I haven't been to a temple open house in a long time. It is different than just visiting the temple to do work. In an open house, you actually get to walk through the entire temple and see all the beautiful rooms. If you live in Utah and haven't been to the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple, I suggest you try to get there before the end of the month.

My older sister's family came up from Blanding to attend the open house, along with my parents and my younger sister's family. It is great to be with family in the place that you know makes it possible for all of you to be bound together eternally. I've thought about that recently. It is probably not too different from how we are on earth. We are not going to be "bound" in the way that we are chained together and will go everywhere together. Rather, it is an assurance that we will all be in the same place, the celestial kingdom, and able to associate with one another.

For the first half of the tour, I had my own little "adopted" 3 year old "daughter". My niece grabbed my hand and stayed with me, as if she were mine. Then, she decided she would rather lead the group holding hands with her cousin, my nephew, who is only a couple of months older than her. One of the most precious sights I have is the two of them, blonde and brown curls close together, holding hands and walking at the front of our family group.

My 22 month old nephew could not be allowed to walk - or he would have wreaked some havoc. After he got tired of his mom's arms - he squirmed toward me, holding out his arms and calling "ney-ee" for his aunt (me) to rescue him. So I got to carry him for awhile. You have a different perspective when pointing out features in the temple to a young child. We focused a lot on the lights. Which means, we were both almost constantly looking up and admiring the beautiful light fixtures. But, you know, that is really what the temple is about after all. Light and looking up.