A big event around these parts lately is the open house for the Provo City Center Temple.  We got tickets for February 15th, Presidents' Day.  Unfortunately, the rest of the world also had tickets for that day.  We had lunch with all of our children living nearby at a nearby restaurant and then headed over to the temple.  We got there at the right time for our tickets but soon found out there was a two-hour wait!  We decided to come back on a different, less popular day.  We got tickets for Friday morning and walked right in with no waiting.  The kids had to miss a little bit of school but that was okay. It's a beautiful temple and I look forward to going back.  The story behind it is pretty cool. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside so these are pictures I found online.  I especially love the stained glass windows throughout.  A lot of thought has been put into the details and it shows. At the end of the to...

I got to go to RootsTech this year!  RootsTech is the largest family history conference in the world, sponsored mainly by FamilySearch.  I went so I could learn more about how to do a better job finding some of our family ancestors. I went on Thursday, February 4.  It was the second day of the conference.  I was supposed to leave my house at 7:15 so I could catch the 7:30 train up to Salt Lake.  Sadly I left just 2 or 3 minutes late and I missed the train.  We drove up as it was pulling away.  What I should have done is had my husband drop me off, and then just stayed there and waited for the next train in 30 minutes.  But the weather was pretty cold, in the teens, and standing in the cold for 30 minutes was not appealing. What we ended up doing was driving to Draper and dropping me off at the TRAX station which took me into Salt Lake.  I got there about the same time that I would have if I waited for the next train.  But it definite...

I am the oldest of a big family and my first three siblings are boys.  When my mom told us that she was pregnant with #5, I really wanted a sister.  So every night I prayed for a sister and I finally got one!  I was so happy. However, the reality of a sister that was almost 8 years younger was a little different from what I had imagined.  When we were growing up, we didn't have much in common except that we shared a room and the relationship wasn't always harmonious.  She does remember my telling her stories at night with very heavy moralizing to try and improve her behavior.  Now that we are both much older, we have a lot more in common.  She recently moved to Rexburg, Idaho, which is not too far away.  With her son getting baptized this last weekend, our family went up for a quick visit.  It was fun and I'm glad we did.  As a bonus, we got to see my brother's family who lives in the area as well as a college-aged niece and a differen...