The Boise Temple open house, youth cultural celebration, and re-dedication were all meaningful events for our family this fall. The open house ran from October 13th to November 10th. Jeff and I both volunteered our time to help staff the open house. Jeff worked four shifts as a parking attendant. I did a variety of things--put on shoe coverings, served as a tour guide, and played piano music in the stake center next door to the temple where the tours ended.
Every member of our family attended the open house multiple times. Our tours were always very busy, but definitely worth the effort. We all felt the spirit of the temple.
The day before the temple was dedicated, the youth of our temple district (which includes 31 stakes) performed a youth cultural celebration for President Monson. The celebration was held in Taco Bell Arena on the Boise State campus. The arena holds approximately 13,000 people, and it was filled to capacity. The dances were very creative and many were representative of life in
our temple district--southwestern Idaho and eastern Oregon. The celebration was broadcast to all the stakes in the area as well. It was very inspiring to see so many youth joined together in celebration of the temple!
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| Taco Bell Arena filled with youth, awaiting the arrival of President Monson. |
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| The choir | |
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| The dancers | |
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| President Monson shaking hands as he arrives. | |
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| To start the program, President Monson spoke to the youth for a few minutes. (Sister and Elder Bednar are to the right of President Monson.) |
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| These dancers in black were silicon chips. |
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| "We Are a Happy Family" | |
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| "Popcorn Popping" |
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| BSU themed dance | |
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| A re-enactment of BSU vs. Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. | |
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This was our stake's dance to "The Pink Panther" theme music.
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| Tessa is in the back row, second couple from the left. |
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| Tessa is in the back row, fourth from the right. |
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| Dallin is in the back row, first couple on the right. |
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| Dallin and his partner, Keslie Packer. |
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| Tessa and her partner, Sam Caroca. |
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| Our wonderful stake YW presidency--Sister Richael, Sister Hall, and Sister Birch. |
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| Brother Keeley (Dallin's YM adviser), Dallin, Oliver Dahl, Conner Sinclair |
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| Dallin wearing his mustache and ready to dance. |
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| A very clever rendition of "Give Said the Little Stream." |
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| The Haka | |
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| The grand finale |
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| The temple was re-dedicated the following day, Sunday, November 18th in
three sessions. It was broadcast to all the stake centers in the
temple district. We were able to attend the final 3:00 session at the
temple. It was a wonderful experience, except that Aubrey wasn't able
to be with us because she wasn't quite old enough (4 1/2 months away
from turning 8). These pictures were taken with Jeff's phone so they
aren't the best quality, but they will remind us of the day! |
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| After the dedication, we waited out on the north side of the temple until President Monson's car drove by. Despite the cold November temperatures, Seth had come without a coat. When President Monson finally drove by, he had his window down and waved at us--and told Seth to put on a coat! :) | |
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