Temple Sealing Part 3

Where was I? We walked into the sealing room I felt a bit on display as all eyes were on us and it all became so real. We were told to sit down on the couch and that I would sit on John's right. Well John and I didn't see the couch. We scanned the room up and down, left to right. Where was the couch? Maybe I couldn't see it through my blurry eyes? We saw the altar...with cushions.. did he mean that? Someone, I really don't remember who, pointed us in the right direction. How did we miss that? It was right there to the right when you first walk in. A little giggle from John and I as we sat down. I couldn't believe this was really happening.


I was filled with peace and love as I saw our support group of family and friends. I also was filled with a few more tears. Our support group shall be named in no particular order.


Dave Poulsen- Our next door neighbor from our West Jordan house. I was thrilled that he came. I hadn't seen him in at least 4 years. I had mailed them an invitation, hoping they would come. Not sure where his wife was though.

Friends from the ward:
Sariah and Jake Buntjer
Jenn and David Diaz
Stace and Kirk Dalton
Kim and Adam Heaton
Shauna and Mike Kemp
Brett Olsen
Angela Merrick
Bishop Logan Freeman and Daina Freeman

My Family:
My mom Connie. My mom sat to my right.
Grandma and Grandpa, Janeal and Glenn Hancock
Aunt and Uncle, Carla and Don Campbell
Aunt and Uncle Linda and Jon Meier
Stepmom, Kathie Hancock
Stepbrother and his lovely wife, Mac and Shannon Bludworth

John's Family:
John's mom, Wendy Reeder. She sat to his left.
John's dad, Tom Reeder. He was one of our witnesses. He had broken his hip about a week before and we heard last minute he was going to be there. He was brought from the hospital and was in a wheelchair. They took him back to the hospital right after the sealing.
John's Aunt and Uncle, Cheryl and Eugene Carbine
John's cousin and wife, Eldon and Sharla Carbine


Close friends of family that have become close friends of ours:
Tom and Penny Gwilliam and their son Brandon Gwilliam
Charles and Zella Dahlquist
Gene and April Goodrich

My friend from school:
Michell O'Ryan Egbert and her husband

I didn't know what to expect. It was like a heavenly marriage ceremony. Very cool! We found out later that the sealer was John's uncle's mission companion from 45 years ago. What are the odds? And they had just met up a week before after 45 years for a missionary reunion.

So John and I were basically married and sealed to each other and then the sealer said something like, "Doesn't it feel wonderful? But something's missing." John said something like, "Yeah 3 little ones." Then the little angels were brought in. You could feel their excitement in the air. John and I were kneeling across the altar from each other and the kids were put on all sides of us. Jessie put her little hand on mine and smiled up at me angelically. We were then sealed as a family for all eternity. We were told to line up in front of the mirror to see for ourselves our forever family. Very powerful. I'm sure we will never forget that image.

I think tears were falling about every 5 minutes. Happy, joyful, spiritual tears. I'm talking about mine, but I know there were others joining me in a crying session here and there. We were lined up, our little family, just like at a wedding reception. Our friends and family came by to congratulate us. Lot's of hugs and kisses and happy happy tears. I reached down to hug Tom in his wheelchair and asked him how he was feeling. He said, "I'm so proud of you. You look so beautiful." I later found out he was in a lot of pain.

Our guests departed and John and I were alone in the hall for a moment. What a great time to reflect and feel such love and peace together. I was hoping we would go back into the celestial room with our guests, but they weren't in their temple clothes. I didn't know you had to request that. I just assumed they would all be in white. :(

I also thought we'd all be able to go out and take pictures as a family in white. Not in our temple clothes. I was a bit bummed.

John and I were led back to change. It was a very cool feeling as we walked hand in hand up the hall and down the stairs. We saw my uncle Don as we walked down the stairs. He was watching us walk down. The temple matron pointed me to the Men's locker room thinking it was the women's. Luckily we were told it was the Men's before we went in there.

Around the same time I met back up with my mom and she helped me change. I was told that John was still changing and we were going to pick up the kids together. We waited and waited and I couldn't believe he was taking so long. About 7 minutes later, my mom came to find me. Everyone was waiting outside for me so we could take pictures. John had already picked up the kids and they were waiting for me. Again kind of bummed.

It was getting cold, so we tried to hurry with the picture taking. We had fun though and even got a big group photo of everyone there. (that hadn't already left)

We had 3 photographers, my dad, Jake, and my uncle Don. We felt pretty special having our own little paparazzi. We didn't know which camera to look at. I can't wait to see all the pictures.

Next...... the reception.

Sealing Day Part 2

The temple matron led my mom and I upstairs to the beautifully exquisite Bride's Room and dressing area. I had a nice little dressing room to put my clothes and belongings in and I was told I could change in the Bride's room if I wanted. My mom said, "Yes, you'll want to do that." I was told to put on my slip and was give a silky white robe to slip on, then we headed to the Bride's room.

I felt so lucky and grateful to have my mom there with me. I felt like the most beautiful bride as she helped me get ready. She painted my nails a very sheer sparkly pink. She took out my hoop earrings and put in my new pearl earrings and put on my new pearl necklace. She put her bracelet on me. She helped me put on my dress and everything else.

We talked about my grandma and the item she had made that I got to wear. That was so special to me. My mom told me that when my grandma died, she was buried in her temple dress. I don't think I knew that. I thought that was really cool and thought to myself, "I want to be buried in my temple dress."

I was told to look in the mirror. I felt like an angelic bride! I was so happy that my mom could have shared those moments with me. I was glad that I still had my mom around and that she was temple worthy.

I brought my makeup but decided against adding eyeliner or eyeshadow. I already had mascara on and decided I just wanted some shiny lip gloss. It was the perfect subtle final touch to make me feel like an angel.

We were led out through the locker rooms to receive instruction and reunite with my husband.

On our way out, my mom and I stopped at the bathrooms. I took this alone time to pray for my husband's heart to be softened so that we could enjoy this special day.

After a few minutes of instruction, my mom was led to be with the guests and I was taken with 3 other brides to wait for our husbands. After a few minutes, some of the temple workers were worried that we ould miss our 4:00 sealing time. What was taking these men so long? One of the temple ladies told me that the temple president was telling the guys that they better be nice to their wives or they'd be in big trouble. I told her I was glad to hear that.

A few more minutes and out came the men. I was sitting down and John didn't see me right away. I stood up, he took my hand and we were led up the stairs to wait. I still didn't know if he was in a bad mood and my heart sank a little.

We waited in the celestial room with some other couples. We sat down and held hands and John told me he was very excited. I cried, because I was a mix of emotions. I was very happy to hear that he was excited and happy.

It was finally time for us to go to the sealing room. I felt like a Queen with her King as we walked in the room. All bad feelings were gone. I did feel a little "on display." That's just me though. It was like, Wow this is really happening and all these people are here for us.

The longest post ever- Our Temple Sealing

I should probably break this in to parts, because this will be one heckuva long post. Funny it didn't say I spelled heckuva wrong lol.

Note: No sugar coating here, we do not live in a perfect world, even as we head to the temple.

PART 1:


We were all excited to start our day. It felt like my wedding day. I got myself and the girls in the shower. We needed enough time to curl all the girls’ hair, including myself. Tristan and I were done with our showers and Jessica was taking her sweet time. I told her it was time to get out so John (daddy) would have enough hot water for his shower. Too late.

That’s how our day began, with John upset. He was upset that I would let the girls shower in our bathroom and that because they play around in there, they used all the hot water. Well obviously I didn’t do it on purpose and I let him know I had told her to get out and didn’t realize it was too late.

I hate that feeling, when he’s mad at me. I’m more patient and understanding and just kind of go with the flow. Things happen, things go wrong, and it doesn’t help to be upset over it. Nothing can be done at the moment, let it go. But he didn’t let it go. I gave him a hug, told him I was sorry, but I could feel his resentment.

He just went on about how I shouldn’t have let them shower in there, etc. I had done all I could and I had to finish getting myself and the girls ready.

Because I had to rent something at the temple on Friday, I was short an item on Saturday, and there were no rental facilities at the Oquirrh Mountain temple, which is where we were headed. We thought of going into town a bit early to pick up the item along with some extra garments. But I felt like we just didn’t have the time.

I called my mom to see if she could help out. She was willing to help. She then called me back a few minutes later and told me she would pick up the item for me, but for that day she was going to let me wear my Grandma’s item. I was excited. My grandma died when I was 5. She then said, that would be my “something old”, she would let me borrow a bracelet for the “something borrowed”, I had my temple dress and earrings as my “something new”, all I needed was “something blue”. I thought maybe I could find a blue frog in my collection and put it in my temple dress pocket.

John overheard my idea. He said, “I know what you could wear for your “something blue”, the earrings/jewelry set I got you.” He bought a beautiful sapphire/diamond set with earrings, a ring and a pendant in Bahrain on his 1st deployment. They were fairly elaborate and I hadn’t really had any occasion where I felt it was appropriate to wear them. I said “good idea” and looked for the box. I decided I would wear the ring. I felt it would be subtle. I didn’t think the earrings would be appropriate for the temple. I was excited as it felt more and more like a wedding day.

We were finally ready to go and were leaving at a good time. I tried to remember everything. I needed the garment bag with my dress and Tristan’s dress, the duffel bag with my slip, stockings, slippers, Jessica’s dress, slip and my other temple items. I also needed my purse and camera bag. I had it all together but my purse. So I went to get it.

We all piled into the car and were on our way. Four houses away Jessica says, “Mom did you get my temple dress?” Me- “Um no, I forgot it.” So John turns the car around and we head back. I had set down the duffel bag when I was getting my purse. Ok, anything else? I think we’re good to go.

This time we got about 8-9 houses away. I asked John, “Did you bring your phone?” He said, “yeah why? Where’s yours?” “I left it at home.” Back we go. I told John it might be easier if he calls my phone so I can find it right away. So I get out of the car and John calls me back and says, here. He hands me his phone. Ok I guess he’s going to let me call my phone with his phone. So I start dialing. Something seems different. Well John and I have the same phone, only he somehow lost the battery cover. Well this phone had the battery cover. It was my phone.

Ok, then , we’re good to go. So, is there ANYTHING else we need to get? John says something and then adds, “Actually, I need to get my shoes.” We laughed a bit. I think we are really ready to go now.

We were on our way. It was an odd mood. There was still something between John and I. He wasn’t necessarily being rude to me, but there was a slight attitude and contention with him. Awful feeling. Not the feeling I wanted on the way to the temple with our family. I wanted a certain atmosphere and feeling as we headed there. The girls started singing church songs. I helped them a little. After a few minutes John turned on the radio. This was not how I imagined it. The songs he was listening to was not creating the mood I wanted. I couldn’t believe he wasn’t choosing to have a better attitude or that he was against helping me create the right atmosphere. I know him all too well and knew he was still irritated with me. I tried not to let it bring me down.

We arrived at the temple and got all our things together. We went to get Jessica out of the car and John asked where her shoes were. She replied, “I don’t need shoes at the temple.” I had told her she wouldn’t have to wear shoes in the temple, but to grab her slip ons to wear in the meantime. I guess all she heard was, “You don’t have to wear shoes.”

Ok, well we had to get through this. I could tell John was getting irritated. He actually said something rude in the temple parking lot.. I'm thinkihng "Are you kidding me?" I said, "yeah that's brilliant behavior here in the temple parking lot. I just told Jessie I’d have to carry her to the temple. I remembered what it felt to be a single parent. It was not a good feeling, but I had to be strong and not let this ruin our day.

We walked towards the temple and it was beautiful and there was a lovely water fountain out front. Honestly though it was hard to focus on the beauty, I tried, but it was eating at me that I was not feeling much love or respect from my husband. I was THIS close to tears. On the way up the steps, Sariah called to ask what time they needed to be there. They were going to be guests, so I told her guests needed to be there at 3:30. It was about 2:50. She said, “Ok see you soon.” .

We got closer to the temple and saw my mom and John’s mom. I thought we should take a quick family picture in front of the temple by the fountain. It was a little bit chilly. We had John’s mom take the pictures and then we were ready to enter the temple. This was it, our family temple day.

We walked through the temple doors and didn’t know where to go exactly. We were met by a temple worker who told us our family could go left into a waiting room while one of us officially checked in. My mom told John to go check us in, but I had all the recommends and paperwork, so I walked over with him. We were then met by a few other temple workers who were overly helpful. Too many people were trying to help us and I was feeling overwhelmed. They were trying to figure out who was in charge of us for the day. When they finally figured out what was going on and that the kids were also to be sealed to us, a lady came to take the kids. I got the girls’ dresses out and they were taken upstairs. I was having some anxiety since too much was going on at once. John and I were taken to get some paperwork finished.

I could still feel John's bad mood and I didn't know what to do. We were asked if we had escorts for the day. Yes, my mom and Jake. Ok, are they here now? Yes, my mom is right here and Jake will be here at 3:30. They made it sound like Jake needed to be here NOW. Ok so I guess we'll have to try calling Jake and Sariah and see if they could get there as soon as possible. John said something rude about well I guess his escort wasn't going to be there until 5:00, so we were screwed. (something to that effect) I could NOT believe he was acting like this INSIDE the temple. I said, "What are you talking about? You obviously didn't listen to me, they'll be here at 3:30 not 5:00. I looked at our temple matron and wanted to cry.

I honestly don't remember exactly what happened next, but I think that's when we went to finish paperwork. We were asked a series of questions and for some reason I think the lady thought John had been sealed before. She then asked, "When did you receive your endowments?" John said, "Yesterday." She said, "oh well I guess that doesn't give you much time to have been sealed to someone else now does it?" A little chuckle and some tension relief there. That's all I remember about that.

Someone came and took John away to get ready and I believe he mouthed "See you later" I had a hard time looking at him.

On our way to the temple

I'm just going to dive right in.

I typed this up this morning to document our journey so far:

John and I just celebrated our 12th anniversary. We were married September 20, 1997. Our 1st child, Jeremy, was 6 months old. Our first date was October 1, 1994. We knew of each other in middle school, but became friends in high school through my friend Terrill. I have told those stories in other settings, papers, hopefully a book one day.

The past was filled with ups and downs. Now we look to the future, our future. I think I have always hoped and prayed that this would happen. I have always been a spiritual person. John and I were both raised in LDS families. We both went to church when we were younger and stopped going around the age of 15. We would go here and there though on occasion.

While John was in the Navy, we lived in Mayport, Florida and San Diego, California. During those times away from family and friends, we welcomed many missionaries into our home(s). It was nice to have something positive, friendly and familiar in our lives. We went to church once in awhile. It was not always easy to choose to spend our time at church when our time together was so limited. John was gone a lot and Sundays were sometimes his only day to be with us. By this point we had 2 girls, Tristan and Jessica.

John would always talk about maybe going back to church when he got out of the Navy. In 2006, we bought our 2nd house in Utah. We are currently there now. This neighborhood is amazing. When we first moved here we immediately saw how great the people were. Many people were willing to help the moment our moving truck arrived at 7:00 in the morning. Some men went to work late so they could help us. There were even small children carrying boxes to where they needed to go. I had just given birth to a surrogate baby and I couldn’t help much. It took John and his sister about 2 full days to load that moving truck. Our new neighbors had it unloaded in about an hour. We were so impressed with this little town we had moved to.

We started to get to know people in the church a little bit. They were all so sweet and wonderful. We went to church 2-3 times a year. We went to a few activities and the church helped us in many ways.

At the end of October 2008, John got out of the Navy. I had recently become pregnant with twins as a surrogate. By the way, surrogacy is a very spiritual experience for me and has brought me closer to God. I was not feeling good very often, but we managed to go to church once or twice between Fall and Winter. The Draper, Utah temple had recently been built and we attended the Open House with John’s parents and our kids. I had been on bed rest and still had to take it easy. I could not walk much, so they had to get me a wheelchair. (this happened everywhere we went, Walmart, Home Depot, I spent a good amount of time in wheelchairs during that pregnancy) It was a nice experience to enjoy the beauty and peacefulness inside the temple. It was so nice to share that as a family.

As Spring came and I got nearer to delivery, we went to church a few more times. It was hard though, because I was getting very big and uncomfortable at this point. I was on bed rest in December for a little bit and then again in March/April. I started going into labor in early April and I wasn’t due until June. I was put in the hospital on strict bed rest for a week. On April 15, 2009, there was no stopping those babies. I had a c-section and was happy to see that the babies were healthy. I was in the hospital for a few days and then home for recovery.

The next few weeks were hard as I tried to recover physically and emotionally. I was happy that the babies would be with their parents, but a lot had gone on during that pregnancy and delivery and it was exhausting. John suggested we start going back to church about once a month. I said sure.

Well, once a month turned in to once a week. I think John wanted it more for our kids then for ourselves. But the funny thing is, that our kids were sleeping over at one of the grandparents house every other weekend and we were still going to church with or without them. We started talking about getting the kids baptized. The age for that is 8 and our oldest kids were 12 and 9. It was hard to get them baptized at 8 because of the military. We were either living out of state and wanted to get them baptized in Utah with our family, or we were living in Utah but John wasn’t around long enough to schedule a baptism. It just wasn’t lining up right. Also there was the question of who to baptize the kids?

We started having the missionaries over to teach the kids. It was a nice refresher for John and I and we learned some things along the way that we had either forgotten or not realized. The missionaries asked who would baptize the kids? We started the discussion again. They asked if maybe John could do it. John didn’t think he could get ready in time. We had already waited to have them baptize and he didn’t want to hold them back any longer. The missionaries told him that it probably wouldn’t take as long as he thought.

We had a goal to baptize the kids and for John to be the one to baptize them. As we went through the process I jokingly referred to my husband as John the Baptist. There were certainly struggles along the way. Even though it was hard at times, we had never felt happier. I didn’t even know we could be happier. I thought we had a great marriage, I thought I was a very happy, positive person. I didn’t expect such a new level of happiness, pure joy. People were telling John that I just glowed. I was so proud of John and how far he had come and how far he had brought us as a couple and a family. I was so proud that he was the one to get us to that point.

John was finally ordained a priest and the kids were baptized July 18, 2009. We wanted to baptize them on John’s birthday, but it was on the 20th, which was a Monday. We figured it would be better to baptize them on a Saturday, so that more people could come to the baptism. What an amazing day. I couldn’t believe it was happening. I was so proud of our little family, so excited for the kids. I was blown away by the support we had. I’ve never seen so many people at a baptism. That room was as full as it could be. It was overwhelming in the most wonderful way. The Sprit was so strong.

Our next goal was the temple. Who knew that this year would be filled with so many wonderful experiences? Who knew that this is what we’d be doing at this time? It was so exciting to be heading in such a positive direction. We noticed little changes throughout our family and our families. There was more of an overall peace and happiness at home. I was feeling God smiling down at us. We were becoming closer to members of the ward and making some great friendships. We were getting to know people better that we already knew and meeting more great people along the way.

We were going to be taking a temple preparation class and John suggested that our friends, Jake and Sariah Buntjer be the ones to teach us. We have enjoyed meeting with them each week. We hope that we have found a long-lasting friendship with them. We also got to know a new neighbor across the street, Robert Nakagawa. I hope I spelled that right. He is a new convert and has been doing the temple lessons with us. He has brought so much to the lessons. It’s been great to be around him and his enthusiasm and love for the gospel.

One evening, we watched a really neat movie about temples. John was tired that day, so he didn’t see all of it. We ended up watching it at home a week or 2 later with my mom and our kids. We would stop and discuss things during the movie. At one point, our daughter Jessica who is 5 said, “Mom, I really like the temple.” I said, “Me too.” She said, “Do you want to know what I like best about the temple?” I said, “Sure.” She said, “The part where the light was shining up at Jesus.” I said, “Oh. Where did you see that? Was that in the movie? I don’t remember that part.” She said, “No, I didn’t see it in the movie, I saw it when we were in the temple.” What an amazing experience for a little girl. I was so happy that she had experienced something like that. She can’t wait to turn 8 so she can get baptized.

In August 2009, we had the opportunity to go to a temple dedication for the new Oquirrh Mountain temple. This took place at our Stake Center. We watched the broadcast there of the actual dedication. We were told that during that time, the church itself would be a temple. Wow, what an amazing feeling. I absolutely felt like we were in the temple. I have been like a sponge recently, just absorbing it all. I have been so spiritually open and available for spiritual knowledge and experience. With that, I have also been able to focus more on other things. My life seems a little less chaotic.

Anyway, one particular talk really stood out to me at the dedication, it was by President Uchtdorf. He told of Sanford and Thomas Bingham, the brothers who settled the area where the temple now stands. This stood out to me because John is related to the Bingham family.

I found this on another blog. Apparantly she is also related to the Binghams:
(found at http://christinescorner23.blogspot.com)


” The Bingham family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Vermont, later joining the saints who gathered in Kirtland, Ohio and later Nauvoo. When the saints began their exodus to the west, the family joined; Father Erastus was a captain of ten wagons in the Daniel Spencer Hundred, the second company of pioneers. The eldest son Sanford who had been crippled from birth, made the trip on horseback, driving cattle along the way. He and his bride, Martha Ann, were married by Parley P. Pratt in Nebraska and it was their job to supply the company with milk and butter. His younger brother, Thomas and several other brothers joined the Mormon Battalion along the route and rejoined the company to enter the valley in September 1847.

The following spring, Sanford and Thomas were given the assignment to tend the livestock in the canyon southeast of the Salt Lake Valley. While there, the brothers discovered rich mineral deposits but they were counseled by President Brigham Young that they should continue their farming and herding, as this is what the people needed. The canyon proved to be an ideal place not only for cattle and farming, but cutting timber. Within a few years, Archibald and Robert Gardner were directed to build a sawmill nearby and wagon-loads of timber were taken from the canyon’s hillsides including most of the wood used to construct the roof of the Salt Lake Tabernacle.

Though the Bingham family never benefited financially from the rich copper, gold, silver and lead later mined in the canyon, Pres. Uchtdorf reminded us they were spiritually strengthened by following the words of their prophet and leader. He shared the story of when Indians broke into the cabin where Martha Ann was alone with the children, busy ironing. Pres. Uchtdorf said that her tenacity, courage and confidence protected her and the Indians left without harming them. Family lore says that she was so upset when they sat on her freshly ironed clothing, that she grabbed their hair and threw them out. Whichever way, those Binghams were strong people and greatly blessed.”

I don’t remember if it was before or after the dedication, but we were at Lagoon recently and visited Pioneer Park where the famous Bingham Cabin is now located.

We weren’t sure which temple we should go to for our sealing. We were considering the Oquirrh Mountain Temple since it was new and close by. However, I don’t always like to do the “new and popular” things. When I heard that talk though, I knew we had found “our” temple.

I would like to mention some other interesting facts about the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

This is taken from the temple website:

”The spire of the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple was installed atop the temple on July 11, 2008, immediately followed by installation of a gold-leafed statue of the angel Moroni.
Lightning struck the angel Moroni statue atop the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple on Saturday afternoon, June 13, 2009, during the public open house. The powerful bolt of lightning blackened Moroni's trumpet, arm, and face. A replacement statue was installed on August 11, 2009, 10 days before the dedicatory services began.

The ordinance room murals in the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple were painted by artists who were called as "art missionaries" for the Church.
President Thomas S. Monson dedicated the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple on his 82nd birthday. The crowd gathered for the cornerstone ceremony spontaneously sang him a birthday song. For the first time in Utah's history, church was cancelled statewide on August 23, 2009, to allow members to attend the dedication of the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple without conflict.”

We finished our last temple lesson last night, September 24, 2009. We are 2 weeks away from our goal of being sealed together as a family in the temple. We were hoping to go through on September 20 for our anniversary. However, this year that was on a Sunday so that wouldn’t work. We certainly didn’t want to wait another year. So we tried lining it up with our 1st dating anniversary of October 1st. But we figured it’s always easier to get everyone together on a Saturday. So we were going to choose the closest Saturday which would be October 3rd. However, General Conference is that weekend, so the temples will be closed. We are now hoping to go through on Saturday October 10th. That is a good date, because our wedding anniversary is a combination of our birthdays. My birthday is September 10th, John’s is July 20th, so we got married on September 20th. Well our first date was October 1st and my birthday is on the 10th, so October 10th is a combination of the two.

John still needs to become an Elder and receive the melchezadik priesthood. That should be happening this Sunday.

I would like to mention I believe this is all happening at the best time for us. I mean I think it means more now than it would have before. We had to go through other experiences to appreciate what we are going through and about to go through. Things lined up for us recently. I think it started with moving to Eagle Mountain, then, John getting out of the Navy. Also, John had to want this as well. It wouldn’t have meant anything if he was “just doing it for me”. John was lucky to have been able to get a job here. Money is a lot tighter, but we’ve never been happier.

Notes on pictures:

The picture of the temple is one I snapped passing by on Bangerter Hwy. It was a shot looking back.