The Provo City Center Temple

After we had finished taking all of our finals in December 2010, Spencer and I got on a plane for Seattle to spend the holidays with his family.  The morning after we got there, I remember waking up to the news that the Provo Tabernacle had caught on fire in the middle of the night.  I was shocked.  I had seen the Tabernacle on our way to the airport a few hours before.

I sat at my computer and bawled like a little girl.  I loved the Provo Tabernacle; there was so much history in that wonderful building!  I'd attended tons of Stake Conferences in that building.  So had my mother.  So had her mother.  This Tabernacle had major connections with my family.  Oh, and let's not forget the fact that I live across the street from this building!  I didn't just come across the Tabernacle that one time I drove to the airport; I saw it every single time I left my house.  And I loved it!  I was so sad to see it burn.

I read countless news articles searching for updates regarding the plans for the tabernacle.  It was reported that the inside was completely destroyed; the roof caved in; the facade was seriously damaged but it was all that was left.  Scaffolding was erected around the outside and then it seemed like nothing else happened for so long.

The inside of the tabernacle was mapped out on the grass next to the building.  Workers used cranes to move everything from the inside of the tabernacle to the corresponding coordinates on the grass to find out what caused the fire.  Eventually, they learned that after a Christmas concert, an accidental fire started in the attic from a light or a heat lamp (I don't remember which) that was too close to a speaker box.  The flames spread out from there.  Within hours, almost everything was gone.  While looking for more information I found a couple of really neat pictures online:

Talk about tender mercies, right?

On October 1, 2011 I was watching General Conference.  President Thomas S. Monson stood up and announced that the Provo Tabernacle was going to be made into a temple!  Again, I bawled like a little girl but this time my tears were 100% happy. 

I lived in Cordova, Tennessee when the Memphis Tennessee temple was announced to be in the built in the backyard of my ward building.  I was in Young Women's when it was built and I remember getting to help with hanging crystals on the chandeliers and putting some gold leafing on the walls.  I got to work at the temple open house and put booties on guests coming to see the House of the Lord.  My mom sang in the dedication choir and I learned all the songs with her because I was so excited (remember that, mom?!).  That was the first temple dedication that I ever attended and I remember feeling completely positive that I was in a holy place.  I have been so thrilled at the thought that I'm once again going to be in the ward boundaries of another LDS temple.  I'm not sure if Spencer and I will be here the whole time the temple's under construction but I'm excited to be here for a little part of it!

The groundbreaking ceremony is tomorrow and Spencer, Colton, and I will be there bright and early to listen to Elder Jeffrey R. Holland speak.  I wanted to go on a walk today to take a picture of the grounds before all the fun stuff starts but it was already dark outside when we got home from errands.  Mable Burt (in our ward) took this picure and I borrowed it from her facebook page :).  They're all set up and ready to go!

For a little taste of just how close to the future temple we live, I looked us up on Google Earth (the coolest invention ever).  I know the labels are hard to see but I'm not professional enough to know how to make them any better.  Yeah... that's the tabernacle... a whole block away from our house!

So I'm feeling pretty excited and blessed to be a part of all this.  I'll be sure to post more pictures of temple progress as it's built!

'Til next time...

Dear Spencer,

When I first met you... I looked like this:

 And you looked like this:

We were friends, but that was about it.  I was busy "dating older men" as you like to say, or "getting good grades" as I like to say.  You were busy... playing the field :)

Following our Freshman year, you went on your mission here:

About a year later, I went on my mission here:

I always wondered why I was called to serve early.  I went into the MTC as a 20 year old even though I put my availability date for after I had turned 21.  Apparently, the Lord had a different plan.  Throughout my mission, many wonderful things happened that made me think, "Okay, THIS is why I was supposed to come out here early.  I had to be in this place at this time."  Although I still believe those experiences were a part of the reason I was called out early, I've come up with an additional theory.

Because I went out before my 21st birthday, I came back in July 2008... a good 3 months before I was expecting to be able to.  Had I come back even a single transfer later than I did, I wouldn't have been able to go to BYU during the Fall 2008 semester.  My first week back at school, this happened:

We met up at a BYU football game, reminisced about the good times we had back in 2004, and exchanged phone numbers.

We went on a few dates after that, and I liked you a lot.  I remember texting my mom after our second date.  I wrote, "I like him, but I don't want to be one of those RMs who gets into a relationship immediately after getting home.  I think I'm going to tell him we've had fun but I'm done after our third date tonight."  My mom still laughs at the text message she got from me the next day, "Okay mom, nevermind.  I really like him.  I'm pretty sure we're going to keep dating."

Years later, I found out that at this point (yeah... it was after we kissed for the first time...) although I was hooked, you still needed some more convincing.  I decided that it was time for ME to take YOU on a date.  We went here:

...and I think that by opening up your stomach, I finally opened up your heart.  I had to bribe you, but we decided to give "us" a try.  I'm so glad you agreed :)

We did all the things that people who date do.  We carved pumpkins:

We picked each others' noses... (Okay... not everyone does that.  We MAY have posed for this one...):

And when your family went on a trip to Las Vegas, I was invited to come along.  We met the red M&M at the peanut factory.  Everyone does that, right?

Before too long, I realized I loved you (although yes, I'll finally admit, you said it first).  We started talking about our future and on December 17, 2008, this happened:

The next semester seemed to drag on forever.  Through all the wedding plans, homework assignents, job hours, etc., we got to see each other for about 2-3 glorious hours day.  We still made the most of it:

Finally... the big day arrived.  On May 2, 2009 we were married for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake City Temple.  It was the best day of my life (up to that point.  Don't worry... it hasn't been a downhill slide ever since).  I still feel like the luckiest girl alive:

We did all the things that newlyweds do... we lived in a closet-sized, dumpy apartment, we went to school full-time, be both worked all the time, but we still made sure to have fun.

We went to DC to visit my family:

We dressed up as Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom for the Harry Potter 6 midnight premiere:

 We did a fun murder mystery dinner with your family:

We did all sorts of fun stuff!

When everyone around us started popping babies out, my baby hunger kicked into overdrive.  I think you had it all along, too.  After several long months (that felt much longer than they were...), we found out on January 3, 2011 that our prayers of having a baby were finally going to be answered. 

When the journey began, my bump was pretty small:





We had fun with our little "It's a boy! No, It's a girl!" battle, but in reality, we both thought it was a boy all along:

By 40 weeks, I was swollen like an elephant and somehow you still loved me.  I think we both knew this baby was going to be HUGE:

On August 24, 2011, we welcomed the most beautiful baby we've ever seen into the world and we were both in love at first sight.  (Can you even imagine what we did before he was here?)  I love being your baby mama:

Now, 8 months have passed and Colton is getting bigger every day:



I wouldn't have it any other way and I wouldn't want to do any of it with anyone else.  I love you infinity O, salt and pepper shaker, paprika (if you're not Spencer, don't ask).  Thanks for letting me take you to Outback 4 years ago.  :)

Happy 3 year anniversary!

-A.Corn.

The past (almost) 5 months...

Hey everyone! 

Yeah, yeah, yeah... we're still alive.  In fact, we're doing fabulously (thanks for asking)!  The world of not-blogging is an ugly slippery slope, I tell you.  First you skip a week... then you skip two weeks... and the next thing you know, you're catching up on five months of craziness.  Guilty!  I have a TON of pictures I need to post, but I'll get to those later.  For now, I really just want to write an update before yet another month passes by without a single blog entry.

Here are some fun things that we've been up to lately.  I'm sure I'll forget important things, but forgive me :)

December:

• Spencer, Colton and I flew out to DC to spend Christmas with my whole family.
• Colt turned 4 months and learned how to grab things with his hand (especially his toes).
• Colt's first (2) airplane rides!  They went off without a hitch.
• I enjoyed my last little bits of school/work-free life post baby.

Yes, he's actually sleeping like this.  As soon as Colton discovered his toes, we could never keep him away from them.  Even in his sleep.



January:

• I started my internship at Vineyard Elementary (and became besties with my supervisor.  Seriously.  I love her).
• Spencer managed to go to school AND work 40+ hours a week.  He's so wonderful.
• I worked as a TA for Dr. Brinton's intro to CommD course.  No one ever came to office hours.  EVER.  So Colton and I watched Community, Parks & Recreation, and Baby Einstein on the big projector screen.
•  I made some interesting new year's resolutions.  I always make a TON so this year, to make them a little more manageable, I started with one and I've added a new one every month.  At the end of April, I'm still going strong :)  In January, I gave up carbonated beverages and now... they don't ever tempt me anymore!
• Colton started eating solid foods.  Rice cereal was a "meh" at first, but we soon discovered his love of sweet potatoes and carrots and rice cereal was put on the back burner.

Colton eating prunes.  He has to eat them regularly to stay... well... regular.  Unfortunately, it took us this first exposure to learn that clothes should NEVER be worn while eating prunes.  He now eats prunes in only his diaper... and that outfit will never be the same.

February:

• I turned 26.  Yeah.  No big deal :)
• Spencer's family was in town for Chase and Emily's wedding.  It was beautiful!
• We went on Colton's first road trip (to Sammamish) for Chase's wedding reception and flew back afterwards.  I got to share a twin-sized bottom bunk with a 5 1/2 month old and a long-arm quilting machine (not recommended).
• Colton turned 6 months old (crazy, right?) and decided that rice cereal wasn't so bad.
• Colton started crawling.

This is Colton during our 13 hour road trip.  He was AWESOME.

This is Colton during my office hours a few days after he started crawling.  He's obviously thrilled about his new mobility.

March:

• I took the Praxis and had to wait until April to find out my score (see April).
• Colton turned 7 months old and learned to pull himself up into standing!  His crib is now on the lowest setting to thward his efforts at escaping his bed and destroying his mobile (p.s... he got the mobile.  It's no longer with us).
• Mom and dad came for General Conference!  We got to spend some quality time with them and the rest of the fam-damily
• Tuck came and stayed with us for about 5 days.  I still miss her.

Colton loved Tuck.  Especially her face.

Again, we're at office hours.  Colton loved pulling himself up to standing and drumming on all the chairs.

April:

• I found out that I passed the Praxis! (Nay... I KILLED the Praxis).
• I finished my internship at Vineyard and have MAJORLY missed my kids and Dorthy (aforementioned awesome supervisor) ever since.
• Spencer had to up his hours to about 65+ a week because his co-worker was... ehem... dismissed.
• Spencer joined a gym and I lost like 7 pounds Kinect-ing it up every day.
• Colton's first Easter!  He even did an Easter egg hung for yogurt bites and pretty much tried to eat the plastic eggs and grass.  Needless to say, it was adorable.
• I kicked some major thesis butt.  I'm going to own that thing by August.
• Colton is 8 months and continues to amaze us.  He's let go of things while standing a couple of times and I'm terrified that he'll be walking in no time.
• I got a job!  I'll be a speech-language pathologist for Nebo School District starting in the Fall.  I'll work part-time so I can still take care of Colton and Spencer can take a full load of classes.  I am so excited I could just pee!

Colton's obsessed with this window.  He now crawls up into his bumbo to look outside.  Oh, and he tries to tear the blinds of the walls.

We have a lot of fun!  I love my two boys :)

Well, I'm sure a lot more happened, but I'll probably remember all that at 3:00 this morning.  Anywho, we love you all!  Maybe next time I'll actually have pictures of all three of us.... maybe.

'Til next time...

Rocking and Rolling (Over)

So... Colton is amazing. He does tummy time multiple times every day and I never cease to be amazed by how strong he's getting. On Tuesday, Spencer and I set him on his stomach and Colton then proceeded to SCOOT across the floor! I mean, he's not "crawling" yet, but my three month old can scoot!

And so it begins.

The next day, I was trying to get Colton to scoot again so I could catch it on camera. While Colt was looking adorable and cooing at me a ton, I caught this picture of him blowing spit bubbles at me:

And then, he started rocking...

And rocking...

And then he ROLLED OVER!

Woohoo! I was so excited that I threw my phone and started squealing and clapping. I have no idea what Colton was thinking but apparently he thought I was hilarious because he stayed on his back and started giggling. I played with this cute face for the next half hour or so:

This is how Colton used to do during tummy time:

Then he got a little bit stronger:

And now he can do this for about 20 minutes:

I was doing laundry that day while Colton was watching Food Network. You like his jeans? What would you do if I told you they were actually jeggings? Well, they're sweatpants so I guess they're really jweats... hmmm. Anyways, I love his pants :)

Backtracking a bit, Thanksgiving has come and gone! Kent and DeRue came to town and the cooking insanity commenced! Brunch and dinner with all the Cornetts, Normans, and Walkers was really fun (and delicious) but holy heck, we were all EXHAUSTED afterwards. Colton has learned to stay asleep until at least 6:30 in the morning ever since. Even when he wakes up early in the morning we only have to feed him for a few minutes before he falls back asleep until 8:30 or so. He's turning out to be a dream baby, schedule-wise!

And this is the cute face I wake up to every morning:

Since Spencer and I will be in DC for Christmas this year, Kent and DeRue brought Christmas to us during Thanksgiving. The biggest present went to Colton! Here's a photo to help you size up how big this thing was:

Any guesses? Colton really liked staring at the wrapping paper and the ribbon... and sometimes at nothing at all:

I love him. SO much.

Well, the huge present turned out to be a baby bouncer! I can't wait until Colton's a little bigger so he can use it. Until then, I'll just hold him a lot:

Colton got another toy, too. I love it because it is occasionally the only thing that soothes his crying... and because it makes him get all googly-eyed:

See?

Last weekend we took family photos (which I'll have to post when they're available) and Colton and Rigby had their first pictures with Santa:

As you can see, Riggles loved every minute. Colton, on the other hand, loved chewing on his hands.

In fact, he loves chewing on everything. Here's a list of stuff I've caught him chewing on in the last two weeks:

• his hands
• our hands
• clothing (his and ours)
• pacifiers (duh)
• my hair
• his carseat
• burp clothes
• the carpet
• rattles
• our quilt
• bath towels and washclothes
• my neck... when we're snuggling

And we get a LOT of snuggling time:

I love my boys. And I love you all!

'Til next time...