Gilbert Temple Open House

It has been such a neat experience to watch the Gilbert Temple be built. Every week on our trips to Costco.  Even when the Baton Rouge temple was being built we didn't pass it on a weekly basis. And I have loved this for our girls. To think this might be the Temple one of them will be married in is so neat!

The buzz from the Open House has been so exciting. Watching everyones pictures on facebook, blogs, and instagram has made it so much more exciting to take the girls today.

A few weeks ago when the Open house started, Chris and I had the opportunity to clean the building with other members of our Stake. We were lucky enough to clean the 2nd floor where the Celestial Room is. Very fun date night! And it made us even more excited to take the girls!

I know the girls don't fully understand the meaning behind the Temple. I know that it will be years from now before they understand how neat this opportunity is. But I know that it will come and I'm so thankful we got to go as a family!

A visit from Kolton.

We were so excited to find out that Kolton was planning a visit to Arizona before he left on his mission. Kolton is such a cool kid. He always has been but in these last few years he has really gotten his head on straight and knows exactly what he wants in life!

We are so proud of the young man he is turning into and we know that he will make an awesome missionary.

He stayed the week with us. He made a quick trip up to Snowflake. Barbara and I took him shopping to get the last few things he needed for his mission.  We did a senior/missionary photoshoot. And we all headed to the Mesa Temple one night for a session. We squeezed a lot in in just a few short days!

We loved having Kolton in our home. The girls absolutely adore him and Ginger was over the moon to have "her boyfriend" back!

We are bummed to find out that Kolton enters the MTC a few days before we are in Utah for our Whitney Family Reunion.

Good luck Kolton. Thanks for taking the time to come visit us! We love you and know you are going to do amazing things with your life!

Kolton's Mission Call!

How amazing is modern technology! Kolton recieved his mission call and we were able to skype with him (along with a ton of other friends and family) when he opened his call! It was such a neat experience! He is our oldest nephew and the first to serve a mission. I haven't been apart of something like this since Christopher went on his mission so it was such a fun experience!

Kolton has been called to serve in the Restancia, Argentina Mission and he reports to the MTC on July 2nd, 2013. He is such a cool kid and we love him so much! He is coming to visit in June before he leaves for his mission and Christopher and his parents are heading up to Utah in May for Kolton's graduation and endowment session.

Conference Weekend

looked like this...

Elodie's Baptism Day.

Elodie's Baptism Day was on Saturday, September 8th at 2pm. It was a lovely day and we had so many family and friends there to support her.

I loved that the baptism wasn't until 2pm so we had plenty of time in the morning to get ready. We never felt rushed at all. And I should clarify that there is a huge difference between being stressed and rushed. I was stressed. But we were never rushed! I should be grateful we weren't both!

We are so thankful to everyone who came and supported Elodie on her special day. Christopher did a great job and the program went so smoothly.

She was the only one baptized from our ward this day so she got the whole table to herself!

Afterwards we had a few families over for dessert. I did a burlap and white theme for the tables and really loved the way it all came together! We had all white desserts. Sugar cookies, cake pops, kettle corn,  ruffled white cake, and strawberries dipped in white chocolate. My centerpieces were babiesbreathe in mason jars.

 I was really bummed that my cake pops weren't as easy as they look...

Elodie has such a sweet spirit. I can't believe she is old enough to be baptized! She knows right from wrong and always tries so hard to be a good example for her little sisters!

We love you Elodie!

Elodie's Baptism Invitation.

This is the invitation I mailed and emailed to friends and family for Elodie's Baptism. I pinned a few invitations that I loved and planned to just pay for someone else to make them. Then I saw the price of some of them and decided it was better to do it myself.

For my first attempt, I'm really happy with how it came out. And the best part? Totally free.

I figure by the time my girls get married I will have to pay for very little.
Photography-Check.
Cake-Check.
Decorations-Check.
Invites-Check.

Although in just doing all of this I have realized why so many people just pay to have someone else do it for them. It's a lot of work. And it's stressful! But so very worth it.

Elodie's Baptism Pictures

I took Elodie out yesterday for her Baptism pictures. We used one of them for her invitation and I plan to use the rest as decoration on her Baptism day.

She is such a beautiful girl. And smart, sweet, happy.

We love her and are so proud of her decision to be baptized.