New Temple

Last week we were able to attend the new Draper Temple Open House as a family.  What a moment to cherish!  All together as a family -- truly heaven on earth.  We were blessed to attend the New York City Temple Open House a few years ago as well. However, we were short one family member!  So it was so wonderful to be there with my sweetheart and our 5 little sweethearts.  They were so good and very respectful of where we were. We hope that our children will develop the same love and reverence for the Lord's House that we have.  What a blessing to be near so many temples!  

On the way to the tour -- such happy faces!  I think the bus ride was as exciting for the kids as the temple tour!

I just had to document this.  We obviously lost this battle, as you can see! Fortunately, Millie can pull off any fashion statement and still look darn cute!

overcame the fear

My "to do" list is a VERY, very long list.  With a freezer full of butter in anticipation of bottling it and a very encouraging enrichment activity teaching us how to bottle meat, I got to work!  I have a fear of the pressure canner for some reason...maybe because it was something only my grandma used to do!  So I enlisted the help of my trusty sidekick in the kitchen--chef Maren.   

Okay -- so bottling butter is not hard at all.  We can do this!  Just melt it....

And wait....and shake....and wait and shake some more!

Until it finally is consistent throughout.  Then put it on your shelf.  EASY!  And it frees up a ton of freezer space!

Then the scary....the pressure canner.  It was a daunting task, but one I wanted to tackle!  

It is mostly just time consuming...having to stay right in the kitchen to make sure the pressure stays within range.  

With a shelf of butter, ground beef and chicken, I overcame my fear and am ready to do it again!  And a big thanks to my friend for letting me borrow her pressure canner!  It is now on my "would like to have" list (this list is very long, as well!).

The moral of the story is....bottling butter and meats....not so scary!

Is there anything cuter?

I just had to try a capture this cute little thing while eating his lunch.  I love everything about this.  His chubby little cheeks examining and focusing so intently on his cubed cheese.  And oh, those eyelashes...to die for!

Eli's chubby fingers -- I love how he precisely picks up each piece and places, not shovels, his food into his mouth.

And those dangling feet!

And the giggles that come from him as he has figured out that Roxy enjoys his lunch too!

Really....Is there anything cuter?!