Memorable Monday Temple Open House

I read that the Draper Temple is having an Open House for a couple of months. I grew up in Sandy which neigbors Draper and was excited to hear that there is another temple close to Sandy. It reminded of when my family would watch the Jordan River Temple being built and attending the groundbreaking ceremony, open house, and the dedication. It was a wonderful feeling and still remember bits and pieces vividly. I was only 12 years old when the temple was dedicated. I could see the temple from the middle of the street. It was a great reminder for me that I wanted to someday go there and get married. I ended up getting married in the Mesa, AZ Tempe, and I couldn't be happier. Several years after I was married, the Snowflake Temple was built. I wanted my husband and children to experience an open house of a newly built temple. Going to an open house is a wonderful experience. We are patiently waiting for the temples in AZ.

The Jordan River under construction.

My family at the time of the temple construction. I'm the one in the blue dress. It's so fun to see pictures of when I was younger. I was upset that my younger sister, Lisa was taller than me.

Pace Family in front of the Snowflake AZ temple.

Lion King

Jim and I went to see the Lion King on Saturday evening. I bought the tickets a month and a half ago and was anticipating the event. I was very impressed with the whole show, but the beginning was my favorite part. I loved the costumes and the music. There was so much talent on and off the stage. From our nose-bleed seats, we could see the stage and the percussionists on both sides. I found myself watching the percussionists in awe. It was such an awesome show and wished I took my kids to the show. I bought the book and music to share with my children. I had heard about this show and was so glad to see it.

Taylor Band Day

On Saturday, Josh and Dani went to Taylor Junior High and played with the Taylor Band. The Taylor Band teacher invited the local elementary schools feeding into Taylor to participate in this event. My kids were so excited to go and be with the Junior High students. Each student was given some music to play ahead of time. The music was difficult, but the overall experience is one that my kids will not forget. The Junior High students mentored and practiced some pieces with the elementary students. Josh meet some of the clarinet players and will know who they are when we goes to Taylor next year. There was a concert at the end and I was very impressed with the performance and the music program Taylor offers as the well as the music program in the elementary schools. I hope with the current budget cuts, that music stays in the school even at the elementary level. It's such a great benefit to the kids.

The kids before the big day. They had a great time and want to participated in the band program when they attend Taylor.

Josh playing with other clarinets from other schools.

Dani have fun playing the drums. The drum beat was hard to keep up with, but they did an awesome job.

Random Things

I'm been a tagged couple of times about writing down random things about me. I'm writing this post on my blog and hope to import it onto Facebook. Let's hope it works out.

Here are 25 random things about me.

1. I've never finished 2nd grade, but started 3rd grade twice. The results of moving to one area to another. If I don't something, I blame it on missing the end of 2nd grade.
2. I hated to read in school, but I love it now. There are so many good books that I missed out on. I am reading now with my kids, and enjoy it.
3. I love to listen to Christmas music all year long.
4. I don't like really spicy food. I'm the boring one in the resturant.
5. I love old Cary Grant movies, especially the funny ones like Arsenic and Old Lace.
6. I've never traveled east of Denver, CO. I totally need to get out more.
7. While Student Teaching, I was mistaken for a Junior High student. It was on a Friday when the teachers were encouraged to wear casual clothes. I went to the Book Store to get some butcher paper with some students. I used the teacher's entrance and the lady got after us for using the wrong door. She glanced at me a few times before she realized that I was a teacher. I'll never forget how embarrassed I was.
8. I went kneeboarding just a few weeks after have surgery to remove some pins in my arm. I was in the boat with some boys and I was trying to impress them. That wasn't the best idea. Nothing happened with my arm, but I was told not to water ski for awhile. Kneeboading isn't exactly water skiing is it?
9. I like familiarity.
10. I love to play video games with my kids. I tell them that I want to make sure that the game is appropriate for them. Let's face it, the games are fun to play.
11. I drink too much Diet Coke. I started this habit in high school, but perfected in college. It doesn't help that they built a QT right by my house.
12. I love to do puzzles, especially those requiring paper and a sharp pencil.
13. I like American Idol after the auditions. I feel so bad for the contestants who don't sing well. It's probably because I have a horrible voice.
14. I rely too much on spell check and grammar check. I think that was taught at the end of second grade.
15. I like to watch a move with subtitles. It helps to see the words as well as hear them, especially if they have a strong accent.
16. I love to watch "Lost" and be trying to discover what is going on.
17. I have taken so many pictures that it is hard to organize them all. There are many more that I would love to scan.
18. I wish February 29th came every year. It's Angela's birthday. Poor girl, I had to explain to her that her birthday comes every 4 years.
19. I don't like to be licked by dogs. I don't want a dog for that very reason.
20. I like to watch a variety of movies. I like classics like North & South, adventures like Bourne Identity, comedies like Princess Bride, children's movies like Nanny McPhee, fantasy movies like Lord of the Rings, and Sci-fi movies like Star Wars.
21. I love the rain and wished it would rain more often, maybe once a week. When it rains, the whole family goes outside to play.
22. I wish I could stay 39 forever. It's a good age.
23. I love chocolate in any form, especially in the form of candy bars.
24. I lived in AZ for 20 years and haven't seen the Grand Canyon yet. I plan to do just that this year with my family.
25. I love to watch Jim play with the kids. He is so fun to watch with the kids. They totally love his attention.

This list was a hard one to compile. I tag anyone who is up to the challenge. Thanks to Iralee and Tracie who tagged me. I remembered a lot, even stuff I didn't want to share.

Memorable MondayFootball

Everyone in AZ is talking the Cardinals going to the Superbowl. I watched the last few minutes on TV, I know that I shouldn't have but I couldn't help myself. It reminded me of the times I loved watching NFL Football and faithfully followed the teams.

I became a huge fan of football in college. I would watch the NFL and college football games on TV and knew who played for each team. At work, we would have a football challenge and I loved participating and watching the games to see who would win. When I married Jim, I got him involved in the sport of watching football. When the Super Bowl came to Tempe AZ, we went and volunteer to help out and the NFL Experience. It was an event held a couple of days before the game to give the community a chance to be an NFL star. It was such an awesome experience to be apart of the Super Bowl that year, especially since it was played at ASU. I was on Cloud 9 that night.

One day in Sacrament Meeting, our Bishop urged us to not to watch games on TV. I decided that I needed to follow the counsel of the Bishop. I stopped watching NFL football games on Sunday, except for just a few minutes yesterday. I will have to record the Super Bowl. I don't follow the NFL teams anymore, since most of their games are on Sunday. I don't really miss it either. I can always watch college football since it's on Saturdays. I learned a valuable lesson about Obedience. Following the counsel of our leaders is not always easy, but worth it.

Winter Intensive Program

Jim just finished a 2 week winter intensive class. This class covers the same material as a 10 week class. Jim was at ASU for 40 hours in 15 days. I think he spent that many hours doing the homework, group projects, and studying for the final. The professor explained that the course was covered in 2 weeks so that the Master's Program would remain a one year program. It was incredibly difficult two weeks for Jim. It's wonderful that in times of great stress, that we can turn to our Heavenly Father and He can help us out when we have no more strength. It was great to see Jim rise to the occasion and do the work he needed to do.

My Blog Book

A couple of days ago, I received my Blog Book through in the mail. It was a year's worth of blogs that I slurped into a book. I was so excited to see my blog in print. It was my goal all of 2008 to have my blog published into a book. It was fun to edit the book and make the book my own. It's such a treasure to look at this book and see all the blessings that I have. The year 2008 was a great year for our family, and now my family can read it often and be reminded of our blessings. Now that I have my 2008 book and can't wait to work on 2009.

For those interested, there is a software program called Booksmart through Blurb that slurps your blog into a book. You can edit the pages to look the way you want them to. It took me several days to get the book to look the way I want it to look. I found that the pictures needed to be uploaded again because they came out a thumbprint size. My book cost a little under $60. It's a hard cover book with a dust jacket and about 160 pages. There are other options and pricing. The website is currently having some difficulties, but hopes to have them resolved soon.