Monday, October 27, 2014

Art Update and Phoenix Temple Open House

I tried to post a few times in the last few days and the entry never got finished. Therefore, I deleted all the obsolete stuff from the attempted entries and figured I'd just dive in with art updates and see where that goes.  

I did finish two big projects last week. My friend Cara had a baby on the 16th and this has been an ongoing project I completed since she did our Fathers Day/Spring pictures last May. I started this artwork months ago, but her baby had to arrive for it to be official and other details to be added.  



And then there's my music pumpkin. I wanted to have a pumpkin with my favorite music that has the Halloween overtones. It's still not 100% done as it's only been worked on a little at a time due to all the other projects on the list. But I'll call it done enough for a photo. If anything is added to make its completion official, it'll just show up when the time comes.















I have a tablet/mobile design in progress for that ongoing project for the Lake of the Woods client in Ontario. That should be completed in the next day or so. In the meantime, my art has consisted of a Minecraft grassblock for Christian that will be the box that will contain his Halloween candy.

The squares on his box are considerably larger than this (below). Going that small with the individual squares on all four sides would be insane.
We did enjoy Open House at the Phoenix Temple on Saturday. My only complaint is it was the 25th of October and it was in the mid-90s. Well, Christian was having some trouble. He's been having some growing pains that makes his chest hurt. His nervousness has escalated the anxiety and he's been worried about his heart and checks to see if it's still beating. He'll also go online to confirm that it is growing pains and not a heart attack, but looking up symptoms online is also a way to get the living beejeezies freaked out of you with all the crazy things the chest pain can be. 
On Saturday, he was experiencing this pain, but we were in the car already miles from home and en route to the temple. Christian seemed to be doing "okay" as we parked at the waterpark about a mile away and took the provided tour bus to the temple.

Even though it was crowded, the tour moved along.  After the tour, I attempted some "happy family" pictures on the grounds, but with a 14 year old girl, anxious 10 year old boy, and obstinate toddler, that proved difficult. But of course I persevered because I'm just that obsessed with taking pictures. 

Then there was the sweet experience that occurred in the little Reception tent area. There was a Christus statue and we sat down to take a rest there in front of the statue. (I didn't take a picture of the statue, so I found one online of a random kid in front of the same statue).

Christian said, "I wish that was really Jesus. Because then I could touch him and the pain would go away....."

Wow. 


A random kid near the Christus statue in the Reception area.
And then he talked about being able to have his dad give him a blessing. Christian wanted the blessing right away. I ran into a friend from high school who was ushering at the temple. Afterwards, I kicked myself that I didn't suggest that he and Chris go in the meetinghouse right there and find a quiet empty room so Christian could be comforted with a blessing. But it worked out. Chris was able to give him a nice blessing when we arrived home.


This was just before Alexander intentionally took a par-cor dive off that wall. Mikelle caught him. She was praised for her Good Catch!



I am so grateful for the faith my son displayed that afternoon, despite his anxiousness and worry about the pain. I'm additionally grateful to have Chris, a loving husband and father who is worthy of his priesthood and that he was there to provide Christian with a blessing later that evening. 

I am also grateful for this temple that will be closer to home. It was hard leaving Queen Creek - with the brand new Gilbert Temple just down the road. I do miss it. However, I already feel at home with this new Phoenix Temple. I hope I can make myself take advantage of it as often as possible. 

Until next time...

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