Temple Trip

 

We had a reservation to do baptisms this morning at the City Center Temple. We had space for eight people to be baptized, but sadly, couldn't round up a sufficient number of people to fill our quota. We went anyway, taking Elizabeth and Zach Stovall along with us. 

It was wonderful to be there and to have everyone involved. Zach baptized Elizabeth then was baptized by Kent. It was the first chance Brandt had to baptize anyone, having only been made a priest in January, but he baptized both Kent and me. He baptized Kent first. He got the arm to the square part and the prayer just fine, but the first time he dipped Kent, he didn't put his hand on his back and help him back up. He just dunked Kent and left him there in the water. The kind temple worker gave him a bit more instruction and he continued. When Brandt had finished baptizing Kent, Kent baptized Brandt and then Brandt baptized me.

Immense joy fills my heart when I see the children growing spiritually. To be with Brandt in the temple, to be baptized by him and see him baptizing Kent, brought me to tears. I love being in the temple and I especially love being there with my children. I missed Blythe and wished so much she had chosen to join us. I am grateful for the peace that fills my heart when I am in God's house.

Family Temple Trip

On July 30, I stayed up until midnight so I could make a baptism appointment in September. The calendar opens the first of the month before, and getting to do baptisms has been like winning the lottery. It was totally worth it to me to be until twelve to be able to attend with Brandt and Blythe, all of us together. I made a reservation for sixteen people (the most possible) and immediately invited family to come with us, giving them a month's notice so they would be free. We don't have sixteen family members who can go do baptisms, but I figured we fill the openings with friends.

Turns out, although everyone had a month's notice, we had far fewer family members than friends. But today we had a very nice hour in the temple. Eugene, Sharae, and Luke came, Mikayla and the four of us. Then we invited Jarom, Sam, and Sarah Oyler, Heidi, Paul, and Bryce Moreland, Lizzie and Rachel Jensen, and Elizabeth Stovall. It was terrific to be together, to do baptisms for family members, and to feel the spirit of the temple. 

Mikayla and I both stayed up until midnight on August 31 and were able to make, between the two of us, five baptism appointments for October. We will let our young men and young women use a couple of them, but will plan on being there again as a family. I love to be in the temple!

A Return to Temple Baptisms

 

Brandt got to go to the temple today, the first time in over a year. Although the temple has been open again for a month or more, you can only attend if you've got an appointment and it has been practically impossible to get a baptism appointment. Appointments open on the first of the month (May 1) for the following month (June), and if you don't make your appointment immediately, you won't get one, especially for baptisms. I have tried unsuccessfully to be able to go.

So how did Brandt get to go, you might ask. The Harrisons, in the 7th Ward, had some extra spots in their reservation, and asked the Oylers if they wanted to go. Even with Jarom and Sam going, there were a couple more spots, and Tami asked if Brandt wanted to go. There was room for Blythe, too, but when it came down to it, she didn't want to go without someone she knew, so she didn't go. But Brandt wanted to attend, and so he went with the Oylers. 

Brandt reported that it was wonderful to be back in the temple. Jarom got to perform baptisms for the first time, and it was Sam's first time. I love the temple and hope our children will come to love the temple, too. I'm glad Brandt was able to be there today and sincerely hope we can all get up there together soon.

ALL at the Temple

Since we took Brandt to the temple for the first time, I've eagerly anticipated the day when we could ALL go to the temple at the very same time.  We've talked about it with Blythe and tried to get her excited about the prospect.  I've promised road trips to temples throughout the state, with other activities in the area, as teasers to the wonderfulness of the temple.  We've born our testimonies about the sweet spirit we feel when we are there, and how strongly we feel the love of Heavenly Father when we are in his house.  At long last, with the new year, Blythe is able to attend.  She had an interview with the bishop on Sunday, but she had to wait until January 1st to get her recommend.  We picked it up and planned a trip almost immediately.  Sadly, Brandt was not feeling well last week, so we had to delay our trip until today. 

It was such a treat to be all together in the temple.  Like being with my mom and most of my siblings a few weeks ago, it was so sweet to be there, all of us, a complete family.  I find such great joy in seeing the children progress in the gospel.  And I'm so happy to report that Blythe loved it and asked if we could go to the temple every two weeks. 

In addition to the wonderfulness of being in the temple all together, I also had the added blessing of being there with my best friend from college, Alyson Keenan Whatcott.  Alyson and Jeff are on a mission in New Zealand, but her mother died just after Christmas, and they are here for the funeral and to visit family.  She and I had a lovely lunch together and talked and talked and talked.  She was planning on going to the temple, we were too, so she joined us.  It was such a treat to see her after many years.  She's one of those friends it feels like I was with yesterday, even after a long time apart.  

Being in the Temple

Now that Brandt has turned twelve, he has been able to go to the temple.  It's been a treat to be with him there.  Today we had a sweet experience doing baptisms for the dead all together, although without Blythe who isn't yet old enough to go to the temple. 

We've had a ward challenge, during the month of November, to find a family name and then take that name to the temple and do the work.  While I had found several people identified by Family Search, I wanted to find some DeMartinis.  Mom and I went to the Church genealogy library in Salt Lake in October, because we needed help in how to proceed in our research.  I was helped by a very knowledgable man who put me on to an Italian website of civil records.  From his instruction, I was able to find three generations of ancestors--my great-great, great-great-great, and great-great-great-great grandparents!  It was thrilling and fulfilling to find them.

Today, at the temple, Kent baptized me and Brandt in behalf of some of these ancestors.  I thrilled to see Brandt being baptized by his dad.  I thrilled to be baptized by Kent.  I felt my dad's presence as we began the saving ordinances for his family.  I'm confident he has been working with them, teaching them the gospel, sharing with them the joy of being an eternal family.  I know the work we do in the temple is powerful and real and that by being there, we are becoming saviors on Mount Zion.  I felt the Spirit so strongly during our time there, and I am grateful for the Lord's love, and the blessing of making convenants with Him for ourselves and for our kindred dead.  I truly love being in the temple, and I love being there with those I love the very most in life.

We Go To Florida--Day 9 Beaching It Up Again

Our last day in Florida.  So sad!  What should one do on the last day of a Florida vacation?  Go to the beach, of course.  There was no way anything else was happening.  James, who has graciously taken three days off work to be with us, was behind in several things that needed attention, and opted not to go with us.  Alisa begged off, also with real life responsibilities that needed her attention.  And Kent didn't want to go to the beach and said he had work emails to answer and stuff to do, like sitting quietly and reading which is what he did yesterday while we swam.  So I took the kids to the beach.  We packed up towels, beach chairs, an umbrella, the body boards, a cooler with lunch and drinks, the camera, and lots of sunscreen, and drove to Pompano, less than half an hour away.  If we lived near the beach I would take the kids all the time without anyone else, so I didn't see why we shouldn't go.

We arrived, parked, got out all the stuff, hauled it several hundred yards to the spot we selected, set up chairs and the umbrella, the children ran down to the water, and then it started to rain and blow.  Big rain.  Lots of rain.  Rain from big black clouds that looked like they were rolling in to stay.  The wind blew the umbrella down the beach twice before I really, really got it situated, but it didn't bode well.  A family next to us quickly gathered up all their beach paraphernalia and fled to the car, and I wondered if we should do the same.  But I looked up and down the beach and no one else was going anywhere.  Little groups were huddled under umbrellas and lots of people were in the water, not just my crazy kids who don't know any better, so we stayed.  It rained for maybe ten minutes, but then the wind that blew it in blew it right back out, and the rest of the time we were there was sunny and hot.  I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

We played and played and played and played and played in the water and on the shore.  We dug a large hole and built tall walls and a moat around it, and the tide washed it away.  I dragged the children around on the boogie boards as there were no real waves to speak of, and the water was so warm you could stay in it indefinitely and never be uncomfortable.  It was shallow for a long way out, so we bobbed and swam, and watched little schools of nearly clear fish race around our legs (cool and creepy simultaneously).  It was wonderful to be at the beach.  We all loved it!!  In fact, we loved it so much we didn't want to leave.  But eventually we had to, and although one of us was excessively upset at our departure, we didn't make a big deal about it because we were up late, we didn't bring enough food, we hadn't stayed adequately hydrated because we'd been in the water, not consuming it, and playing at the beach is exhausting.

An ibis in the neighbor's yard on our way out,

and a swordfish we drove by that Brandt wanted a picture of.

 

Rainy beach and undaunted swimmers.

Nobody seemed too concerned about the rain.

Why fight it?

I got in too.

The sun came out!

  

I was kneeling when I took this picture.

The fish are seriously swimming right around my body.

They were everywhere!

I wondered if there were bigger fish nearby, driving the smaller fish towards the shore.

Should I be worried?

Nope!

No worries for me or Brandt.

  

The kids really wanted to be boogie boarding, and I did too.  Sadly, the beach did not have those sorts of waves.  There were waves, but not big enough to break and give us something to ride.  So I hooked their safety cords around my wrists and pulled them up and back along the beach.  We talked, they told me funny stories, they said irritating things over and over and over and over and over again.  And we loved, loved, loved, loved, loved being in the ocean.

  

On the way home, we called Kent and had him and James and Alisa meet us at Jeremiah's for another gelati.  So good.  We probably should have gone yesterday, too.  It's cool and sweet and just what we needed after a day in the sun.

James is the Young Men's President in their ward, and this evening, there was a youth temple trip.  The Fort Lauderdale Temple, dedicated four years ago, is only a short, 20 minute drive from James and Alisa's house.  I had thought we might try and go to the Orlando Temple, so I had brought all our temple recommends.  We didn't make it in Orlando, but Kent, Brandt, and I all went with James.  Blythe stayed home with Alisa and they watched the second Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

The temple is beautiful.  Because it is close to the Everglades, there is a sawgrass motif.  The stained glass was lovely, the hardware all interesting, and the grounds were fantastic.  It was just wonderful to be there, and we were delighted to be with our boy.  I had hoped to see him be baptized, but they did it while I was in changing, so I missed it.  But it was so nice to be there with him and Kent, and with James and his youth.  One boy in particular, Adam Plumber, the bishop's son, was super nice to Brandt.  He sat next to him and talked with him and was sad that we were leaving in the morning and they couldn't get together.  I was able to be in with Brandt when he was confirmed, and Brandt reports the Fort Lauderdale Temple is one of his favorites.

We took Adam home, just so he could be with us longer, and on the way, he and Brandt talked in the back.  Funny boys!  We stopped off at a single sister's house to help move a couch.  She was leaving Florida the next day and wanted it thrown away.  The young men lifted the heavy things just because they could, and we dropped Adam off on our way home.

Adam and Brandt

A dynamic duo!

We got home and packed.  Most of our clothes are sweaty sticky dirty because we've been in the humidity.  We had to sort through shells, round up books, and make sure we had all our chargers.  We packed some snacks for the plane and tried to get the children to calm down and sleep as we have an early departure.  It has been so wonderful to be together in Florida, to be with James and Alisa, and to see and do new and interesting things.  I'm not sure it could have been a better trip.