Notes from my Semi-Private Tour of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple

During the open house of the temple, I was assigned to the facilities crew for one evening to clean after the day's tours. Following the vacuuming and polishing, 4 of us got to tour the temple with the security guard at 1am. He told us all these fun facts about the temple. Recording them here:

o the walls near the creation room have large panel paintings of trees that were taken from the mural at the Draper temple which was made too large.

o In the creation room, there are animals painted all over the murals. However, you have to look closely to see them. Unlike the Draper temple where the animals are prominently featured, the artist for the Oquirrh temple wanted the animals to be hidden in the background and for the scenery to stand out instead.

o the chandelier in the celestial room is 15.5 foot long and contains 15000 crystals. All of the chandeliers were done by one man who had his wife and kids help him thread on all the crystals. He wanted only his family to handle the crystal hanging for the temple chandeliers.

o the windows in the celestial room have stars sculpted into them. The lowest windows have the fewest stars. There are more stars in the middle windows and even more stars in the top windows. This symbolizes the kingdoms of heaven.

o the chairs in the celestial room tilt back slightly so you can ponder the ceiling without creaking your neck back.

o the overlapping rings on the celestial room ceiling symbolize eternal families. This overlapping circle theme is in other rooms of the temple also.

o the delicate pattern on the walls of the celestial room that appear to be wallpaper are actually individually stenciled on.

o in the room where non-patrons wait for sealings to be completed, there are more chairs that tilt slightly. These chairs cost $4500 EACH. The other chairs in that room are a mere $894 each. (it may seem wasteful to spend a lot on chairs, but some of the chairs in the sealing rooms had to be replaced just following all the traffic from the open house because the material was starting to fray. So, my guess is that it's decided it's worth the cost to get highly durable and comfortable chairs.)

o the tile is travertine but some of of them are hollow, which is not the quality that was ordered. So, after the open house closed and before it's dedicated the company that did the tiling will change out the tiles with ones that are not hollow. The security team sat on rolling chairs and tapped on each individual tile to see which ones were hollow. Some are cracking already from the wear of the open house.

o the oxen under the baptismal font can be accessed through a trap door in the utility area. the oxen are made of fiberglass and each one is unique. They have different noses, horns, eyes and other features.

o in the baptismal font, there is a painting of the Savior being baptised by John the Baptist. It is reflected in the glass across the font and makes it look like a hologram in the glass. If you're in the font, it looks like the Savior is in the font with you. If you sit on the bench under the painting and look at the reflection in the glass, it looks like the Savior is laying his hands upon your head.

o in the hallway separating the sealing rooms, you can look up into the glass of the ceiling lights and see the base of the angel Moroni.

o also in that hallway there is a large glass window separating 2 areas of the hall. On one side of the window is a large portrait of the Savior. On the other side of the window you can see a miniature reflection of the painting in each of the little circular details around the large window.

o Originally the windows in the chapel were going to be left plain. After the First Presidency visited, it was decided that they would be frosted. That will take place before the dedication and after the open house is completed.

o When the First Presidency visited the temple, President Uchdorf rearranged the furniture in the bridal room.

o This temple was especially lavish and expensive. The First Presidency declared that future temples will not be so lavish.

o There is a button at the security desk of the temple that connects directly to the SLC temple in case of emergency. The security guard says that the SL security team would be able to arrive at the temple more quickly than the city employees.

o the grounds immediately surrounding the temple are gated. But, on the front, there are columns. To protect the temple, these are made to withstand a car driving directly at them at 65 mph.

o if you stand in front of the fountain outside the temple, you can see the Salt Lake, Draper and Jordan River temples.


Information on the purpose of temples, what it's like inside the temples and the differences between a temple and a meetinghouse, can be found here:

http://www.lds.org/temples/faq/0,11264,1904-1,00.html

How to be Wrong All the Time (director's cut)

I had a long blog entry written out with the title: How to be Wrong All the Time.

As I prepared to publish, I realized the whole thing was petty and mean spirited and horrible.

I will, however, vent slightly by sharing the photos that I intended to use with the post.



thanks for listening,


Deni

10 Things I Hate About Who?

Annalyn told me today that one of her friends told her that his mom thinks I don't like her (the mom) very much. Obviously, this in-direct information is very reliable.

But, it does make me want to find out who the mom is. I wonder if it's someone I even know or if the kids have it all wrong. The way I see it, I'm such white trash lousy company myself, I can't afford to dislike anyone without a really good reason, and perhaps not even then.

I am curious now because I do like to meet people who seem to need friends. It's sooooo much easier to connect to someone who is willing to be connected to. I live in a more affluent area than my last house and I have got the feeling that many people here already have enough friends. I try to not burden anyone with my sorry social skills. (I really am a clumsy social oaf. You'll be sweet and say that I'm not, but you should talk to my in-laws, they'll tell you.)

I think the thing to do is bake up something exceptional (pie, perhaps, or homemade cinnamon rolls?) and go with Annalyn to drop it off at her friend's house. Then I can possibly see who the mom is and also extend some kind of greeting to the family lest they perceive me to be so la-di-dah that I can't hob knob with the neighborhood hoi polloi.


(ok, I had to type "polloi" three times because my fingers kept wanted to type "pollio" which is actually quite different.)

Surely Temples

I saw this picture today of what I thought was a couple standing in front of a temple. Upon closer inspection I realized, "They're not at the temple, they're at Disneyland!"

This is not unlike Connor at Lagoon last week who said, "Oh, it's the Siberian Tiger cage. There's a Siberian Tiger! I see it!" and, it was a potted plant. Silly ol' bear.

I saw something in the news today about an archiver who works for the Church of Christ (the Reformed Church) and there was a picture of their "temple". It's pretty, but doesn't follow the architecural format of our temples at all. I guess that's good since we have a bit of a hard time making clear to the public that we are not the same religion.

Last week I got to work at the dairy at Welfare Square and we got to hear about all the humanitarian aid that the Church gives world wide. The worker said, "The Church doesn't care who gets the credit for it as long as it gets to the people. That's why it's not something that everyone knows about. The whole world has heard of mormons and polygamy, but not everyone knows about the good that the Church does."

California Trip

Went to California this weekend. Summer got Gwen Stefani tickets for her bday and wanted to take RJ. He had a great time. We had no a/c in our van on the way out and so we all had a large ziploc full of ice that we used to keep cool. For the trip home, my mom loaned us her car while my dad takes the van to his guy to fix it. My dad's handyman was able to change out the motors in our front windows so they roll down. Yippee!

It's hard for so many of us to visit anyone. Since I have been accused angrily in the past of "allowing" my children to cause so much damage to other people's homes because I do not watch them (and also told that I probably did it on purpose out of hatred for the person we were visiting -- sheesh!) I am especially cautious to try to leave no *footprint* with the people we visit. It's hard to keep my kids from breaking things, damaging things, and make sure they are following all the spoken and unspoken rules of other people's houses. Tiring. I am relieved to be home where there are only our crummy, inexpensive things that can get broken.

My mom gave me the camera she used for a photography class while I was out there. It's pretty nice and I'm excited to use it. Now I have something I can take great pictures with. I will be limited only by my inability to take great pictures. :)

While in Calif we went to the beach and Dennis took pics of us. This is the first time he's had the whole family together at once to take photos of us. On every other trip either there is no time for fancy pictures or we are not all there together. Patrick, Connor, Annalyn and Sawyer had never been to the beach. They didn't play tons because it was the sabbath but they did get to walk through the water a little and splash around with their feet. Their comments:

Sawyer said, "Dad, this is just like fun."
Annalyn said, "I didn't realize going to the beach was such a hassle"

RJ got stung by a bee that he stepped on. Owie. I had not removed my crocs before he got stung but definitely did not remove them after.

Otherwise, the beach water was lovely and the sand near the water was soft and fun to walk in. The children were enchanted with it.

Lost

I feel a bit lost today. I think I just need a few more days to sort out my thoughts. It's been a busy few weeks; Henna returning to her mom, family reunions, broken vehicles... I feel a need to get back to "normal" but need to figure out what normal is.

It's oppressively hot lately. Not a good time for the a/c to stop working on my car. But, I'm taking it to another mechanic tonight that hopefully will have a more affordable fix for us than the $1000 to replace it that our current mechanic has quoted.

I saw an informercial for the Bullet Express which is a juicer/slicer that looks super fun to use. But, including shipping, it's $150. Hard to justify that. Even if it was a combined birthday and Christmas present. Pooh.

I also watched a marathon of "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant" this weekend. Never seen it before. At first I thought it'd be nice to go through a whole pregnancy without even realizing it. Then it became clear that people going into labor without knowing they were pregnant spend a great deal of time being TERRIFIED of what it happening to them that is causing bleeding and unbearable pain. Scary. I think I'd rather know. Plus then you get all the fun of smiling for 9 months and thinking about your baby.

I think I should take my kids out to have some fun tomorrow. Maybe Lagoon or an indoor museum, like the Treehouse museum. I need something to infuse a little motivation into my days. I feel like I'm just waiting each day until it's the next day and the next day. It's an odd place to be.

Career Women

What is it about women with careers that makes them assume that women without careers are too stupid to have careers? Seems to me that if YOU have to have a job and I get to do what I want all day, I'M the smart one.

Cousins Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

I am determined to exercise regularly when my back is healed so I can keep it strong and uninjured. I hate not being able to move quickly and get things done. It is a good reminder to me to be so thankful that I do not have many back problems and that my health is good.

The kids have done so much today to help with the house and the babies. Henna went to the dds this morning and her mom met us there. Mom says that she'd read that she can come to drs appts and I think it's a good thing. Mom has never been anything but humble and grateful with me and I have no problem with her being around to see what advice the medical people give.

However, her presence doesn't calm Henna much. Today the dds office had me busy with paperwork during nearly the entire visit (which only took about 3 mins). Henna knows that mom gives her what she wants to Henna is extra tantrumy with mom. I don't know if it's my place to advise mom or if I should just let it be.

Henna knows, for instance, not to hit me or she will have timeout. But, she hits mom repeatedly. It's not painful or with any power to it, just a light swipe, but it's that boundary of authority that's being crossed.

There wasn't a good chance today for me to advise mom at all today, but I think next time I will.

Hurting today

I wore a slight heel to church yesterday and it hurt my lower back again. I think I may just not be able to wear heels.

I hate being broken. I feel bad for my husband who has a broken wife who can't even wear high heels.

Sweet Patrick has been helping me all day. Annalyn has also done a lot of my fetch and carry. The other kids are helping, but only after I give them a stern voice and a frowny look.

I think I am not much fun lately. Would like to fix that.

My New Goal in Life

I've decided that I just want to be Lyndee when I grow up. :)

Who do I talk to to make that happen?

getting family photos and other daytime dramas

I found a photographer on ksl.com who says she does family photos for free to get practice for her business. I contacted her and it's not really *free* -- the sitting is free and it's $40 a CD with all the prints, but no obligation to purchase.

We went out on Saturday and got some really great photos, but she had the white balance off on her camera and all the pictures have weird blue/green color to them. Trish says they all look like 1974 Fuji film. :) Also, Dennis says she doesn't use any depth of field so the pictures are flat instead of having the people stand out from the background.

I hoped she might at least let me purchase some of the pictures at a discount to post on facebook even though they aren't suitable for printing, but she was only interested in offering a measly 25% discount for basically ruined pictures. And, she kept insisting that there was a problem with the shade from the trees that was causing the color to be off and couldn't seem to accept that that is a completely illogical conclusion. 1) we took pictures in the full shade, in the full sun, in partial shade, in 6 different spots and facing 5 different directions -- it doesn't make SENSE that they all were affected by "the shade from the trees" and 2) she took pictures of her son in the same spots on a different day and the color on all of them is fine.

She tried to cover up her mistake by saying, "Well, they look decent on the old time color, which is what I prefer anyway..." She didn't initally offer ANY discount -- I had to ask her if she'd take $10 for the CD of ruined pictures. I think she's being a pill about it. It's a shame too because I had her link on my facebook page and had already recommended her to some friends before she started being weird and had to go back and let people know, "Look only use this photographer if you're okay with wasting your time if the pictures don't turn out."

I did end up with 4 of the weird color pictures that she sent me as samples. Oh well. Lyndee will take new pictures this week and get it right. Yeah Lyndee!

shutterfly.com

I have been having a lot of fun lately on shutterfly.com. I find that if I create a project and don't order it right away, they start sending me offers like free shipping or an additional 20% off or a free hardback photo book. This is a system that works for me.

I revamped the point system today. I've been trying to get the printer to cooperate. We have perpetual printer problems here.

Ric got some pictures of Henna covered in peanut butter (Sawyer says, "pinky butter"). I'll post them when he gets them off his phone.

getting away from gardening

I realize that I am a complete inside dog. It just doesn't work for me to be outside. I don't like it and I find nature to be sneezy and sticky and smelly.

No one in the house likes doing yardwork and none of us really knows how to do it well. I can do the cleaning inside the house and keep things orderly and teach everyone and get all things organized. But I never get around to taking care of the yard.

So, I think Ric and I should just use concrete and brick in the yard and put some shade out there and have very few plants and landscaping. I think that's how we would use our yard the most.

I want to find a design of patio that I like and then contact a concrete person and get an estimate so I can start saving to get it done.

I will still have a vegetable garden on the side of the house but will use a square foot garden that's easy to care for. I just don't see a need for grass and plants and flowers and tons of stuff that needs care when none of us like that or want to care for it.