Simply Jaimie

An Invitation Home Hezekiah wanted to celebrate the Passover, but first he sent messengers throughout Israel and Judah with an invitation. They were invited to return to the Lord and come to Jerusalem to worship Him. Not everyone accepted. Some laughed. Some ignored the invitation. But others humbled themselves and came (see 2 Chronicles 30:10–11). As I read these verses this week, I couldn't help but think about temple work. When we find an ancestor and perform their temple ordinances, we aren't making the decision for them. We are simply extending an invitation. Through sacred ordinances, they are invited to receive the blessings of the gospel and return to the Lord. Whether they accept that invitation is between them and the Savior. Our responsibility is simply to make sure the invitation reaches them. I love attending the temple, but there is something especially sacred about attending the temple when I am performing ordinances for one of my own ancestors. Elder Ric...

Brigham City this temple is stunning! You don't need to look up the directions because it is HUGE. You can see it from the freeway. It was hard to fit the kids and the Angel Moroni in the picture which is why the kids look so far away. . . . they were. It was pretty cold that day so we quickly walked around and headed on to the next temple Facts about the Brigham City, Utah Temple - The Brigham City Temple brought a stunningly beautiful change to the cityscape of Brigham City and gave great joy to the members of the church in Box Elder County - The Brigham City Temple is one of few temples in the world with fruit bearing trees growing on the property. The trees pay homage to the surrounding countryside, where fruit orchards are abundant and make a large contribution to the area's economic industry. The peach blossom also plays a big part in the temples interior design. Notice the beautiful peach blossom window on the temple's exterior. - You may notice the clas...

 One of my dreams had always been to see the Salt Lake Temple in person. I will never forget driving into the city on a cold and a rainy Thursday evening. The temple was lit up and looked even more beautiful then I had imagined. I couldn't believe I was actually looking at it in person! A few days later, my family and I were walking around the Provo City Center Temple. I was so excited to have these temples so close to where we lived. The kids also loved walking around the temple grounds and looking at these amazing and beautiful buildings. I wanted the temple to be a focal point of our lives and so we visited a couple more and then a couple more. It was then I found out about the 17 in 2017 challenge. The challenge was to visit all 17 temples in Utah. Logan, Brigham City, Ogden, Bountiful, Salt Lake, Oquirrh Mountain, Jordan River, Draper, Vernal, Mount Timpanogos, Provo, Provo City Center, Manti, Payson, Monticello, Cedar City, and St. George.  A couple temples ...

We can cross another temple off our list. It took four hours to get there and totally worth it.  The Monticello Utah Temple was the first of the smaller temples the church started to introduce. In fact, Aaron and I were sealed in a smaller temple. The Angel Moroni looked massive, and very close to us. We loved walking around the grounds and the kids loved playing in the grass.  It was a sacrifice to get there, but I am so glad we did it.  facts about the Monticello Utah Temple - announced October 4th, 1997 - groundbreaking November 17, 1997 - dedication by President Gordon B. Hinckley July 26-27, 1998 - The Monticello Utah Temple was the first to be built after President Gordon B. Hinckley introduced the concept of smaller temples. Construction took only eight months. - The exterior marble finish matches the unique 4-corners area landscape and appears to change color tones based on the time of day and weather conditions. The original Angel Moroni was ...

Just realized that I never posted these two temples! Manti Utah Temple which is my personal favorite so far. It is stunning! and the Ogden Utah Temple which looked way different than I thought.  In 2010 the church announced a complete overhaul of the temple; including, new exterior walls. I think it looks more like the Payson temple now.

On Tuesday, we took a day trip to Vernal, Utah which is about three hours from our house. My family and I are doing the 17 temples in 2017 challenge. There are currently (including Cedar City) 17 temples in Utah, and one more announced (although yet to be built) in Saratoga Springs. We have seen 12 temples so far. The remaining temples are all pretty far away, and so we have to take these day trips to go see them.  The Vernal temple is small; yet beautiful. It is really unique looking and is nestle into a small community (which I am assuming was built up around the temple.)   Facts about the Vernal Utah Temple: - announced February 13, 1994 - groundbreaking May 13, 1995 - dedication by President Gordon B. Hinckley November 2-4, 1997 - in 1993  the First Presidency approved the idea to transform the deteriorating 1907 Unitah Stake Tabernacle into the Vernal Utah Temple - During the transformation, the tabernacle was completely gutted, keeping only t...

When Aaron and I decided we wanted to take the kids to every temple in Utah, we didn't know it was an actual challenge. People are calling it the 17 in 2017 challenge. Yesterday, we added one more temple to our list - number 12 of 17 The Bountiful Utah Temple facts about the Bountiful Temple *Utah's eight temple *The temple was dedicated in January 1995 by President Howard W. Hunter (it is one of two temples dedicated by President Hunter - the other temple was the Orlando Florida Temple) * The temple's location is a bridal portrait favorite because of the amazing sunsets overlooking Salt Lake.  *The groundbreaking was attended by 7,500 people *The Angel Moroni statue was replaced in June 2016 when the previous status took extensive damage during a lighting storm *The spire is currently under construction to remove rust and improve airflow.  (this is why we don't have the top of the temple in our picture) temples we have seen St. Ge...

We can cross two more temples off our list of temples to see. Yesterday we went and saw the Draper and Mount Timpanogos Temples. We also went and saw the Jordan River Temple but it is under construction and so you can't get on the grounds. 

Living in Utah means being surrounded by beautiful temples. The girls love walking around the temple grounds (just not when it is freezing cold - oops.) Every building is unique and has the most stunning details. Our goal is to see as many as we can. So far we have seen  Provo Payson St. George Provo City Center (Hannah's Favourite . . . so far) Salt Lake and Oquirrh Mountain We will be heading to California in the springtime and hope to go see the four in Southern California, as well as more in Utah and Las Vegas. 

On Monday night, Hannah, Erin, and I went to see the lights at the San Diego Temple. It was stunning. Hannah loved walking around and pointing out all the trees that were covered in lights.  There was such a sweet spirit present.  The San Diego Temple Choir performed some Christmas songs. I was so excited when they sang one of my favourites, Joy to the World. It was beautiful. (We went to the first performances which meant we got seats, apparently the later performances get really crowded.) The performances lastly about half hour but I could have listened to them all night. There is something about Christmas music that gets me so excited for the season. I was ready to go home and open some presents. I would highly recommend a visit to the temple during Christmas. It was really nice to be their with Hannah and talk to her about the Temple and Christ. I loved seeing her get excited. I did miss not having Aaron with us but I know the Lord is watching over him. Guess we...