Trains in the Garden

We went to see this "Trains in the Garden" Exhibit and were totally blown away. It was about 1/2 acres behind someones house filled with train tracks, towns, murals, waterfalls, it was just amazing. Talk about a hobby! We got our $2 worth. They were doing it for charity to support the Phoenix Children's Hospital.
Cars and people were everywhere. There was even a observation platform to get a birds eye view.

The man in the background was a worker, there were three of four of them just running things.

See the cyclists and workers

This is the staged train wreck.

You will enjoy this post if  you like trains. If not you may find it interesting? I know I did. I just kept thinking they must spend a fortune and every spare minute is devoted to trains. 

We Love Having Visitors

Lee and Paula Shirley were in town visiting with their son for Thanksgiving. They were in our old Ben Lomond Stake and then in our Cold Water Stake. It was through them we first learned about Legacy. Guess we have been following them around. What a special couple. More hugs, love it!

Lance and Tiffany (Greenhalgh) Dougher were here on an anniversary get away and braved the crowds to see the lights. So glad we spotted them! Great kids.

Wayne and Annette Johnson stopped by and guess what, more hugs! They moved to Gilbert two years ago. They are from Cold Water Stake and it was so great to catch up with them. We are making plans to get together. Hooray!

Christmas Lights at the Visitors' Center

I previously posted about the many volunteers that worked on the outside, here are some volunteers that work so hard on the nativity display inside. There are over 100 nativities from countries around the world. They are beautiful. They add a great spirit to the center. 

Finished product

A photographer come to take some pictures at night with the lights.  

It's easy to make all these Sisters look good!

The wisemen in front of the VC, sure to attract attention! 

Richard took the rest of the pictures and they are beautiful. There is a magical feeling walking through the lights.

This star has 10,000 lights. I reported more previously, oops.

The nativity

There are over 100,000 lights in the palm trees.

New display this year of Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and the animals

Borrowed this picture, it is so beautiful with the sunset, we see this all the time, aren't we so lucky! 

Richard captured these three sisters right before their shift. They are all smiles and ready to start the night teaching and testifying of Jesus Christ. Their testimonies show in their faces! Sister Smith (left) Sister Finau and Sister Weedman.

A few facts about Christmas Lights in Mesa:

This is the 34th year of Temple Lights
All work is done by volunteers (over 1,500 - members and others)
They start putting up in the lights Oct 1st
Almost 1 mile of draped lights around walk ways
Over 1 million visitors a year
They actually work on this project year round

Sisters visit with the visitors outside and invite them in, answer questions and gather referrals. We have a short rotation inside through several exhibits to facilitate the large number of guests. They can hear the Christus presentation, view the nativity exhibit, watch a 5 minute movie of Luke II or the Nativity, go through Gods Plan for the Family, and see the Jerusalem temple diorama and pictures of Christ. Sisters are stationed at each exhibit to invite them in and testify and gather referrals. We have the sisters paired up with one english sister and one spanish sister. We show the exhibits in both languages.

The Lord is truly hastening his work, we feel it here! Richard and I both talked to sisters just today that wanted the missionaries to come and teach them. We did some teaching over the phone and it was wonderful.

We love being missionaries!

Thanksgiving with Family - Loved It

Gloria did most of the Thanksgiving preperation on Tuesday our P-day so when Steve & family got here we could have some fun! We did!  Lunch at Tia Rosa's not Sonora quality but fun.

Miniature golfing, lots of laughs

Since we worked on Wednesday evening I told the kids to come and see the lights and nativity before the crowds. They brought their cousins and were able to enjoy it all without 6,000 people. Great idea. Emily took this picture. 

Emily's cousins, some live here and some were visiting

Our home away from home - we are here 6 days a week.

Richard talking of Christ

Answering phone calls etc, while Richard got to take the tour with the family

The Jerusalem Temple diorama

Richard said this is what I looked like most of the day so he had to take a picture. This also explains the great hairdo for the rest of the day. Steve worked right with me in the kitchen too but no picture of him. Oops. Emily made some gravy from drippings and they made some yummy green beans. 

Rachel took her turn at peeling potatoes!

Lucy did her share too!

Emily took this lovely picture.

Yummy!

Rachel, Lucy and Adam all worked together on this gingerbread kit and left it for us. It is a tradition for them but what it means to us is we get a little bit of Christmas from them. I love seeing it everyday. We have a poinsettia too so it feels Christmasy in my home. We did not bring any decorations and don't want to buy any to pack up later.  We are enjoying spreading out the cards by the gingerbread house.

Next, nap or electronics?? Maybe both!

It was so beautiful outdoors, around 70 degrees. We took a walk around the condos and the temple

Picked some oranges right by our bedroom window. We have picked some everyday since and they are so delicious!

Richard had been eyeing this ripe one.

The cactus garden on the temple grounds

Oranges

Ran into these cute missionaries on our walk. Sister Orr in the tree, Sister Weedman in red and Sister Brownell in the back. We sure love them.

Also, our new missionary from in front Sister Taboada from Bolivia. They got some huge lemons too. Maybe some lemonade?

Can you believe these lemons on the temple grounds! I think they are blessed. 

Getting a little exercise

Steve too!

I went with the family to see "Frozen" 

This is our only black friday picture! Grandma bought shirts. Aren't they cute!

It was a full few days and they did many other things as you can see from Emily's blog.  We are so grateful we got to see them, get hugs and kisses, hear about what they have been up to, catch up on other family members, and share some fun moments! We also enjoyed all the phone calls, e-mails, blogs, pictures, and FaceTime from the rest of the family. We certainly love our family!