Messages from Prophets on Temples

The Visiting Teaching and Home Teaching Lessons this month are taken from the beautiful publication on Temples made part of the October 2010 Ensign.  I found several of the little quotes by our prophets especially meaningful and shared them with my Visiting Teachees and would like to share them with you.  After I took this photo of the Salt Lake Temple today, I bought an extra copy of the Temples booklet.

"The house of the Lord, bathed in light, standing out in the darkness, becomes symbolic of the power and inspiration of the gospel of Jesus Christ standing as a beacon in a world that sinks ever further into spiritual darkness."  --President Boyd K. Packer



"Every foundation stone that is laid for a Temple and every Temple completed according to the order the Lord has revealed for his holy Priesthood, lessens the power of Satan on the earth, and increases the power of God and Godliness."  --President Boyd K. Packer

"If we do our duty and trust fully in the Lord, we will fill His temples, not only doing our own ordinance work, but also having the privilege of doing work for others."  --President Thomas S. Monson

"Each temple is symbolic of our faith in God and an evidence of our faith in life after death.  The temple is the object of every activity, every lesson, every progressive step in the Church."  --Elder Russell M. Nelson

We are indeed privileged to have so many temples so near our homes. They do indeed inspire us to do better and become more than we ever thought we could be.

Temples in Autumn

I really think the first days of winter have arrived, but the beauty of Autumn still lingers, even on a stormy day.

I took these photos on Tuesday, the 26th, after a pleasant time in the Bountiful Temple.

And Now Copper

The Gift of Lady

When I took this picture of Julie's dog, Lady, on the third of October, I had no idea it would be the last one I would ever take of her.  Lady left this earth on 10-10-10.  Coincidence? Perhaps the stars were aligned and it was her time to go. I am sure there is a doggy heaven and that she is happy and running free. Over the years she has been such a joy to me and a faithful friend to Julie through all her experiences, whether joyful or sad. There are times you really need a friend and Lady was always a comfort. 

The Conference Breakfast Continues

The tradition of a Conference Breakfast gathering at 9:00 am on Sunday started with Doug Parry years ago, but Julie has been doing our family's Conference Breakfasts for many, many years now. She always has great food and makes everything so cute and festive. For the past several years she has added a Girl's Night Out on Saturday evening while the men are at the Priesthood Session of General Conference. It is fun to be together, and it is great to be there when the priesthood men come back and report on any new happenings and the talks they heard, if we can get them to talk. From my experience I find that most men are generally not as chatty as women.

 This year there were babies galore.  Here are two-month-old Cooper and Amelia Thomson with seven-month-old Ellie Mott. We also were honored with Dax, Tess and Hobie Uriona as well as Turner and Max Thomson, the oldest of whom was four. Needless to say, we did not get the quilt tied we were going to do for the Humanitarian Center. Oh well, another day. 

Julie is always such a relaxed hostess, has everything done beautifully but is still able to enjoy her guests.

This was Hayden's first General Conference Priesthood Meeting. Kari and Cherie's boys are really growing up to be fine young men. 

Lauren and Lydia are looking great and seemed to be enjoying being together.

Such a lovely little family. Melissa is a wonderful mother and Jeff is great with Ellie who loves him to pieces. 

ON TO SUNDAY'S CONFERENCE BREAKFAST

I'm always assigned to bring the fruit. Julie makes amazing breakfast casseroles and other delights, others brought their assignments, so there was plenty of delicious food for all.

This is Dane and Stacy's cute family.

Dax, Hobie and Tess will keep them busy and provide plenty of laughs. 

Kari and Cherie have amazing children: Paige, Katelyn, Spencer and Hayden. 

What a wonderful family, and I am so glad they live close by.

We always are glad to see Paul and Emily even though they had to leave early to get back to their studies at Utah State University. Emily graduates in May. What a great achievement!

We were so glad Chase was able to come and that he brought Matt and Rebecca, his friends.

Julie, Tom and Lady. 

And finally, Julie's dog I have loved for years and years.

I think Lady is a great dog.

Mr. Wilson and Dennis the Menace

As depressing as it may be, we found that we needed a new roof. Leaks in the living room, leaks in the kitchen, ceilings being ruined in various places in the house. For what it cost to put on this new roof, we could have gone to PARIS and LONDON. Oh woe is me. 

But along with the new roof came the wonder of a really big truck and a huge dumpster, all of which fascinated Louie, our adorable four-year-old neighbor who loves to "help" Mr. Cable. He thought the trucks were amazing and when they left, he felt he had an obligation to sweep up the gravel that was left. Louie always wants to help Mr. Cable with anything he is doing outside, especially if it involves tools. Our neighbors call them Mr. Wilson and Dennis the Menace.   

"I can do that. I can do that."

Peaches and More Peaches

I can't help but add these pictures of bottling peaches. There is something very soul-satisfying in bottling fruit. I was so tired when I finished all of this, but it was a good tired and I think bottled fruit is beautiful. 

These Early Albertas came from the Farmer's Market in Bountiful and were grown by Wilson Fruit in Roy. They were so big and beautiful and sweet. Lovely.  

I love the way the fruit looks in the bottles.

So good to see so many of the finished bottles!

Then when I thought I was finished, I had a few peaches left over so on the 28th I made freezer jam and couldn't believe how much jam those few peaches made. Nummy.

Ya Gotta Love Katelyn

Katelyn's now has a cute, little car after being without transportation for a couple of months after they sold the Mom van she has been driving.  She is so cute and loves this darling blue car. 

What an adorable girl!

And shortly thereafter she celebrated her birthday on the 23rd at the Pizza Factory.

Katelyn is an amazing girl. She is really smart, gets great grades, is very articulate, and plays LaCrosse for Bountiful High School. She is a joy to be around and makes righteous choices. We love having her live close enough to be able to see her and her family often. We love the St. John family.

Catching Up

It was so good to have Lyndsey come to see us.  She is always so interesting and I love to hear about all she is doing at BYU. 

It was great to see Chase at Julie's on September 12th as well.  He is loving his time at the University of Utah and has really become involved in many activities.  

It is very seldom that we see Tom's son, Beau and his girlfriend Val, so it was really nice to see them at Julie's and Tom's for their Sunday dinner on the 12th as well.  Beau is happy in his work and Val is lovely, as usual.  

And, of course, the darling of all, it is always a joy to see our great-granddaughter, Ellie Dawn Mott.  It is fun to see the photo of her sitting in the family heirloom, Edwin Whiting's chair which was passed on to Julie on her birthday.  Ellie will one day become the caretaker of this chair, she being the nineth generation doing so.  Very appropriate to see her sitting in it.  

Our adorable six-month-old, Ellie.