Payson Temple Cultural Celebration Kick-off

Tonight Dallin, Amber and I (Jeff was attending Mitchell's Melchizedek Priesthood confirmation) attended a fireside to kick-off the Payson Temple Cultural Celebration! I can't believe the beautiful beacon I can see from my house is finally going to be dedicated. I have watched this temple take form over the 2+ years I've been here and have anxiously anticipated its completion. Well the time has finally arrived. The dedication will be on June 7, 2015. The evening prior to that dedication there will be a cultural celebration highlighting the history and culture of the Payson area. All youth ages 12-18 in the temple district are invited to participate. Dallin and Amber are lucky enough to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. My nephew, Tyler, was able to participate in a similar celebration in Gilbert, AZ. He will admit that he wasn't too happy about singing and dancing at first, but now says it's an experience he'll never forget. I think Dallin and Amber will feel the same way. Our ward/stake has one specific musical number they'll be performing as well as a couple of group numbers. Amber actually won't be performing with the stake because she auditioned for a solo part and got it! Out of 800 people who tried out to sing the National Anthem, she got the part. Needless to say, she is super excited! And so are we! She is very talented and what better way to end her "youth" activities than to sing a solo for thousands of people during the cultural celebration at BYU stadium. I am so glad that two of our kids will have this experience and that we, as a family, get to vicariously participate with them. I am so grateful for this beautiful temple. I am grateful for the peace I find in the walls of each and every temple I've been in. I am grateful for the covenants I've made therein that keep me safe and bring me closer to my Father in Heaven. I am eternally appreciative of the fact that I have been sealed for time and eternity to my best friend and companion, Jeff. in a holy temple. I look forward to the experiences that will come in the next couple months as we all prepare for this momentous event so close to home!

Amber went to a recording studio at BYU a couple weeks after the fireside to start preparing for her solo! She looks so at east behind the microphone.