Calgary temple open-house with Ammon

October, 2012, Ammon joined us for a tour of the Calgary temple before it was dedicated.  It is located in NW Calgary, on a hill overlooking the city.  As befits "The House of the Lord", its construction is of the highest quality.

We arrived at the temple at 7:30 in the morning.  I love this photo of Calgary taken from the temple hill; looking SE.

The temple sign at the roadside says:

"THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST

OF LATTER DAY SAINTS

CALGARY ALBERTA TEMPLE"

It was special for the three of us together to view the temple, inside and out. 

Here is part of my journal entry for that day:  "Liked the tour,  much like the tour of the slightly smaller Brigham City temple.  The tour started in the chapel 100 yards from the temple.  We first viewed an excellent video about temples and more about the history of the church in southern Alberta.  Our guide gave explanations in each room.  We stayed for an hour in the cultural hall after with cookies and water, watching the modestly dressed people, talking about the temple, and filling out Comment cards.

The walkway from the chapel to the temple was covered for an excellent reason - our protection from the cold winds.  There were many volunteers to help and answer questions.

Before entering the temple we stood at a rack for a volunteer to slip booties on our shoes, to keep the interior of the temple clean.  Once inside, everything was quiet, peaceful and orderly, as we were led from one beautiful room to another.  In each area our tour guide answered questions and explained the purpose of the room: the baptismal font below ground, the topmost celestial room with its high ceiling, instruction rooms and the sealing room where  couples are married for all eternity.

We ended the tour in the cultural hall of the church where we mostly sat quietly and contemplated the heavenly peaceful feelings we experienced in the temple.  Temples do bring us closer to our Heavenly Father.

Back in Ammon's apartment we had fun with McKinley, age 16.

Snow

A little lighter subject for the topic today.  Yes the snow is very light.  Light snow is much easier to shovel off the driveway and deck than heavy, wet snow.  So I am happy these last few days when I get a little exercise in a light way.  I wouldn't even let your mother shovel snow, like she often does. 

We particularly enjoyed ourselves over breakfast of oatmeal this morning.  First I turned off the radio because it just didn't seem right to be hearing about planting on the Garden Show, when everything outside is white.  I played a CD with nature sounds complimenting Christmas carols.  Then we watched the winter wonderland through the patio doors.  A little breeze came up, shook some branches of the trees, and caused snow to fall, cascading down from one branch to another.  At one point when the wind blew harder, it looked like a snow storm, only it lasted for one minute.  A magical winter time while we were toasty and warm inside.

We appreciate the snow more than we might because our temperatures have been unseasonably warm; just like most of you in Western Canada.  In fact you on the prairies have often been warmer than us.  Now we've had a week of colder than normal temperatures and that's OK.

I've been reading Grandma Gubler's autobiography again.  She often describes beautiful scenes of nature around her.  I hope you appreciate the beauty around you too.  We have been blessed with variety: variety in what we see, feel, hear, taste, and so on.  When the cold or bad weather starts getting to you, remember these two things.  (1) When my sister lived in Hawaii she said the weather became boring because it was so much the same.  (2) I read that more inventions are made by people living in temperate climates like ours than by those who live in continuously warm climates.  Aren't we fortunate to live in such a wonderful part of the world?  Let's count our blessings.

Beautiful grandchildren; beautiful neighbourhood

One of my favourite things to do is read with my grandchildren. Justus and Josie are interested in books. Josie is an excellent reader and insisted she read every other page with me.








Jarom allowed me to give him tennis instructions. We had fun batting the ball back and forth. Handy that this tennis court is at the end of our block. This and all remaining photos were taken this morning.

The playground is also part of the Last Mountain Park at the end of our block. Glad our grandchildren are not shy of the camera. I guess not as I remember their mother, Jennie Hall, publishes at least one photo a day on Facebook.




















Benefiting from our cool wet spring and even summer, so far, are the many Saskatoon bushes where the berries are large, sweet and juicy. This is something these grandchildren are familiar with on the prairies and they love them.



I love the orange colour of the Pondorosa Pine.

This large one is just behind our home.

Power's Creek is finished with it's flood stage and fun to play in. Justus turned 5 today. He kept asking for his present (besides dinner at Burger King). Tomorrow he gets to ride on the KVR (Kettle Valley Railway) with a steam locomotive.








I never did get Josie wet.

When I visited my cousins as a boy, we watched these amazing creatures on the irrigation canals.  We called them water skeeters.  See the large shadow their depression in the water makes even though they rest on the surface tension of the water.

I feel very blessed to have such a beautiful neighbourhood to share with my family. I love to show them God's beauties around us, enjoy the quiet of nature and quiet reflections (mixed in with the fun of course).  [Maybe I am emphasizing quiet because there is not much of that when active children are having fun.]  I highly recommend grandchildren mixed into nature with loving parents and grandparents.