I was okay with this. A temple dedication is a rare occasion. A temple dedication in the area you live is even rarer. So, even participating through the broadcasts was going to be great. Early in the week however I was given a ticket to the Saturday night Temple Cultural Celebration (TCC). YES! Only 3500 people got tickets, so I was one of the lucky. Then on Saturday my Bishop called to see if I wanted a ticket for the 3rd dedication on Sunday, inside the temple. Double YES! A temple dedication in your area where you get to be an active participitant at the actual events is the rarest of all and I was very excited and thankful.

Saturday night we filed into the college stadium very early to get great seats for the TCC. [I should explain the TCC. With each temple dedication, there is a cultural celebration held where the youth (boys and girls ages 12-18) in that temple district do a program for the Prophet, President Monson - and people in the community also get to come]. We had to wait for a loooong while before the program started, but there was too much anticipation to be bored.

As it was getting close to the time that President Monson would arrive, all of the youth came out and sat on the field. There were 1600 of them! It was an amazing site.

When the first golf carts rode out carrying President Eyring (of the First Presidency) and his wife, Elder Holland (of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) and his wife, along with Elder Costa (of the Presidency of the Seventy) and his wife, Elder Walker (of the First Quorum of the Seventy) and his wife along with a few other people, an amazing thing happened. Everyone in the stadium stood up and were quiet within a matter of 5 seconds. We all expected that President Monson would be coming out, which is why everyone stood up, but he didn't come out for about 10 more minutes. None the less, it was nice stand for the other general authorities. And the greatest thing I thought was the spirit of reverence and respect that everyone showed and felt for the oppurtunity to see and be in the presence of these great men, especially the prophet. When President Monson came out, he was so fun. He cracked jokes, told stories, and even got President Eyring to sing with him.

He also gave a short address to the youth and then it was time for the program to start. At the beginning, all of the youth marched onto the field. They kept coming and coming and coming and coming. Wow! There are a lot of youth and they are a strong force. The TCC was really well done; fun, spiritual, uplifting and entertaining. It told the story of the history of this area in singing, dancing and some short video clips. I was especially proud of the youth that I know from my old ward (my parents ward), they did an awesome job. Here are two links to the TCC thanks to the local newspaper: part 1 and part 2. Each video clip is about 9 minutes long, but they are worth watching in my opinion. Note, my dad arranged some of the music and most of the singing was recorded by students in his choirs.

Sunday, May 23 was the dedication, which was held in three sessions. The first session also included the cornerstone ceremony. I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the members of the cornerstone choir and my dad got to direct the choir (but he wasn't the one who selected the members of the choir). You may be wondering what the cornerstone choir means? It is the choir that stands outside of the temple and sings for the cornerstone part of the dedication. It was a great experience to be in the choir and sing so closely to President Monson. Again, thanks to the local paper, here is a video clip of the cornerstone ceremony. If you look carefully at the end of the first song, you can see me in the back. And, even if you don't look carefully you will see my dad directing the choir. Also, the young woman who goes up to do some of the mortar for the cornerstone was one of my laurels when I was Young Women's president. Way to go Kayla!

It was a bright and sunny day, but thankfully not as hot as it could have been. In the afternoon I attended the 3rd dedication with my parents, who also had tickets inside the temple. Now, I am looking forward to being able attend the temple very often as it it so close. I am truly grateful that I was able to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime event.

Arboretum and Wyoming...

...better late then never.

Over Easter weekend my sister Katie came to visit. After getting to the airport a little late to pick her up (oops, but by late I mean 35 minutes) we headed off to go hiking. We opted for a nice, pretty, relaxing hike rather then climbing a mountain...so we went to Boyce Thompson Arboretum. I see the entrance for this place every time I go to Phoenix, but have never stopped. Katie and my mom had been before, but they wanted to go again. I am glad we decided to go there because it was a fabulous time/day to go! The weather was beautiful and there were flowers everywhere. I took pictures of some of my favorite flowers and, while I'm not photographer, they turned out quite nice in my opinion.

It was nice to walk around enjoying nature and talking.

Now that I look at this picture I am thinking, those sunglasses are kind of atrocious and too big for my face. Hmm.

On to last weekend, April 16-18. I decided to take a trip to Wyoming to see the show that Chris directed, The Music Man. Although my rental car did not have cruise control, gasp, I made it to Beth and Chris's without mishap, only major cramps in my legs. It was a fast weekend, but fun filled. I had time to play with Caitlin and Ashlee, go on a walk, visit with Taffy (who was is RS for the day), go to the show, see Chris's parents, and eat yummy food. The show was very good, Chris did a great job of putting it together.

This week I have been back at home and the everydayness of my life. It's pretty exciting here in our little valley though with the open house of The Gila Valley Temple underway.

Rockies spring training game

A couple of weeks ago Beth, Chris, Caitlin and Ashlee came to visit for their spring break and one day we went over to Tucson. My parents took the girls to the zoo while Beth, Chris and I went to a Rockies spring training game. Which they won and we had prime seats (tickets compliments of Chris's dad...thanks Doug) on the second row to the left of home plate. The weather was perfect, high 60's, and it was a fun time.

Let me rewind to the morning of the game. I'm in the kitchen cleaning up breakfast and Chris comes in to ask, "where is your Rockies shirt?" Side note - I don't have a Rockies shirt and had opted to wear a t-shirt, and it happened to by a Wyoming t-shirt. Chris some more, "why are you wearing a Wyoming shirt? Don't you know we're going to a baseball game?" So, I respond with, "this is just what I decided to wear" and leave it at that. But, for all you Wyomingites out there, I ask, "Is there ever a bad time to wear a Wyoming shirt?" I think not (ok maybe not to church, the temple, a wedding...that's about it).

Back to the game. Before we went to our seats we headed for the bathrooms. On the way and in the bathroom 2 different people commented about Wyoming, like go Pokes or something. Once we were in the stands, an usher stopped us to talk about Wyoming. This continued throughout the entire day...before, during and after the game. Oh, and I almost forgot, Beth and I ran into one of our friends from high school at the game because her brother had seen someone wearing a Wyoming shirt from afar. While I had a good 10 "shout outs" and 5 full-blown converstations about Wyoming from my shirt, guess how many new friends Chris made. 0. That's right, he and Beth were just part of the crowd in their Rockies shirts.

As we walked away from the stadium Chris admitted it, the Wyoming shirt was a good choice. I rest my case. It's never a bad time to let people know you are part of the Wyoming family.

Trip to Florida

I spent all of last week in Florida for a work trip. I had a conference in Orlando, but still managed to fit in some time for play. This is the third conference I've attended for work and one of my favorite things about them is the awesome hotels/accommodations; I stayed in the Disney Contemporary Resort this time. I know that in "real life" I would never fork out the money to stay in a resort or 5 star hotel, which makes me really appreciate the great opportunities I get through work. On Tuesday the conference didn't start until evening so we (myself and 3 co-workers) headed to Universal Studios. After visiting that park I learned there is really something to be said for Disney Parks. All day long I felt like the employees at Universal were trying too hard to make sure we were having fun, which became obnoxious. I was able to push that aside and have fun anyway, especially on the climbing wall. This was the first time I have ever done a climbing wall and now I wonder what I was waiting for. It is so fun, but also so tiring! I got two climbs on the wall and made it to the top to ring the bell on the first climb. With that, however, came tired arms, legs and wrists and I was pretty much spent for my second climb. My arms and legs were shaking pretty bad, but no worries, I still made it half-way up. What a fun activity!

On the trip I also got to see Cirque de Soleil, go to Epcot, listen to some interesting talks and workshops as well as some boring ones, and hang out with my friend Brad who lives in Orlando now. Oh, and I almost forgot the small light/music water show that happened each night on the lake in front of my room. It was a fun trip. Thanks to my work for paying for the trip where I could make memories.

Valentine's Dinner

For my ward, we had a formal Valentine's dinner for our last Relieft Society Meeting. While the quality of the pictures is not great, the dinner and evening were! The dinner was at our Bishop's house and his wife along with the wives of the Bishopric counselors and ward finance clerk made the dinner and decorated. The tables were very festive and pretty and the food was awesome - salad, chicken cordon bleu, rules, rice, vegetables and chocolate cake with dipped strawberries. It's amazing how much fun you can have by dressing up in an old formal. (In case you're wondering, my dress was from Beth's wedding).

House Tour

I've lived in my house for 1 ½ years now! I am not sure what I have been waiting for prior to this point, but I am finally going to give a tour.

The front (the grass is green during the summer)

The entry way. Most of the walls in the house are painted a dull mustard color (except my bedroom which is white) with some brick-red accent walls in certain areas. It was all painted when I moved in, but I do like the colors.

Looking into the living room from the entry way. Between the entry way and living room a left takes you to the kitchen or a right down the hall to the bedrooms.

Taking a left from the entry way...there is a small wall that seperates the living room from the kitchen and dining room.

The dining room. The table gets little use, mainly I sit at the bar to eat. But it's ready for the once or so per month that I use it.

A look at the kitchen and pantry (in the distance). On the wall, a cool piece of artwork I picked up in Africa. The other side of the kitchen. Also, the laundry room and door to the garage.

To the other side of the house...taking a right from the entry way and proceeding down the hall.

The office is to the sharp (90°) right.

To a gentle (45°) right is the spare bedroom.

Straight down the hall is a bathroom. Can you say pink? I already had the towels and the shower curtain was about $0.50 so I'm happy with it for now.

My bedroom is to the sharp (90°) left . It was nice to have a room that actually fits my bedroom furnature.

Looking from my bed back towards the door...a closet and bathroom.

And the backyard. I've done lots of work to it, but I'm not finished. The grass is usually greener then this, but always really patchy like the picture shows.

That's it. I have loved my house so far. I've had to learn to do lots of maintance things, but even that has been fun and rewarding. Any time anyone wants to come and see it in person, I welcome visitors :)

The task...should I choose to craft it

This story starts back in time a bit; back to my birthday in 2004. I received this awesome alphabet cross-stitch pattern. Since that time I have been working on my cross-stitch less than diligently. I like doing it and I'm excited for the finished product, I've just been taking my time. Sometimes I think the slowness is due to a fear, "what will I work on when I'm done with this?" or maybe it's that I've been lacking the motivation to work on it. Whatever the reason, it is only slowly, barely, painstakingly getting done. There are, however, 2 times a year that I do work attentively on this project...during General Conference. (For those who don't know, General Conference is where the prophet, apostles, and other leaders of my church talk and it is broadcast to all members throughout the world). With only 2 General Conference's a year though I am on track to finish in about 2011. My family likes to make fun of me about this.

OK, now back to Thanksgiving of 2009. My mom, Katie and I went to a fabric store the day after Thanksgiving for the great sales and Katie bought some flannel to make baby blankets. As she worked on her first blanket in the following days, I was intrigued and made her teach me. She kindly offered to let me keep one piece of flannel to work on, with a few stipulations.

1. I had to get my own hook/needle
2. I had to get the yarn
3. I had to be finished by Christmas (she was coming again after Christmas and she would take it back whether I was done or not)

"No problem" was what I am thinking. "Yeah right" was what everyone else was thinking. Seriously, just because the cross-stitch isn't done doesn't mean I won't finish this project by the deadline.

As November became December and it grew nearer and nearer to Christmas, I earnestly worked! I received weekly texts from Katie with the encouragement of "Diligence annie, diligence" and the getting close to deadline text of "5 more days. But no pressure". And, alas, on Christmas Eve day I finished the blanket! It turned out awesome too, if I do say so myself, and it was done 5 days before Katie came to visit. I knew I could do it :)

So, what's next? Could it be that I am going to finish my cross-stitch? Well, I don't want to be too extreme. I am planning to finish it before the end of spring but I am also working on some more baby blankets so I'll have to try and spread my time to get everything finished.