March 12, 2009

"The Draper"

This afternoon Hilary and I made our way up to Draper to tour the soon to be dedicated Draper Temple Open House. It has been a while since going through a temple (think Winter Quarters spring 2001) so I was glad to have made reservations to do so. I was somewhat blindsided to learn that there will soon be another Temple Open House in Utah Valley. Can we say crazy growth?

The temple was beautiful inside and Hilary and I openly admired the furnishings and great textiles. I will freely admit that seeing the bridal dressing room and sealing rooms stirred up some interesting feelings inside! I was grateful for the opportunity to be in the Lord's house and feel of its goodness.

We were shuttled from church parking lot to temple parking lot and ushered through tents from the temple to the nearby stake center. This meant photo opportunities were virtually non existent. Thus we have a photo of Hilary and I in a lovely white tent waiting for the red shuttle to take us back to the car!

I discovered something new about Hilary today- she could totally be the Herbology professor in Harry Potter. She is a quite the amateur horticulturist. After the open house she took me to this awesome flower/cactus nursery place called Cactus & Tropicals . Who knew that was there?? Hilary treated me to a plant (for my birthday), I also got to pick out a pot for it. I went with a donkey tail plant...no spiky needles, and a really pretty deep purple pot. I am usually not a great lover of nature or plants but let me tell you, I am excited about this. I love the contrast of the pale green rubbery plant against the plum pot. I solemnly swear to water once a week and do my best to keep this thing alive....thanks Hilary!!

*The title of this post comes from a super cute third grader. When sharing good news with the class the other week, he told of his trip up to the open house with his family. He kept referring to it as "The Draper!"

7 comments:

BrookeJean said...

That Cactus and Tropicals place is awesome. The only reason I know about it is because someone had a reception there and it was beautiful. Such a good idea.

Hilary Jan said...

Thank you Lauren for inviting me to the open house, I had a wonderful time. We need to do something again soon!
PS I am flatered but I am no Prfessor Sprout, I don't think I could handle a Mandrake plant ;)

Rachel said...

We were there at the 9:20am walk through...dang! I should have planned it later, slept in and run into you there!

It was so beautiful...

Shannon said...

The potted plant can go right next to your beautiful vase! Thanks for picking those up.

Going through the Draper Temple is always a beautiful, testimony-enhancing experience. I'm glad you got to go.

My interview went well this morning... We'll see what happens!

Love ya!

Jodi said...

I knew it was there, I was the one who took Hil there her first time! I'm glad she was able to introduce you to the wonder. Happy Birthday!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, good thing that plant doesn't have any spiky needles like that crazy thing on Jimmy Fallon last night. I'll get you a bear cub for your birthday next year.

emilie s. d. p. said...

What an awesome birthday present! I love the color of the pot too.
It's so amazing how many temples are being built right now. I was watching this church video thing about how temples will dot the earth and I was so amazed with the number of temples in places I had no idea about. There are definitely a lot more in Africa then I ever imagined...it makes me so happy!