Week of November 10-16. 2014

Monday - The day came and went, though I was so glad Doran had let me know of a radio station that had started playing Christmas music. I LOVE Christmas music!!!

 Kaylee and I played out in the beautiful weather. Dad worked hard at work. He got in a good hike at the end of the day.

Tuesday - Today was Veteran's Day for the rest of the country, but Dad had a good work day, and Kaylee and I did our thing. She didn't  want to visit the goat as we usually do on Tuesdays (nor did she want to visit the goat at all this week!), so we played in the back yard. She loves to swing, and puts her stuffed animals on the swings and on the slide.

Nate let us know that the bridge his group built for his engineering class tied for first place...held 478 pounds!!! Hurray!!!

Wednesday -I set out Dad's Snickers bar last night and the wrapper was empty, though I doubt that he ate it at 1:02 AM! Happy Birthday, Allison!!!

 Kaylee and I enjoyed story and singing time at the library and made scarecrows. Dad hiked the trail even faster than Monday.

Thursday - Christmas Music started on my favorite radio station (as well as the other one I was listening to). The local weather guy dresses like an elf and they make a big deal and it gets an ol' lady like me pretty darned jumping for joy. Now I can switch back and forth between 2 radio stations!!!

I had ordered chicken breasts from Zaycon foods and the delayed delivery day was moved to this one, so Kaylee and I headed out and they loaded my 30 pound box of chicken in, and we went by Deer Valley Airport to see the planes and helicopter on the way home.

Joshy made my day when I got a text from him! joshjoshjoshjosh!!!!

After Kaylee went with Daddy, Dee and I ground and packaged nearly 30 packages of chickenburger. I left for WinCo and got our turkey for Thanksgiving and our friend Zack delivered bags of deer meat from a Colorado deer hunt. It was a big deer, but there wasn't a lot of meat, and it was already frozen, so we just added it to our freezer and will be surprised when we thaw it.

Kayty won tickets to a Five Seconds of Summer concert, and she had a great time!

Friday - Kaylee and I painted Indian corn and made acorns. Dad had a great day at work and an even faster hike after work.

This is what happens when Indian Corn becomes "tickle corn"!

Saturday - On my run, I went up and saw where the cornerstone would be mortared and took a picture. That would be the nearest I would get before the dedication.

We hit a few yard sales and found a few treasures.

I finished the nativity scene decorating,and got my Christmas tree out so the guys could carry it to the living room.

Doran and the kids arrived, and I cared for them while he and Dad started sanding the panel truck, then Ethan, Cam and Kaylee came and they worked while we worked.

Dad's production: collard greens and kale, two varieties of limes, three varieties of lettuce and our chickens are laying eggs!!!

Truck took a LONG time but was beautiful!

Dad got Albertsons Chicken and we all ate.

The temple cultural celebration came on tv, and Dad and I so enjoyed the entire program. The  four (of over 100) pleather jackets I cut out for two hours looked awesome fpr the five minutes the kids in another region wore them. Our region wore Orange and sang an awesome song called "Look Up" and did a great dance. It was so fun to pick out kids from our ward as we saw them on tv.

Afterwards, we headed to the temple. I wanted to see the lights turn off...for the final night at an undedicated temple. Promptly at 10:13 pm the spire turned off, and we went home.

Sunday - We woke early, got dressed up and headed to Wet and Wild to get a bus to the temple dedication. Our bus driver looked like Santa and was so nice! He had Christmas music playing. We were seated in the Chapel and were glad to get a seat. We weren't sure what the situation would be with the special dedication location for our wards. As we sat, a leader that we knew started inviting rows of people to be in the temple for the dedication. We missed the pick of rows over and over and were just settling to be grateful for being so close. Then, they needed two more people, and they selected us! We had to separate, but Dee was in the chapel in the temple, and I was in an ordinance room. The prophet was just on the other side of the wall from each of us! I was so humbled and grateful to be sitting in this holy temple as it was being dedicated by a living prophet. Tears came to my eyes as I remembered being a very pregnant mommy of a two year old and a one year old little girl and boy, standing by poured footings of our house. The kids used to sing "We live in the dirt..." and we did. We were on an acre in nearly the middle of no where. I thought of when our bishop told us the Phoenix Temple was to be built so near us...and our neighbors were so against it. I thought of the balloon Kayty brought home from work, and of my putting a Home Depot bucket in the middle of this piece of land and Dee putting that balloon on the end of a measured string and letting all the neighbors in the area know and asking them to look and see if they could see that balloon. The church lawyers used his photo vantage points in their presentation to the neighbors. That bucket was nearly right where I sat. And now, years later, we both were in that very building, witnessing its dedication. Tender mercies happen.
Miracles happen.
The Lord has a Plan and His work will not be thwarted.
The words I heard today touched me.
"...but as for me and my house, we will Serve the Lord..."
That is what temples are for. That is what we are here for.

We waited after to be led out, and so many friends of ours who were in this from the beginning had been in the temple as well. Jeff and DeAnn Pierce. Joy Black. Yvonne Brimhall. Sonja and Phil Hazlett. We all hugged and shared our joy!

Many pictures...and a final bus ride back to Wet N Wild.

Morgan and Dad talked for a good time on the phone. His job is great and he now has a van to live in, though it has transmission troubles, it is great and he is loving things! I am so glad he is not living in a thicket with a rattlesnake any more. Oh, and he found he was missing a lot of his stuff...looked in a  nearby packrat hole and found all of it...socks, pocket knife...He will have to tell you the story himself...It's a good one.

Afternoon was spent getting Dee packed and putting some lights on my Christmas tree.

Tomorrow I have to leave super early if I want to run by a DEDICATED TEMPLE early and get Dad to an early flight.