Vancouver BC Temple Open House

With enhanced drivers licences, ID cards and birth certificates in hand us 5 girls set out into the Great Northern Frontier...Canada.

We awoke early, dressed in our Sunday best, packed a picnic plus snacks and piled into the car for a road trip.

It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get to the temple open house not including our little detour through Surrey BC thanks to my nearly accurate navigating.

Once there, we were ready for our picnic...the weather, however, was not. So, we found an empty classroom in the chapel near by for our picnic and quickly ate.

After clean-up we boarded the shuttle bus to the temple.

After a beautiful and informative video we proceeded on our tour.

1st stop: Bootie station. These volunteers were full-service!

All booted up and ready to enter.

The inside was beautiful in every way.

It was beautiful to see and beautiful to feel.

The "Chipettes"

After the photos we went back to the church for cookies and water.
We sat in front of the world map with the little red stickers indicating temples...quite an astonishing number.


Then it was back to the good 'ol U.S. of A.

Too Much to Ask?

A matchbox of our own

A fence of real chain link

A grill out on the patio

Disposal in the sink

A washer and a dryer and

an ironing machine

In a tract house that we share

Somewhere that's green

He rakes and trims the grass

He loves to mow and weed

I cook like Betty Crocker

And I look like Donna Reed

There's plastic on the furniture

To keep it neat and clean

In the Pine-Sol scented air,

Somewhere that's green

Between our frozen dinner

And our bed-time: nine-fifteen

We snuggle watching Lucy

On our big, enormous

Twelve-inch screen

...A picture out of Better Homes

and Gardens Magazine

Far from Skid Row

I dream we'll go

somewhere that's... green

(Somewhere That's Green-Little Shop of Horrors)

Pictures from the Camera I Never Use

My "Year-in-Review" idea.

I was flipping through my old calendar making sure I transferred all the birthdays.

I was smiling as I remembered the events that I had on my calendar.

So I decided to jot down a little story or remembrance from some of the more exciting events on the calendar and I'll keep it as a kind of journal.

(sorry for the dark picture)

Addi riding the Rooster at the Yakima Fruit Market

(not in Yakima)

One of Addi's more...original outfit combos

Funky glasses at Snapdoodle Toy Store

(possibly the best toy store in America!)

Gymnastics

Cauliflower at Central Market

Art Project

pencil and acrylic on canvas

Fairy Tale Collection

I saw someone make a Princess and the Pea doll with a stack of mattresses and I thought...I can do that.

...then I got a little carried away.

Rapunzel

Thumbelina

Little Red Riding Hood

Goldilocks

Princess and the Pea

pea.

Once I made one doll I just couldn't stop...you all know I like things in bulk.

They each wear a pair of bloomers.

I LOVE bloomers.

Here are all the girls lined up.

The Fairy Tale Collection.

Egg Hunt Coup-2010

The flyer said 10:00am SHARP!

We were there on time. In fact a surprising number of people were there on time.

It's freezing!!

10:05...10:10...no starting gun.

The volunteer high school kids start a game of Simon Says to keep the kids occupied until someone starts the hunt.

Simon says hop on one foot...Simon says hop on the other foot...Simon says STOP!

The next thing we know half of the kids have run onto the field and are gathering eggs.

I think they thought he said START! instead of STOP!

Anyway, I pushed Addi into the throng.

Finally "starter guy" shows up perplexed.

The children (and parents) laugh menacingly as they have just staged a coup at the Inglemore Easter Egg Hunt!

Where's Addi?
(moments after the "STOP" signal)

Ill-gotten booty.

Reveah Reunion

After conference we were invited down to E-Claw for Easter dinner with our friends from Boston and their family. It was awesome and everyone was so hospitable.

It was so fun to catch up with our dear friends who will be on their way to Japan this summer. The friends we met in Boston are one of a kind! We were remenicing about our snow face-plant contest (in which we all came out with frost bite on our faces) and this.

I just love these guys!
Addi was so happy to play with Landon and Taylor again, this was the best I could do for a group shot. They were just non-stop...couldn't be all the Easter candy.