Gilbert Temple Open House

We had the opportunity to join our youth and go to the Open House of the brand new Gilbert Arizona Temple. An Open House is when the general public can go through a brand new temple before it is dedication to the work of the Lord. A lot of our youth wouldn't normally have the means or opportunity to attend an Open House so their leaders and the Bishopric jumped on taking them. It was such a fun trip and I'm happy we got to tag along with our kiddos. Our Bishop, Kamron Reidhead, has a bus (random huh?!) that we all piled up in and headed down to the valley. To kill a little time and make the trip a little more fun, they decided to make and eat breakfast on our way. The bus is more a mix between a bus and a motorhome. It has a small kitchen area, some beds, and then bus seats in the front. 

They put the kitchen area to good work and made some very yummy pancakes and eggs. 

Here is Steve Miller pouring some orange juice. He is the 1st counselor in the Bishopric but should really get a job as a flight attendant. He was championship at going up and down the isles with cups full of juice and not spilling any.

It was a good 3.5 hour drive for us, but the kids kept busy chatting and playing cards.

 Denyce Hawk and Katie Willis 

Jordan Simpson and Brennan O'Hair 

The actual Temple is gorgeous. It's by far the prettiest temple I've ever been into. The attention to detail is exquisit and everything is so beautiful. From the windows to the chandelier and even the tile in the baptismal font are just beautiful. The girls were amazed at how pretty everything was and they were very excited to be able to go into the temple. The sealing rooms had light pouring into them and it was breathtaking. Arizona has two more temples in the next few years that are being built and I hope we can take our kids to more Open Houses and feel the spirit there.

Here's the whole group. Good looking bunch aren't they?

 Our kids were not being cooperative and it was super bright- but here is our family photo. It's just a more realistic picture right?

On the way back to the bus we had to walk through a huge field. What a good photo op huh?

Happy 5th Birthday!

Macy girl is 5 years old! I can't believe we have been parents for 5 years. It seems like an eternity ago and yet it feels like yesterday that we came home from the hospital with this girl. Macy has always acted older then she really was. She was an early talker (full sentences at 20 months) and has always seemed to be able to read what people are feeling and thinking. She is smart. Oh so smart. This past Parent Teacher Conference her teacher gave them a reading test and told us her results. Out of 20 questions that signal whether or not she is she ready to read she got 19. The teacher even said that was probably a fluke and it should have been 20- there are 5 sets of 4 questions that get harder as the questions go on. The question she got wrong was one of the ones at the beginning of the set, which means she should have gotten all the ones after that wrong too. She definitely came from heaven with her smarty pants because I really could be better with working with my kids with educational stuff... we spend a lot of time just playing with block, crayons, and enjoying our backyard.

She is the best big sister ever. She always has concerns about her brother and sister and always makes sure they are taken care of. London has really started to pay attention to what Bentley needs and I really think it's because Macy has taught her how to be a big sister so well. 

As special and smart as this girl is, she has been a little selfish lately. I'm sure it's normal- the natural man type of thing- but everything involved with her birthday, or anyone's birthday for that matter, has to do with what everyone else was going to get her or what she wanted. It wouldn't bother me if she didn't let it take over her world, but she really was all about herself. To combat that a little bit Kyle and I decided we were going to have a small party with only family this year. We invited over Kathleen, David, and Kaleb and Marie. She asked for a heart cake- so I delivered on that one. She loved it.

Every Sunday we have dinner at Marie's house and someone we got on the conversation of what Macy wanted for her birthday. (I'm telling you, all Macy wanted to talk about was what everyone else was going to get her). She told Kathleen she wanted soap since we didn't have any in the bathroom. So, that's what she got. Her very own soap.

 They also brought her something else... a tea set! You can never have enough tea sets.

 Grandma Carbonneau couldn't make it, but sent her a present anyway. She got a super cute fairy flash light and Applejack the Pony.

 Kyle and I got her a super cute My Little Pony Castle. The box made it look much sturdier and I spend a lot of time putting the thing back together, but the girls love that it came with Princess Cadence and her Prince Shining Armor. 

We are so glad that Macy was sent to our family. She is such a great girl and loves to learn. She always reminds us that we need to say prayers and read our scriptures. She is such a light to our family and we are glad we get to call her our own.