"Teach the Children", A Christmas Story

Christmas time is full of beautiful decorations and music, service, giving, and fun family traditions. There are many stories that are meant to bring the Christmas spirit. Some are fun like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, The Year Without a Santa Claus, etc. While others are more emotional like The Little Drummer Boy and It's A Wonderful Life. One of the spiritual Christmas stories that is my favorite is called "Teach the Children".

My great-grandma gave my mom a copy of the story along with props many years ago. The story along with the props are stored in a cute little Christmas bag and are placed among my mom's decorations each December. My brother and I spent year after year playing with those props each Christmas. When I was in Senior Primary, my mom was the Primary President. During one of those years she read that story to the Primary kids the Sunday before Christmas, and I fell in love with it.

I don't know who wrote it. There is no name on the copy my mom has. I searched online for an author, but the name I was able to find is coupled  with a version of the story that is different from my mom's copy. But because I love this story so much, I would like to share it here:

Just a week before Christmas I had a visitor. This is how it happened. I had just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed when I heard a noise int he front of the house. I opened the door of the front room and to my surprise, Santa Claus himseslf stepped out from behind the Christmas tree. He placed his fingers over his mouth so I would not cry out.

"What are you doing..." I started to ask, but the words choked up in my throat as I saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone -- gone was the eager, boisterous soul we all know.

He then answered me with a simple statement of "Teach the Children." I was puzzled. What did he mean? He anticipated my question and with one quick movement brought forth a miniature toy bag. As I stood there bewildered, Santa said again, "Teach the Children. Teach them the old meaning of Christmas -- the meanings that Christmas nowadays has forgotten."

I started to say, "How can I..." when Santa reached into the toy bag and pulled out a brilliant shiny star.

"Teach the children the star was the heavenly sign of promise long ages ago. God promised a savior for the world and the star is a sign of the fulfillment of that promise. The countless shining stars at night -- one for each man -- now show the burning hope of all mankind." Santa gently laid the star on the fireplace mantle and drew forth from the bag a glittering red Christmas tree ornament.

"Teach the children red is the first color of Christmas. It was first used by the faithful people to remind them of the blood which was shed for all the people by the Savior. Christ gave his life and shed His blood that every man might have God's gift of Eternal Life. Red is deep, intense, vivid -- it is the greatest color of all. It is  the symbol of the gift of God."

"Teach the Children," he said as he dislodged a small Christmas tree from the depths of the toy bag. He placed it before the mantle and gently hung the red ornament on it. The deep green of the fir tree was a perfect background for the ornament. There was the second color of Christmas.

"The pure green color of the stately fir tree remains green all year round," he said. "This depicts the everlasting hope of mankind. Green is youthful, hopeful, abundant color of nature. All the needles point heavenward -- symbols of man's returning thoughts toward heaven. The great green tree has been man's best friend. It has sheltered hi, warmed him, made beds for him. Suddenly, I heard a soft tinkling sound.

"Teach the children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should ring for man to return to the fold --It means guidance and return. It further signifies that all are precious int he eyes of the Lord." As the soft sound of the bell faded into the night, Santa drew forth a candle. He placed it on the mantle and the soft glow from its tiny flame cast a glow about the darkened room. Odd shapes in shadows slowly danced and weaved upon the walls.

"Teach the Children," whispered Santa, "that the candle shows man's thanks for the star of long ago. Its small light is the mirror of starlight. At first, candles were placed on the trees -- they were like many glowing stars shining against the dark green. The colored light have now taken over in remembrance."

Santa turned the small Christmas tree lights on and picked up a gift from under the tree. He pointed to the large bow and said, "A bow is placed on a present to remind us of the spirit of the brotherhood of man. We should remember that the bow is tied as men should be tied, all of us together, with the bonds of good will toward each other. Good will forever is the message of the bow."

Santa slung his bag over his shoulder and began to reach for the candy can placed high on the tree. He unfastened it and reached out toward me with it.

"Teach the children that the candy cane represents the shepherd's crook. The crook on the staff helps bring back the strayed sheep to the flock. The candy cane represents the helping hand we should show at Christmas time. The candy can is the symbol that we are our brother's keepers."

As Santa looked about the room, a feeling of satisfaction shone on his face. He read wonderment in my eyes, and I am sure he sensed admiration for this night.

He reached into his bag and brought forth a wreath. He placed it on the door and said, "Please teach the children the wreath symbolizes the eternal nature of love; it never ceases, stops, or ends. It is one continual round of affection. The wreath does double duty. It  is made of many things and in many colors. It should remind us of all the things of Christmas. Please Teach the Children."

This story teaches us to keep Christ as the center of our Christmas - which I wrote about last week for Mormon Women Stand. Tonight we used the props from this story for Family Home Evening. Benjamin and Luna are not yet old enough to sit through me reading the story yet. But they sure enjoyed holding all of the props as I talked about them. This story will become a part of our family Christmas traditions.

How World War II Shaped My Family

Today, December 7, 2016, is the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. This event brought the United States into WWII and changed many lives forever. Four lives that I know and love whose future was written by the events of WWII are two sets of my grandparents. My maternal great grandparents Elvin and Virginia Hegstrom, and my paternal grandparents John and Carol Larson. I would like to share their stories in honor of today.

Elvin was the son of Swedish immigrants. Both his mother and father immigrated to the United States as children. They met and married here. Both of their families left Sweden for America because they had converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Unlike today, back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, foreign LDS converts moved to Utah to be with the rest of the saints.

Elvin and Virginia were dating when war broke out. Elvin's mom asked Virginia to marry her son so that he would not sign up in the military. They were already in love, and at 19 and 17 years  old, Elvin and Virginia got married. But marriage didn't stop him. He tried to sign up for the Air Corps, but received a draft notice into the Army Infantry at the same time. He was told to fulfill his draft assignment.

He ended up in France where he got shot in the leg during battle. The other American soldiers near him thought he was dead and left him on the field. During WWII, not every soldier had a gun or helmet. Elvin did have a gun and a helmet. A soldier who did not have either tried to take Elvin's. Elvin grabbed a hold of that soldier and asked him to help him get medical help, and in return, Elvin promised that soldier his gun and helmet.

Elvin spent the rest of the war healing in a hospital back in the U.S. where Virginia joined him. Their first three babies, a boy and twin girls, did not survive their first year. Their fourth baby, an other girl, did survive. Her name is Linda and is my maternal grandmother.  They had two more daughters, Sandy and Loma, and one more son, Robert. Virginia was not a member when she married Elvin. She converted some time after their marriage, and my grandma Linda told me she was about 7 or 8 when they were sealed as a family. Grandpa Elvin spent the rest of his working life in a sugar factory in Nampa, Idaho, and as a farmer as well.

Linda married Kent Peterson and they had five children: Deborah, Darren, Deanna, Derek, and Devan. Deborah, you know her as Debbie, is my mom. Virginia, Linda, Debbie and I have taken lots of four generation photos throughout the years. Elvin was a loving and funny grandpa when he was alive. He loved to tease. He called most of his grandchildren "Jack". The leg Elvin was shot in was always skinnier than the other, and he walked with a limp for the rest of his life.

He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's during the final years of his life. When he passed away, he didn't know who most of us were. But not knowing who we were didn't stop him from being loving and kind. Even though he didn't remember us, he still treated us like family. He still hugged all of us and told us that he loved us. When I got married, my grandma Virginia was unsure of bringing Elvin into the temple because his Alzheimer's sometimes caused him to act out. I asked her to try, that I believed the Spirit would help him stay reverent. When it was time for everyone to hug and congratulate us, I thanked Grandpa Elvin or coming and he hugged me and patted me on the back and said, "Of course! I love you honey, I'm so proud of you."

Grandpa Elvin passed away in October 2012 when I was pregnant with Benjamin. Grandma Virginia is still alive and Benjamin and Luna are her great-great grandchildren! Their story is truly inspirational as they are wonderful examples of enduring to the end through the trials of war, losing children, and disease. I love them both so much, and I hope to live up to their examples.

John Larson was also the son of Swedish immigrants who came here because they converted to the LDS Church. They were incredibly poor, and so John chose the military over college; in fact, college wasn't even an option for him. John signed up for the Navy. After training and tests, the Navy sent John to the University of Michigan to study Naval Architecture rather than send him overseas to fight. John had an amazing math brain.

While studying Naval Architecture, John also ran track for Michigan. He lettered in 1945. When the war was over, John needed a different job. He got a job in education, and worked different education jobs until he retired. He was a building facilitator for the school district, a registrar at a junior high school, and eventually taught math. He married Carol Wisdom when he was 29 and she was 18. They had 12 children: Susie, Carl, Nancy, Selma, Glenn, Anna, Cynthia, John, Doug, Julie, Vickie, and Mark. Their fifth child, Glenn, is my dad.

My grandpa John used his architecture degree to design and build their family home in Los Angeles, California and St. George, Utah. My grandma Carol still lives in the St. George home. Because of being able to go to college, and later working in education, grandpa John instilled the importance of education into all of his children. Some of his children and grandchildren also chose to make their careers working in education. For my grandma and grandpa their children and grandchildren came first. They have never missed a wedding, baptism, baby blessing, game, or performance. They support us in all we do.

My grandpa John passed away in February 2015, when I was pregnant with Luna. His health had been poor for over 10 years when he died. I told him and my grandma that I was expecting an other child about a month and half before he died. That was the last time I saw and spoke to him before he passed away. I am so grateful to have shared such a special moment with him. His life teaches to value education and family.


Both of my grandfathers, though they lived different lives, were amazing husbands, fathers, and grandfathers. They loved and cared for their families very much. They serve as wonderful examples of hard work and love. I hope to be able to honor them by being a good mother and teacher.

Baby Led Weaning and "Mush"

Have you seen those "first kid, second kid" Luvs Diapers commercials? If you haven't, here's a link to get you started: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMhHzucl9lI. That's what raising Luna has felt like for me. I have done so many things differently with her than I did with Benjamin. That doesn't mean that I was a bad mom with Benjamin, I'm just a different mom with Luna. (My dad says that I need to be in their commercials. It would go like this: First kid, changes diaper on a perfectly sanitized changing pad. Second kid, changes diaper on the carpet.)

One of the things I have done differently is how I introduced solid foods. With Benjamin, when he turned 6 months old I started with Gerber cereal and 1st foods, went on to 2nd foods, 3rd foods, and Gerber Graduates. Benjamin was well over a year before he started eating adult food, and even then it was introduced very slowly.

With Luna I felt inspired to try Baby Led Weaning. For those who don't know, Baby Led Weaning is where you let your baby feed themselves with their hands, instead of pureed food (or as the author of the linked article calls it, "mush"). The thought behind this is that our babies will still get the needed nutrients from breast milk or formula; so while they are playing with their food they are learning how to chew and eventually they will swallow the food we put on their plate.

Most BLW advocates don't recommend mixing finger foods with "mush", but after talking with our family doctor I decided that was something I wanted to consider for Luna. So when Luna first turned 6 months she got Gerber baby cereal in the morning, pureed fruits or vegetables in the afternoon, and whatever we were having for dinner in the evening, and breast feeding in between times. As Luna got older the amount of finger foods increased and the amount of spoon-fed foods decreased. Shortly after she turned 1, she was done with any food that had to be spoon-fed to her. She wants to feed herself.

Luna will now eat anything. If it's an an adult's plate, she wants it! Maybe whenever I have my third kid I'll do BLW 100%. ;)

Why I'm Voting for Evan McMullin

On Wednesday October 5, 2016 I attended Evan McMullin's event at the Provo City Library. I have been following him since two days after he announced his candidacy. Evan is a breath of fresh air in this joke of a presidential race. The purpose of this post is not to go into the strategy details of how he could win - by a huge miracle I might add. I'm not going to quote that "lesser of two evils" quote. I'm not even going to tell you that you should vote for Evan, because that is your decision to make. I'm going to tell you why I am personally voting for Evan McMullin.

What would eventually lead me to choose McMullin over the other candidates started during the primaries. My choice during the primaries was John Kasich. I knew his chances were low but I still liked him best, and I was happy to support Ted Cruz when Kasich dropped out. But when Ted Cruz dropped out I felt unsure on what to think. Honestly, I simply could not believe that Donald Trump was the Republican nominee.

I went back and forth: Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump? I thought, well Hilary has experience. I might disagree on some fundamental things, but at least she knows what she is doing. Then when I heard Mike Pence speak at the RNC, I thought, Oh I can vote for Pence by voting for Trump. Pence is an actual conservative politician. Maybe with him and other real Republicans guiding Trump, a Trump presidency could be okay. But like with Hilary, there are fundamental issues that I can't stand behind.

I know a lot of people think that Trump haters don't want to vote for him because he's rude, obnoxious, and quite frankly, a complete lunatic. Yeah, he is all of those things, but so are practically every other politician out there - they are just better at hiding it. I'm not voting for Trump because I disagree with his immigration reform plan, his tax reform plan, and some of his ideas on religious freedom. I disagree with his actual policies, it's not just me disliking the person the media has painted.

I also cannot stand behind Hilary with her stance on abortion (a.k.a. "reproductive rights"). Nor her idea that psychologists and psychiatrists shouldn't be allowed to help transgenders learn to love, accept and stay comfortable with the person and body they were born  with (I promise I didn't make that up, it's on her campaign website). Obviously if someone chooses to take hormones and have surgeries, that's their choice. but not even give them and their doctors the option to choose? That doctors can only offer hormones and surgeries?  That's going too far. But this topic is for another conversation. I also don't agree with their tax plan.

As you can see. I actually researched both Hilary Clinton's and Donald Trump's campaigns. My decision has nothing to do with the media hype, and everything to do with their policies that I simply cannot support.

I decided to research the 3rd party candidates, and still found disappointment. Jill Stein and Gary Johnson are too liberal for my taste, and Darrel Castle is simply too weak, and his financial ideas are confusing and scary. At this point I planned on writing in Mitt Romney's name. Then Evan McMullin made the news. I decided to look into him, but I wasn't expecting anything. When I finished reading his campaign website evanmcmullin.com  I knew I was voting for him. (I also follow his facebook page.)

Evan's stance on immigration and abortion match mine exactly. He agrees the border needs to be secured, but he also knows deporting 11 million people is ridiculous. He would like to see Roe v. Wade overturned, but he also understands that the whether abortion is legal or not is one of many answers to this problem. In one of his earlier interviews he said most liberals and conservatives both want to see abortion numbers go down, we are simply head locked in the legal aspect of it. But if we asked and answered the question together, "How can we make abortion numbers go down?" and worked together on that, we would be more productive.

While he believes that marriage is between one man and one woman, Evan will not fight the Supreme Court on the recent decision about same-sex marriage. He is going to respect their decision. I know that's a hard pill for many conservatives to swallow, but I agree with him. I think it's a waste of time and money - precious money - to fight it. That doesn't mean that us individual conservatives stop teaching our children what is right, but I think the legal fight is over for now.

 He wants to lower and simplify taxes - though I haven't heard if he has a plan with actual numbers yet. His idea of liberty and freedom fits all races, religions, and classes. You see, when Republicans talk about freedom, they mean freedom for Christians. When Democrats talk about equality, they mean equality for the LGBT groups. Evan wants equality for all, true equality. In his address at the Provo Library he said, "With liberty for all, we will have different skin colors.  With liberty for all, we will have different religions."

A lot of people think that he is a spoiler, that he is handing the election to Hilary. But he's not doing this to be self-serving. He's not being malicious. In a recent interview as well as at the Provo Library event he said that he approached big name conservatives first. He wanted to create a campaign to back someone with name recognition. All of them declined. At this point his team asked him if he would step up, and he agreed. And now here we are.

I know it will take a HUGE miracle for him to win. I'm not so naive to think this will be an easy journey. But his campaign is more than just a bid for the White House. His campaign is creating a new conservative movement, a movement that could very well create a new conservative party. The Republican party is a sinking ship, and if Hilary Clinton wins - which she has a very good chance of doing so - I believe the Republican party will crumble. Conservatives who have already abandoned ship can create a new and better conservative party to rise in its place.

I also have to vote for who and what I believe in. I don't believe in Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton, and I don't believe in the parties they represent. I don't believe in being a strategy voter. I believe in voting my conscious, and my conscious says Evan McMullin.

The Growing Division Among Women and Who is Behind It

As women - as human beings - we naturally separate ourselves by our differences and gather together by our similarities. We feel good being surrounded by people who are in similar circumstances as us; and feel judged, inadequate and scared of those different from us. Some common divisions are: being single, being married, being a mom, not being a mom, being a SAHM (Stay-At-Home-Mom), being a working mom, breastfeeding, formula feeding, home births, hospital births, feminists, non feminists... you get the picture.

Depending on which social circles you run in, certain groups are painted as "the mean girls" of that aspect of life.  Moms are often accused of judging women who are not mothers, women who breastfeed are accused of judging women who formula feed. But the reality is that every "group" feels judged by their opposite "group". Single women feel judged by married women, and vice versa. Women who are not mothers feel judged by those who do, and - believe it or not - women who are moms feel the same way. SAHMs feel judged by working moms, and working moms feel judged by SAHMs. Once, again, you get the picture.

While there are real mean girls in each "group" that say and do terrible things, most of the time, hurt feelings were not intended. A mom can't express how much she loves being a mom without being told she's hurting the feelings of women who are not moms. A SAHM can't express how much she loves staying home with their kids without being accused of making working moms feel guilty. A breastfeeding mom can't express the bond she feels feeding her child without being called a nipple nazi. Formula feeding moms can't share which brand of formula helped their baby without fearing getting that dreaded "breast is best" comment. Women who are single and/or childless by choice can't voice that fact without getting overwhelmed with all of the "you're missing out" comments. It's gotten to the point where no one can say anything to anybody without offending somebody. So because of this, we stay in our groups, and we don't branch out, and we think those "other" women are the mean girls.

Do you want to know who is behind all of this? Satan. Satan knows that dividing us strengthens him, because we can't defeat him by ourselves. He turns differences into insecurities, insecurities into hurt feelings, hurt feelings into anger, and anger into hate. How are we supposed to raise our families correctly if we are surrounded by so much negativity? We can't. Then our children are raised in a divisive environment, and they continue this cycle of division. And he does this to more than just women and mothers. He does this to everyone, dividing us along the big lines (race, religion, class, politics) as well as the little lines (neighborhoods, interests, talents, life styles).

Now, this does not mean that Satan "makes" us do and say mean things. It does not mean that people who do and and say mean things hold no accountability - they do. It simply means that he plants that negative seed, and the more we water it, the more power he holds over us. You see, we either water the seed of faith, or the seed of Satan's lies.

 If you find yourself critiquing someone's circumstances or correcting their choices, stop it! If you find yourself feeling judged by someone who is simply expressing joy about their own life, take that seed away from Satan and chuck it! You have the power to do so! God gave you that power in the Garden of Eden when He put enmity between Satan and Eve and gave us all the power to "bruise thy (Satan's) head". (See Moses 4:21 and Genesis 3:15)

So, take that negative and divisive power away from Satan by not feeding into it. Look for the similarities, and don't run from the differences. In fact, embrace the differences. People like to say, "focus on similarities, not differences". But if all we look for is similarities, then when differences come up we don't know what to do with them. We need to celebrate the differences, not stifle them. So look for both, and embrace both. We need to accept that there are different ways to live, different ways to raise a family, and that is okay. We also need to be willing to turn the other cheek if someone is being disagreeable about that, because the only person we can change is ourselves. Change has to be a choice, it can't be forced on anyone or it will not be successful.

We are all children of God, and we need to remember that. Not only do we need to remember it, but we need to teach it to our children, our friends, our neighbors, to people we don't even know. We all want to survive this scary world, and we can't do it alone and divided, but we can do it united.

Princess Luna Turns 1!

I cannot believe it. My little Luna is 1 year old. Her birthday party was last weekend. It was princess themed. 

I sent out invitations printed out stationary that looked like old scrolls that said:

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! 

By order of their Majesties, the King and Queen, Prince Benjamin invites you to a celebration in honor of his sister:

Princess Luna

Who  is turning 1!

The festivities will be held at Larson Castle (2886 W 880 N Provo, Ut) on Saturday, the Third of September in the year Two Thousand and Sixteen. Dinner will be served at 5:00 pm, and will be followed by games and cake!

Please RSVP to the Queen by texting 385-985-6702 by Wednesday, the Thirty-First of August.

All young courtiers are invited to dress in royal attire.

I designed and made her cake: a Barbie cake where the cake is the Barbie's dress, and this would be her first Barbie doll. The Barbie had to sit in the cake because I only made only layer, so it wasn't tall enough to stand. Since this cake was only for Luna, it felt wasteful to make such a big cake. Cupcakes with plastic rings with crowns were served to everyone else. The Barbie made the cake crack, but luckily I was able to cover that up strategically with frosting.

I served club sandwiches (got a 6 foot from Walmart), chips, fresh fruit and veggies. I also got those Smuckers Uncrustables for the kids who might not like a club sandwich. For the drink I served "Fairy Fizz" (pink lemonade and 7 Up) and water with cut up lemons and limes.

Unfortunately Benjamin got so sick that he had to miss the party. I informed everyone that morning so if they were worried about their kids they could choose not to come. Only Luna's cousins came after that announcement, which I totally understand. But we still had fun! Luna devoured her sandwich and several cucumber slices. 4 of my girl cousins (who are closer to Luna's age) came dressed as princesses, and 2 of her boy cousins came, Lil' Ricky dressing like the Beast to match Luna's Belle dress!

 The kids played "pin the kiss on the frog". Gerson helped Luna pin her kiss on the frog, and the rest of the cousins did it on their own, all of them making it on the lips!

After the frog game, the kids got to break open a Princess Castle Pinata. This one was way sturdier than Benjamin's Buzz Lightyear Pinata, and so it took longer to break open. My cousin Ellie broke open both Benjamin's and Luna's pinatas this year.

Luna opened her presents next. And since she couldn't do it herself, I let each princess get in line and help her open her presents. They all loved that! Then it was time for her smash cake. I changed her into a onsie because I was not about to ruin that Belle dress. At first she was more interested in the Barbie. She kept stroking its hair. Then Gerson put her hand in the cake and brought it to her mouth. She slowly started licking the frosting and then eventually dug into her cake practically climbing on top of the pan and laying in it!

Luna really enjoyed her party, and so did I! I never thought I would be this kind of mom, but I am and I love it!

"The Jewel of the Church"

Last week the Larson Family Reunion (my dad's side) took place. We always rent a cabin in Pine Valley, Utah. Like most historical towns in Utah, Pine Valley was settled by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. When you drive into Pine Valley immediately on your right is the LDS Church building. This building is unique because it doesn't look like modern LDS Church buildings; it looks the way it does because it was built in 1868 and the person who designed it had some interesting inspiration.

My family has been going to Pine Valley every summer for about 10 years now, and I have always wanted to go inside the church building. This year I finally got that chance and took a tour of the church and learned about its history. Because Pine Valley is not as famous as Cove Fort, This Is The Place, or Temple Square, I want to share with you what I learned about this beautiful place.

The valley itself was discovered when a cow got away from its group that was heading to Mountain Meadow. Church leaders felt inspired to settle it. The pine trees nearby were used to make the pipes in the organ in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. The man who designed and built the chapel was a ship builder by trade, so he built it like an upside down ship. It has been renovated, so not much is original, but they kept the original look and style. Our tour guide told us that Gordon B. Hinckley called it "the jewel of the Church" because it's one of the oldest functioning LDS chapels.

The chapel has a ground level, second story, and small attic-like third story. The tour starts on the ground level. There are two rooms. One is a large classroom. It has wooden benches that are screwed into the floor (they used to not be as our tour guide told us they would be moved up against the wall for dances and other activities). The second room is a kitchen and the entrance to the stairs to the second level. Also on the grounds is a brick building that used to be a tithing house, it is now a classroom.

The second level is where Sacrament Meeting is held. The doors are the original and the chairs and benches are based on the original. The lights are kerosene lamps. The chapel is full of paintings of Jesus Christ. Our tour guide said that the paintings are there to show others that Mormons are Christians. (To be honest, that explanation didn't sit well with me, I don't think that's why the paintings are there, I just think it's a nice perk for the tourists who visit.)

The third level attic is tiny, and we were told that the Young Women meet there on Sundays. The wall is full of photos of people who are important to the Pine Valley church building - like the first Relief Society President of the ward. There is also a glass case that has historical artifacts in it. The old fashioned sacrament trays were my favorite. They are made of glass! If someone had me guess what material the old sacrament cups were made out of I would have guessed tin, not glass. They were beautiful. Our tour guide told us that the deacons were responsible for cleaning the sacrament glasses each Sunday after church.

Then we got to see the actual attic. We got to notice the curve of the beams that looks like a ship's bottom.

I loved visiting this Church building. It was fun to learn it's history, and it was so beautiful.

The rest of our time in Pine Valley was fun as well. Gerson and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary while there. We spent some time at the river, and Benjamin got to throw rocks in a river for the first time ever - and now he's addicted! Gerson and I went on an ice cream date, and we went swimming at Sand Hallow (which is an hour away). The kids LOVED it. Benjamin now asks to go throw rocks in the river and to go swimming every day. It has been several years since we have been able to go to the family reunions, so this was a much needed vacation.