Today was our second day on vacation and we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. It was gorgeous, but VERY different from what I have seen in other temples. When we first arrived we watched a short video on the purpose of temples, but it also talked about the Oquirrh Mountains and the area surrounding the temple. The movie talked about my great, great, great grandfather Archibald Gardner that helped settle the area and built the flour mills and canal system once the pioneers arrived. After the movie we went inside. The first thing I noticed was that we didn't have to put blue booties over our shoes. I assume this is because most of the temple has tile. I can't remember being in a temple that has tile. The Endowment Rooms were small, accommodating only 48 people. I think there were only 2 endowment rooms. The Sealing rooms on the other hand were quite large. The Celestial Room was AMAZING!! The chandelier was star shaped and it had maybe 10 tiers on it. The colors were yellow and beige and green with stars and interlocking circles throughout. The kids loved being inside and we talked about them going to the temple either before their missions or to be married.
After the tour of the temple we went outside for cookies and bottled water. I think Hayden ate 5 cookies, Cole 4 and Liv 2. I then wanted to take pictures of the kids in front of the temple. Unfortunately my camera battery was dead and I was only able to get one picture. We decided that we would wait to go to the mine until my camera was charged.
Sandie Hadley went with us to the open house and it was so fun to talk with her about EVERYTHING! I realized that Hayden is as old as I was when we moved from our house in West Jordan. That was such a difficult move for me and I missed Kierstin and the Hadley family so much. It felt like home just being in the old neighborhood. Gary Wasmer was out mowing his lawn and we walked down to say hello. When he called me "Elsha" I felt as though I was a giddy little 8 year old girl again..... only I was missing my better half.... Olive Oil aka Kierstin. When I showed the kids our old house, Hayden's eyes got real big and he said, "Mom, you lived THERE?" He said that because the house now has a chain link fence around the front, about 12 bikes parked in the front and 7 lawn chairs on the front porch. It was a sad sight to say the least. Lee's yard is still impeccable and I remember when every house in the neighborhood looked just the same. If I could have gone back in time to be an 8 year old girl again, I would have in a heartbeat.
After leaving Sandie's we went to Gardner Village. Liv and I were having a blast looking at all the girly things, but Hayden said, "Mom, there is nothing but girl things here." I got the hint and we got in the car and drove back up the mountain. I plan to go back sometime before I leave! ;o)
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