Gilbert Temple

Last Saturday we took our family to the Gilbert Temple open house.  We started by watching a video in the chapel next to the temple.  Well, Nate and the kids watched a video.  I tried to keep Arie quiet in the foyer.  I think she knows that if we are at church, she is supposed to be in the halls.  After the video, we walked through the temple.  It was beautiful, as expected.  The chandelier in the Celestial Room was especially impressive.  It was strange though... to be walking through the temple with the noise of a large, talking crowd.  It was so opposite from normal.  Not that this was surprising, but it was also interesting to note how absolutely different it feels to be in an undedicated temple as opposed to a dedicated one.  Maybe this isn't quite the right way to say it, but right now, it is just a building.  Once it is dedicated, it truly becomes a House of the Lord, and you can feel it.

Melanie and Tyler and Jade, Rob and Tina's family, and Mom and Dad also went to the open house on the same day, but we had different reservation times so we didn't go together.  But Melanie lives just around the corner in Gilbert, so we all hung out at her house afterward.  Then we all went out to eat dinner at Chili's.  It was a fun day. 

But, I did feel a little bad because Natalie and Kelton were both a bit sick.  They weren't complaining too much, but both had slight fevers and didn't look real great. 

Well, that was the beginning of a very fun week for our family.  There is a nasty flu bug going around like wildfire that has infiltrated our household.  It starts with coughing, then more painful coughing, then fevers, chills, severe aches and headaches, stuffiness and then feeling generally crappy.  It's one of those that morphs from day to day instead of getting better as each day passes.  Everyone in our house has caught it, some to varying degrees, but today, almost a week later, this picture just about sums up how we are doing.

But we'll live.  I hope.  I had friends tell me this one takes a full week to start getting better.  I didn't believe them, but now I do.  Being sick and taking care of sick kids simultaneously is not good for improving my patience.  But I must say, I am so grateful to live in today's world, with today's medicine that has made this somewhat bearable.