Phoenix Temple Open House and the Agave

We went to the Phoenix Temple open house. This is the 2nd Temple open house that we have had the privilege to take our girls to, this year. It is a beautiful temple and like the Gilbert Temple has the agave symbolism throughout the temple. The girls really liked seeing it. Elise especially liked the baptismal font that was "sitting on the oxen's backs and the oxen had horns." She clarified to me that they were not real oxen but just pretend oxen.

Anna especially liked seeing the sealing rooms. Her part in the sacrament meeting program this year goes: "Temple marriage is a priesthood ordinance and strengthens my family." When we saw the sealing room I told her it was here that temple marriage takes place and showed here where the bride and groom kneel over the alter to get married. I showed her the mirrors that represented eternity. She was very interested and loved it.

The Phoenix Temple uses the agave flower as a design throughout the temple, just as the Gilbert Temple used the agave plant as it's theme. I have been thinking about why these temples use the agave plant and it's flower, I don't know exactly but I have learned a few beautiful things about his plant. 

1) The agave can represent new life, eternal family, and the influence of generations. As new leaves come forth, the old ones die away. On many agave, the older leaves leave their imprint on the next generation of leaves and the newer leaves also leave impressions on the older.  

2) The agave plant only blooms once in it's life. Throughout its life it builds up and stores energy/ starch in it's center. When the agave is fully mature, it gives all, literally all, of it's energy and strength to raising it's tall beautiful arm to the heavens to glorify God. Then with no energy left it dies. What a beautiful image. 

This morning during my early morning run, I ran by an agave plant with it's flower reaching the sky in all it's glory. I stopped to look at it and I thought: it truly is fulfilling the measure of it's creation.

Creative Activities for Family Home Evening

I told the girls we would be having Family Home Evening tonight. A bit later I saw Elise drawing a picture and she asked me for some scissors. She said she was making a game for our family home evening activity and it was going to be a puzzle that we all had to put it together. She is so cute and creative. I showed her how to hold the scissors and she actually learned how to cut for the first time. She cut her picture up in so many little pieces.  At family home evening last night we all tried to put it together, which we couldn’t really but she was so happy about her game. She even wanted to put it in a special puzzle box after we had finished. Good job Elise!

Anna also decided she was going to make up a game for us to play at family home evening. She wrote a whole bunch of made up words on a paper earlier in the day and during activity time 

we had to sound them out and try to say them. It was pretty fun.

They are at a really fun age right now and get so into and excited about the little things in life. They make life fun.

Dolls and girls and different cognitive levels.

Elise: My Rose (the name of her doll) talks.

Anna: No, she doesn’t; dolls do not talk.

Elise: Well my Rose does talk. Hummph.

Anna: Dolls are not real so they don’t talk.

Elise: She talks to me at nighttime when she is going to sleep.

Me: I think Rose talks.

Anna just looks at me not knowing what to say. I take her aside, out of hearing range of Elise, and explain to her that she is right but little children like Elise like to imagine that their dolls are real so we should let them.

Later that morning the girls both want to bring their dolls to the kitchen table for breakfast.  I notice Anna is pretend feeding her dolls some of her breakfast. I don't know why I thought Elise would do the same, just pretend to feed her doll, after having the previous conversation earlier that same morning; but I did. Then I looked over at Elise I see Cream of Wheat dripping all over Elise’s lap and down her dolls face. Oh great!

Cookies for Breakfast?

This morning Dayna exclaimed in an elated tone "Who wants cookies for breakfast?" This question was met with squeals of delight from the girls. Only then did she realize her mistake, "I mean, who wants cereal for breakfast?" We all had a good laugh. Right when Dayna was about to say "cereal" she caught a glance of the cookie jar and it just came out "cookies." So, the girls were able to have a cookie for breakfast along with their cereal.

First Steps

Trying to keep up with her sisters.

Follow the Leader, Dancin' and Jumpin' Style

The girls decided to play a little follow the leader this evening, and Grace was the leader. When Grace dances, the girls dance. When Grace jumps, the girls jump. You can't get much more fun than this.

Fun Feats

Anna, Elise, and Kent went to a birthday pool party. At this pool, there was a short diving board. After a lot of coaxing, Anna decided to jump off the diving board. After that first time off the board, I was barely able to convince her to stop jumping off the diving board so we could eat some dinner.
Once we arrived home, there was another surprise. Grace learned how to stand up. In the video below, she