Pat's Run
Our day started at 3:30 am when we woke up to drive down to the valley to do Pat's Run. Pat's Run is a 4.2 mile race in Tempe that ends in Sun Devil Stadium. It honors Pat Tillman and raises money for the Pat Tillman foundation. I hadn't ran in a race since running the mile on the junior high track team, so I was pretty nervous/excited. Over 28,000 people participated in the run/walk. I had wanted to do this run for a couple of years, but was either too pregnant or it just wasn't feasible. I accomplished my goal and ran the whole race! Necia came and ran it with me, and we were, step for step, together the whole time. It made it a lot more fun doing it with her. Ty ran the race in an amazing 32:54! I ran it in 44:57. Hopefully next year I can do it even faster! Necia's phone has taken all our pictures hostage from the day, so I took a picture of my shirt as evidence that I actually did it! (Just be glad you can't smell the shirt from your computer!)
Temple Open House Preview
We were really lucky to be able to attend a special open house for the Gila Valley Temple on Saturday just for the contractors and their families. Allen Pump Co. provided lighting for the late night construction of the temple when the temple was nothing more than a slab of concrete and a few beams. Ty actually got to be on the temple site a few nights during construction.
We really had to hurry back from the valley and get ready fast. (I was so impressed with our family. We went from sweaty and smelly, to all four of us in our Sunday best, smelling good, and out to the car in 40 minutes flat!)
The temple is awesome! It is so beautiful! Earlier in the week I went to a ward Relief Society meeting. The speaker was a woman from our ward, who with her husband, did all the detail painting on the mouldings and ceilings and all the gold leaf for the temple. She really drove home the point that this temple is not just another small temple. It is a house of God, and no expenses were spared and no details over looked during it's construction and decorating. It was prophesied that this temple would be "one of the most beautiful temples", and it really is. This woman and her husband put in over 600 hours working on the moulding for the Celestial Room ceiling alone. It has been over 50 years since a new temple has been dedicated that has the intricate ceiling moulding on it.
Luke absolutely loved going to the temple. He even loved the video they showed before you go in. He kept on say "another beautiful temple" over and over again while we watched the video. He loved wearing those little white booties over his shoes. He was very intrigued by the baptismal font on the oxen. We were told not to talk when we were in the Celestial Room, but right when we entered Luke blurts out "Wow! That is a really big light!". I think I'll remember that everytime I go into that Celestial Room. He has not let his little pamphlets about temples that we got at the open house out of his sight since he got them. He calls them his "credit cards". He loves to look at the pictures and talk about the things he saw at the temple with his dad. Before we even got to our car to go home, Luke was already begging to go back to the temple. I really hope he never forgets this experience!
Here's a few pictures from our experience. My camera would not focus properly for me, I was so frustrated. I know I'll always still love these pictures though, because this was the first time our boys got to go to the Gila Valley Temple! The temple open house offically begins April 23 and goes til the dedication on May 15. If you want to come to the open house please feel free to stop by and say hi!
Our day started at 3:30 am when we woke up to drive down to the valley to do Pat's Run. Pat's Run is a 4.2 mile race in Tempe that ends in Sun Devil Stadium. It honors Pat Tillman and raises money for the Pat Tillman foundation. I hadn't ran in a race since running the mile on the junior high track team, so I was pretty nervous/excited. Over 28,000 people participated in the run/walk. I had wanted to do this run for a couple of years, but was either too pregnant or it just wasn't feasible. I accomplished my goal and ran the whole race! Necia came and ran it with me, and we were, step for step, together the whole time. It made it a lot more fun doing it with her. Ty ran the race in an amazing 32:54! I ran it in 44:57. Hopefully next year I can do it even faster! Necia's phone has taken all our pictures hostage from the day, so I took a picture of my shirt as evidence that I actually did it! (Just be glad you can't smell the shirt from your computer!)
Temple Open House Preview
We were really lucky to be able to attend a special open house for the Gila Valley Temple on Saturday just for the contractors and their families. Allen Pump Co. provided lighting for the late night construction of the temple when the temple was nothing more than a slab of concrete and a few beams. Ty actually got to be on the temple site a few nights during construction.
We really had to hurry back from the valley and get ready fast. (I was so impressed with our family. We went from sweaty and smelly, to all four of us in our Sunday best, smelling good, and out to the car in 40 minutes flat!)
The temple is awesome! It is so beautiful! Earlier in the week I went to a ward Relief Society meeting. The speaker was a woman from our ward, who with her husband, did all the detail painting on the mouldings and ceilings and all the gold leaf for the temple. She really drove home the point that this temple is not just another small temple. It is a house of God, and no expenses were spared and no details over looked during it's construction and decorating. It was prophesied that this temple would be "one of the most beautiful temples", and it really is. This woman and her husband put in over 600 hours working on the moulding for the Celestial Room ceiling alone. It has been over 50 years since a new temple has been dedicated that has the intricate ceiling moulding on it.
Luke absolutely loved going to the temple. He even loved the video they showed before you go in. He kept on say "another beautiful temple" over and over again while we watched the video. He loved wearing those little white booties over his shoes. He was very intrigued by the baptismal font on the oxen. We were told not to talk when we were in the Celestial Room, but right when we entered Luke blurts out "Wow! That is a really big light!". I think I'll remember that everytime I go into that Celestial Room. He has not let his little pamphlets about temples that we got at the open house out of his sight since he got them. He calls them his "credit cards". He loves to look at the pictures and talk about the things he saw at the temple with his dad. Before we even got to our car to go home, Luke was already begging to go back to the temple. I really hope he never forgets this experience!
Here's a few pictures from our experience. My camera would not focus properly for me, I was so frustrated. I know I'll always still love these pictures though, because this was the first time our boys got to go to the Gila Valley Temple! The temple open house offically begins April 23 and goes til the dedication on May 15. If you want to come to the open house please feel free to stop by and say hi!
Dad and his boys wandering around the grounds.
A family picture. No fun using the self timer, but it was worth it.
A back view of the temple.
More temple pics to come. I promise. I just need to figure out what's wrong with my camera lens. :(
Amazingly, our day wasn't finished after the open house. Ty had church meetings for a couple of hours in the afternoon, and I played my violin for the adult session of stake conference that evening. Needless to say, we were all very tired when the day was over!
2 comments:
Wow! I love busy days like that! The race sounded great, but the temple trip even better! I think Bron and I will have to do a session there sometime just to admire its beauty! I hope Luke remembers his experience there. We had an awesome lesson on temples yesterday in YW. I wish they could go to an open house!
I especially like the view of your last picture. It looks quite professional.
Yeah! We can't wait to see it! Kevin and the two older girls are going this Sat. to go through the open house! Sarah wouldn't be reverant enough and I'm getting too big and misserable to go. :( I love the pictures!
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