Merry Christmas week to you all! I wanted to share a little of our Tuesday with you. It was a beautiful day! My very first laurel got married. She is a special girl- she is also a convert and I remember the first Sunday she came with her friend Carrie to church. It was the Sunday after President Hinckley died. Anyway, she is such a special girl and asked me to take photos at the temple. It took some figuring out, but we made it happen and all four of us were so blessed! It really was a great time
Asher at the feet of Jesus. He was actually there for several minutes talking to him. It was very, very sweet.
The amazing nativities from around the world. My favorite one was one from the US in svarovsky crystal, but I loved all the German and African ones as well.
Valerie actually let me take some photos of her too, I am grateful for that.
Asher was very sweet too. When we went into the Visitor's Center, he said "ooooooohhhhh!" and was just mesmerized. We stayed in the foyer of the temple for about 45 minutes waiting for Danielle and Jason since it was so freezing outside and Asher was good in there too. He loved to flop down on the floor and look at his reflection from the high-gloss marble on the floor. It was funny!
Anyway, it was a good day for us and we have been wanting to go to the temple for a while. One day soon, I would love to actually attend a SESSION, but as anyone knows, Asher is a handful, so much of one, I really do not want to force Valerie to watch him in a confined space for two hours, so... We are waiting for him to grow up OR possibly, one day Matt can do a session, then I will do one in the spring when we can take him outside or to the national zoo, since it is right down the road.
We have gotten Christmas cards from about everyone and are so thankful to see everyone's happy family on our fridge. Thanks for sending those! Ours are on the way. Of course, I forgot to include the Newsletter we all wrote... so that will be separate. We hope your Christmas week is blessed and wonderful and that no one feels so much "Christmas Pressure!" that you get angry with your own family (speaking to myself here, I have been very conscious this year to not let that happen). Much love to you all!
6 comments:
What beautiful pictures of Valerie!! It's such a great week to be at the temple. I got to go to a session last night as a girls' night goodbye to a friend moving away for the Army. I don't think I've ever gone so close to Christmas, and it really made me focus so much more on the Savior. I'm feeling especially grateful to be able to live so close to a temple today.
It is so rewarding to be associated with someone who goes from non-believer to temple marriage in just a few short years. The spiritual change is really an amazing phenomenon - one more evidence that the Gospel is true. Congratulations for your part in that Crystal.
The photo of Asher talking to Jesus reminded me of Matt's last post on his blog. It makes you think that the veil is still pretty thin for those little ons. I wish they could tell us what they know.
Thank you Crystal. What a wonderful way to spend a day. Valerie is a gorgeous girl. Asher is so sweet, even if he is two! We love all of you so much.
One thing I should mention, Danielle was definitely a "believer" before she was LDS. She had the sweetest, most loving spirit the very first day she came to our church. It definitely helped that she already had a testimony of many Christian things. I am so happy she is sealed to her husband though, that is a precious gift, for sure. She is actually a student at Mary Baldwin now- it really is funny how small the world can be sometimes. Matt went to the sealing and I had Asher duty, but even the Visitor's Center is a special place.
Thank you Crystal for letting me go to the sealing. It was a very good experience. The spirit was strong and I learned some symbolism that I didn't know before then. I think my first memory of Danielle was when she made us dinner. It was very thoughtful of her and showed me how kind and accepting she really is. I saw the same kindness and acceptance in the sealing room. I'm definitely nowhere near as close to her as Crystal but she made me feel welcome at the sealing.
It was pretty sweet to see Asher standing at the feet of Jesus and talking to him. It reminds me of one of my first Sunday's in the foyer quorum. As Asher and I were walking the halls and Asher looked up at one of the pictures of Jesus and he giggled. During this Christmas I've noticed how much Asher truly knows him.
So who is that dude that Matt looks like??
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