Draper Temple Open House

We went to see the Draper Temple's open house the other day as a family. Dad took some time out of work, Mom put away her projects, and the kids couldn't wait to see Heavenly Father's "House". Kallie was particularly interested. "Are we going to see Heavenly Father's bed?" she asked. Right before we went, she was speculating on whether Jesus would let us take a picture with him or not. We tried to explain to her as best as we could that they weren't going to be there, but in the end I think she was still confused as to where everybody sleeps in that house.

The inside of the temple was gorgeous. And while we had a small problem with Ben getting ahead of us, we were pretty sure it wasn't because he wanted to play hide and seek. In fact, he was very dissapointed that all of the windows were either colored or frosted.

Another downside: the temple grounds weren't yet open so there was no easy access for taking a picture outside the temple. Of course, with people this nice, a smile and a nod and the parking lot guard let us get close enough to take some decent shots. Although at that point we were out of people to take a family shot of us.

Wii Play Too Much...

What makes you think we play Wii too much? For the record, this is the spot I always sit in to play MarioKart. I had placed Andrew in the family room and gone to do something in the kitchen. By the time I had returned, he had retrieved a controller, settled into the couch, and was waving the wiimote around like he was driving a car. Too much Wii? I don't know what you're talking about...

Not to Mention...

In support of Kallie's prowess in the area of "food management", I submit the following story. A few short days after the "muffin" story, Katie had promised Ben that she would make him his new favorite dessert: something with ice and milk and xagave and rootbeer extract in a blender. The kicker? She didn't know how to make it. It gets better too. Somehow she strung this poor kid along all day long promising that he could have his favorite dessert when she didn't even have all the ingredients for it. Ahhhhhh, why is it that as parents we guiltlessly promise our kids the weirdest things we can't deliver and know that it will somehow turn out?

In this case, Ben decided to for a 2 mile bike ride along side me as I walked the dogs that night. Not only did it put us home past bed time, but just a few blocks away from home he took a "jump" off of a curb with too little momentum and conservation of energy put him over the handle bars. You would think that at this point he would want and deserve his favorite dessert more than ever, but somehow we convinced him to choose something else.
"I want ice cream," he anounced. Katie and I looked at each other; how do you tell a bloodied kid who you just convinced to give up his favorite dessert that you don't have his second choice either?
"We don't have any," I said. Laying it out straight is the only way I know how. But barely had the words left my mouth than a very stern angelic voice chimed in.
"YES WE DO!" stated Kallie. "We have mint chocolate and vanilla!" Surely, this little girl could not possibly know the contents of our 6 ft tall freezer compartment better than me. Oh no, surely she could. Her words of hope inspired Ben who immediately ran, pulled out his step stool, and started sorting through the freezer's contents.
"HEY! We have mint chocolate and vanilla!" he shouted back to us in the family room. Well, I'll be. Katie and I just started at each other dumbfounded. I halfway wonder if Kallie had purchased and placed the ice cream there herself.