Gila Valley Temple Open House & Dedication

I had to have a separate blog for this particular subject because it was just so special! The day that we went to the open house, we were already up in Thatcher for a Eastern Arizona College Choir reunion. That was very bittersweet and special. I got to see friends I haven't seen since th good ol days at EAC back in 1997 that is 13 years!!!!! Time flies by so very fast. Some of the people looked exactly the same and I recognized right away. We went to the spring sing and they were singing songs that we sang at our spring sing and I started crying when I heard "In This Very Room", Shanendoah, etc.... Then at the very last song the Alumni were asked to come up and sing with the choir for the last song, and Dr. Lunt who has been retired for a few years was asked to lead us. I was BAWLING. It was so bittersweet to be able to be lead my such an amazing man that I've admired for 13 plus years. Then we went and changed in the local convenience store bathroom, because I wanted the boys to be in their sunday clothes and I needed to change my shirt and pants into a skirt and blouse. We got to the open house and watched the video before going in. When Elder Holland spoke about how he could not even imagine Heaven without his children that struck a nerve and put a huge lump in my throat and caused the tears to start falling. There's nothing I want more than to have my children sealed to me.... in fact it's been a sore spot with me for several years. My ex is anti- lds and I just know he will never give permission for them to be sealed. Then we walked into the temple, I was in a white blouse and the boys were in their nice white sunday shirts. The spirit was so very strong. I felt so strongly that the people who had lived in the Gila Valley before they died, were given special permission to be able to go into the temple. I thought of my favorite uncle Dallas Welker, my grandma Welker... I felt them there. I coudln't stop crying, no matter how hard I tried. I just kept thinking of the song I heard at the choir reunion "in this very room" the parts where they say "For Jesus, Lord Jesus... is in this very room". I knew that the savior walks those halls. The boys were in awe of all of the things in the temple. They were so reverent and listened very closely to what each of the tour guides had to say. When we got to the Celestial Room and I looked up at the Chandelier, it took my breath away. My mouth opened and my eyes popped out and I just started crying again. I felt like I was in Heaven with my children. Then.... we went into the Sealing Room...... WOW!!!!!!!! The boys and I all looked in the mirror at the same time, I was right behind them and like I said before we were all in white shirts.... Danny whispered "mom, why is there so many reflections?" I told him "because that means we will be together forever" and he said "WOW!" There was not a dry eye in that room. A girl I had gone to EAC with, had tears in her eyes. The tour guids were crying. I couldn't remember how, but I just KNEW that one day my kids will be mine forever. I felt generations linked together in that mirror.
The dedication was another amazing experience because I had never experienced a temple dedication before. My boys kept asking me what was going to happen and I said "I don't know, i've never been to a temple dedication." What an awesome day that was. The spirit was so very strong. We didn't go to the dedication itself at the temple, our stake center was part of the process where we were able to watch it there, if we were a recommend holder or a baptized member of the church, so my kids were able to attend it with me. The spirit was soooooooooo strong in the chapel when the dedication started. David whispered "mommy, is this what it feels like in the temple?" and I said "Yes, it feels exactly like this" and he said "wow I can't wait to go there!"

Updates...........

Wow how long has it been since I posted a blog? SHEESH! Time flies by so fast these days. Ok so for the last several months I have been working on myself inside and out. I've been working on exercising and eating right and losing weight. So far, so good. I've hit a few snags along the way but as soon as I can, I'm getting back and going hard core. The boys ordered me a beautiful ring for my mothers day gift. It is a mothers ring. It has both of their stones (March & December) and has their names engraved by their stones. David just completed the 5th grade at Visions Unlimited Academy and Danny just completed the 3rd grade at Benson Elementary School. This has been a rough year for all 3 of us, but we made it through. And we got some great news as well, the best. I got a letter saying they are back in Pomerene school for this next school year!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last month we lost a very dear family member. My cousin Linda Saline. She was diagnosed with Colon Cancer about 4 years or so ago, decided not to do Chemo, went home and did everything she could to fight this disease on her own. She changed everything about her eating habits, how she lived her life, etc.... and went into remission. Then in February of this year, I got a text from her daughter Ginger saying her mom was sick and going to the dr. I told her "Her cancer isn't back is it"? and she said "I HOPE NOT!" about 4 days later I got a text from Ginger and she said her mom's cancer was back, it was in her liver now and moved into her bones. I went to the temple to try to get some peace about it, and put her name on the prayer roll and knew everything would be ok, no matter how it turned out. I felt so much peace. One night I was watching a movie with my boys and my mom (to overcome with tears to talk) texted me and told me that Linda had passed away. I cried for a long time that night, not because she passed away, but because of how much I was going to miss her. She was a very special lady. She fought that disease with every bone in her body. She was a warrior and will always be one of the most influential people in my life. I love and miss her very very very much. She and my mom have always been close. My aunt Doris had my cousin Linda, then my mom was born a month and a half later. They were best friends.
This last month we had a special thing happen. Our temple... The Gila Valley Temple was dedicated. What an amazing experience that was to be able to go to that with my kids. I will post a separate blog about it.
Over the past several months my ex's sister Melinda and I have been talking about having a birthday party for her grandparents, which I was totally in for as long as the ex wouldn't be in the picture. She had texted me last month and told me it would be at her grandparent's ranch in Reserve, New Mexico and I'm thinking ok if chris is anywhere near New Mexico, I'm not going to this thing. It so happened that he is far away in Washington State so that worked out... but then there was another dillema... getting the boys there, such a long drive for only one day and a lot of gas money. So then a couple weeks ago my mom calls and asks what we were doing for Memorial Day and I told her I didn't have any plans. She told me she and my dad wanted to take the boys to Alpine on Memorial day for a couple of days then I would come up there and take them home on Saturday the 5th. A couple of minutes later I receieved a text from Melinda telling me the party would be on Saturday the 5th around noon. Alpine and Reserve are about 28 miles apart. So I said "Yep, we're in".... the whole time in Alpine I felt sick because the trailer we were sleeping in was ICE COLD, with no running water and no heater except for a very old space heater from like the 70's or 80's. And I didn't give Melinda a definite yes that we would be there. Saturday morning I woke up and I felt better. We packed up the car and headed out of town and stopped at the grandparents house... we were the first ones there, in fact the others were several hours later, so the boys got to spend some alone time with their great grandparents and their grandpa esrael. We stayed one night in their HUGE ranch house that is not quite finished yet and we headed home on Sunday. Now we are embarking on a trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico on June 30. My dr.'s secretary commented to me she said "YOU TRAVEL A LOT" and I said "of course, I'm from a small town, I have to get out to keep my sanity!" LOL!!!! I found out that I have a small hernia, but the hernia isn't what has been causing the pain... I have a case of acid reflux and a ulcer... which is NO surprise whatsoever. I don't have to have an operation... YAY!!!! The dr said to keep up with the weight loss and the ulcer and acid reflux should get better and may even go away! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!