So excited for the Temple

Here are a couple of stories from the paper in Kansas City:

Kansas City Temple Open House

Kansas City Temple



http://kcldstemple.blogspot.com/
This blog has some wonderful pictures of the temple as it was being constructed.

This is such an exciting time- Eli was thrilled tonight when I told him that we get to go inside tomorrow as a family. He thought that it was just me and the older kids who would be able to go, but when he realized that he gets to go in, he wanted to read all the articles and see the pictures and watch all the videos that he could. He said "Whoa, I have never been inside of a temple before, this is so cool"- I love that my children want to be there! This will be a very memorable time for our family. We certainly wish Joseph could be here to experience all of it with us! I have to try and not think of that though, because it makes me sad, I truly want him right by my side for all of these remarkable moments.

We have been so fortunate during the last 13 years to have been able to attend the Winter Quarters Temple and Nauvoo Temple open house/dedications since living in the midwest, it really has been quite spectacular!

I get to spend all day Tuesday helping out at the temple; I am so delighted that I will be able to have that special time there to feel of the Spirit and enjoy the peace that is ever present and to welcome and direct all the guests that come to see what it is all about.

It really is a blessing that we get to be a part of this before we move far away and have to drive 3 1/2- 4 hours to get to the temple again. (We will be in the Palmyra Temple district, but Toronto Canada is almost the same distance!)
We are going to take full advantage of having it so close- only 1 1/2 hours. That will be the closest we have been since living in Utah and having many near by to choose from (with the exception of the 5 month stint where we were 6 blocks from the New York City temple). I think though, that the distance helps us to realize just how grateful we are to have a temple to attend. Sometimes that extra sacrifice helps us to relish the experience even more, or at least in a different way!

Tomorrow is Kaija's first practice for the Color Guard that will be performing for the cultural celebration, she is very excited that she gets to be a part of that particular group. They have to learn everything very quickly, but I have no doubt that it will be successful!
We are all looking forward to the performance to be held on May 5th. I will have to be better about updating the blog so I don't forget any of these wonderful moments!