Oquirrh Mountain Temple Dedication

Ross and I were not able to attend the temple dedication because of our little ankle biters, so we decided to spend our week off of church walking around the new temple and talking about why the temple is so important. We timed it just right getting there for the only hour that it did not rain up there.

Pointing at Moroni

This is just to remind everyone that I am, indeed the kind of mother who takes pictures of her daughters when the wind blows up their dresses and reveals their princess undies. That's how I roll! :)

Emma was feeling the love. She kept saying to other people, 'Jesus loves me.'

Emma picked these flowers. After scolding her, we put them in her hair and she felt more like a princess than ever.

Later that evening I got to go to my very favorite fireside of the year. Our Stake President does a question and answer fireside just for the women every year, and it is wonderful. I love it because President Draper does not operate under a sense of fear. He is kind and loving, but he is also very blunt and forceful. He does not say things to spare feelings, but rather lays down the law in a very straight forward manner- but always with the assurance that he loves us.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from this year.

"Put on you clothes, and then turn around and look in the mirror. If it looks like you are carrying two puppies in a rucksack, then it is too tight."

"Shoot him in the leg and drag him to the bishop!" (This was his response any time a question about a wayward or disrespectful husband was asked. He usually followed that up with meaningful and thought-out advice.)

"The garment is to be a protection to your body and soul as long as it is worn properly and respectfully. Let me make that clear. It does not say that the garment is a protection as long as you are not sweating! We have washing machines for a reason!" (This was in response to a question about whether or not it is appropriate to remove the garment while exercising.)

"If you want to put a sharper edge on your spirituality, then you should cut out caffeinated beverages of all varieties. My wife is laughing because she saw me drink a Pepsi this afternoon."

"If you are gonna have 'em, you are gonna have to pay for 'em and decorate 'em" (This was in response to a question about why scouting uniforms and girl's camp can be so expensive.)

I was not as touched this year as I was last year, but I think that was really because I had less questions in my mind and heart this year. Things are calmer now in my life than they have been in a long time, so I had much fewer areas of concern this year. That is not to say that nothing hit me. I came home with pages of notes and instructions and a lot of goals.

It seemed that this year the main message of the evening was that wives need to have consistent and meaningful counsel with their husbands. It saddened me to hear how many cases of infidelity are happening in our stake. President Drapes assured us that calm and consistent counsel with our husbands will renew our love and strengthen our relationships. I did this with Ross as soon as I came home, and we plan to continue it. We have been good about communicating with each other, but it made a lot of sense to make it a planned event.

I love my Stake President. I have never felt such personal love radiating from one of my leaders except for maybe one of my bishops when I was in young womens. He is a very sincere and loving man with an undeviating course to our Savior. I will strive to follow his counsel, even if it does mean I need to buy some nylons to wear to my church meetings. Yuck! :)