Yesterday Misty called the house offering me an extra ticket to The Hunger Games movie. Since I have not charged my cell phone for a month and was in class, I didn’t get the message until I got home and it was too late. Darn! But the good news is, Abe had called three different babysitters for help today, and since none were available, Misty–who was up late due to The Hunger Games–agreed to babysit for us today. We love Misty.
The reason she had to babysit is because Kristin, one of our friends from Chicago got sealed to her husband, Adam, in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple today. It was a beautiful, joyful occasion. Adam joined the church after dating Kristin, and their sealing was so special to attend. Kristin looked beautiful and radiant, and Adam looked so comfortable and at-home that you would have thought he’d spent all of his life in the temple. To top it off, Abe and I got to see the Oquirrh Mountain Temple for the first time. It is stunning! I was hoping to find a link which even somewhat captured the view from the temple: Mountains literally surround it. No matter where you look, mountains dominate the scenery. It is spectacular. The link I attached does not do a smidgeon of justice to the setting, but at least you get to see what the temple looks like (on the outside).
Then we visited our friends at their reception afterward and ate our weight in delicious desserts. Before the sealing and during the reception, Abe and I hit it off with a senior missionary couple who had just returned from a mission in Chicago, where they had met our friends. This sweet, elderly, white couple from Utah would spend their nights walking around Englewood (in Chicago) to share the gospel. And they loved it–although they did admit to being uncomfortable at times. If you don’t know anything about Englewood, it’s one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago, and you just don’t see older white people walking the streets there. Talk about getting out of your comfort zone! They were so fun to talk to, and Abe and I are looking forward to having dinner with them and our friends sometime in the not-too-distant future.
After that, we came home to discover Mary walking around and laughing delightedly with every step. I think she likes being around Max, who is the world’s sweetest, most unfussy baby. What great taste.
Then we dressed the girls in their Indian dresses and headed over to Diwali. Truth be told, both Abe and I just wanted a minute to rest, but some of our friends had gotten us tickets (unbeknownst to us), and so we kind of had to go. It was fun to see the Indian dancing, which has become one of my favorite things to watch. But to be honest, mainly I was stressed out at the thought of how the church was going to get clean before tomorrow morning. The woman in charge of making that happen had been up since 4:30 am working in the temple, and everyone else in attendance was not LDS and therefore, I assume, unfamiliar with our custom of cleaning up after every activity. I was also stressed because my kids had not eaten and the food was delayed, and hungry children aren’t generally easy to handle. Finally, we gave up waiting on the food, left early, and made a stop at Smith’s on the way home.
Turns out we might as well have stayed at Diwali because I was stumped in front of the sushi counter. By the time I made up my mind, both kids were wailing wrecks, and Lydia was so tired she cut dinner short and begged to be put to bed. She bargained herself out of a bath by promising to go potty instead, and five minutes later she was asleep in bed.
After they went to bed, I was in an extra grumpy mood because I discovered I have a C in my online menu class in cooking school!!!! Can you believe that? I missed a recent deadline because of an honest technical glitch, but I absolutely don’t expect the instructor to believe me. So I did the assignment I missed, but I am resigned to the fact that my grade will probably not go up much since I completely missed the deadline. I don’t think I have ever had a C in my life, and I can not believe the first one I get is going to come from cooking school.
Time for this grumpy lady to go to bed before additional sleep deprivation makes me extra grouchy.
Also, time for a Diwali picture dump. Mary spent the whole time racing around the church as fast as she could go (she was trying hard to run, but she can’t quite do that just yet), and Lydia spent the majority of it taking turns in her parents’ laps.
