Phoenix Arizona Temple

Since the Bountiful Temple was dedicated in 1995 when I was 8 years old, a 5-minute commute is the longest I've ever had to travel to the nearest temple. This is something I definitely took for granted before we moved to Arizona. The nearest temple is in Mesa which is about 45 minutes from here. Including travel time, that makes going to the temple a 4 1/2 to 5 hour excursion. I realize the situation could be much worse, but having a little boy around who is quite fond of his mother, makes that trip tricky.

Because of all this, I have been anxious for the groundbreaking of the Phoenix temple to occur. The site is within our stake boundaries, less than a 10 minute drive from our house. Although the temple was announced in May of 2008, construction on the building has been halted due to opposition from neighbors.

I've never been around people who so strongly opposed a temple. In Utah, a new temple is all anyone can talk about, everyone is thrilled. Here, the neighbors have been worried the color of the building will stick out too much, that the lights will be too bright, that the traffic brought to the neighborhood would be unreasonable, and my personal favorite: that the temple will ruin the scenic landscape. The temple site is located near the Thunderbird Conservation Park. It's a great place for hiking and bike riding, but I wouldn't necessarily call it "scenic." I know I am biased being a member of the church and having not grown up in the desert, but I'm fairly certain that a beautifully landscaped Temple could only enhance the neighborhood.

In December, a city council meeting was held to discuss rezoning the temple site to allow for a ten foot increase in the height of the building. The meeting was hot topic. Stickers appeared on telephone poles and lampposts around our neighborhood with epitaphs such as "Say NO to the temple." Picketers protested at the church meeting house which adjoins the temple site the Sunday before the city council meeting. Our stake president asked members to pray and fast for the meeting's outcome. Because we live in Glendale City and not Phoenix, we were unable to vote or voice opinion on the matter, but the Stake asked all members who worked in Phoenix to vote. The meeting was highlighted in the news on several occasions. The big day came and the council unanimously approved the rezoning request. I was so glad it passed, however there was rumor of an appeal by the neighborhood.

Much to my dismay, I recently read the following on the Church's Temple website:
On January 4, 2010, Church officials expressed their desire to work with the Phoenix Property Rights Coalition—the political action committee opposed to the Phoenix Arizona Temple, which delivered over 16,000 signatures to the City of Phoenix on December 31 to overturn the City Council's decision of December 2. A successful petition requires 9,798 valid signatures, which requires the Council to reconsider its decision. If the decision is upheld, the voters weigh in on the issue at the next general election in September 2011 or at a special election in September 2010 if called by the Council. The Church will not be moving the temple to another location; rather, as Paul Gilbert states, "We want to show the neighbors that we can be a good neighbor."²

On January 26, 2010, two weeks after a meeting with the Phoenix Property Rights Coalition, Church officials announced that the Phoenix Arizona Temple would be redesigned to comply with the residential zoning building height limit of 30 feet. A month earlier, the Church had received unanimous approval from the City Council to rezone the property, which would permit the temple to be 40 feet high. However, opposing neighbors responded by collecting over 16,000 protest signatures, leading the Church to withdraw its application. The redesign is expected to take 8 to 12 months. Church spokesman, Len Greer, says he hopes neighbors will be pleased with the new design, noting that temples are valuable assets to a neighborhood with their peaceful atmosphere and beautiful grounds, often increasing property values.<sup>1
Source:  http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/phoenix/

I guess we'll have to wait a little longer for our temple. (I hope it is finished before Troy graduates!) The redesign will be finished in late 2010. (So it actually won't look how it is pictured above.) It has certainly been an interesting experience to watch this all unfold. The adversary is good at creating contention.</sup>

Free At Last

Troy finished finals this morning, which means he is free at last. This week has been the worst of all of medical school so far. Little sleep and LOTS of studying were the name of the game. One night Troy got home at midnight and then got up again at 4 a.m. to study for his test the next morning. Thank heavens he's so dedicated. His hard work paid off and now we get a whole week of no books, no class, and no late nigh library dates. To celebrate we went to the DMV to wait in a horrendous line to get our car registered. After that we went to Phoenix to wait in another line so I could pay the Arizona State Board of Nursing $250. This was necessary because Utah decided to cancel my nursing license a couple weeks ago when they found out I moved. (I wasn't trying to hide my new residence, I just had been told my Utah license was valid in Arizona, which was false-- news to me. I'm hoping now that Arizona has all our money they'll be happy and give me a new license :)

So basically it was a party! The perfect way to celebrate after all those finals, right? Ha! We felt like we were on a small road trip driving all around Phoenix. But let me tell you, it was so nice having Troy with me. I think he should have quarter breaks more often. :)

"The Best Teacher I Ever Had"

Beatrice Call Mabey

August 15, 1914 - February 14, 2010

I am so grateful Jackson and I were able to fly attend my Great Grandma Mabey's funeral last week. This was my first time experiencing the funeral process within a family. It certainly is an interesting series of events, preparing to officially say goodbye to someone you love. Now I can understand what people mean when they talk of funerals and "closure."

My Grandma was a wonderful woman and it was amazing to see the hundreds of people who came to pay their respects. She was known by so many and I don't know anyone who didn't love her. She taught the 4th grade in Davis County School District for many years. During the funeral service I heard several stories about my great-uncles meeting my Grandma's former students. Time after time they would ask, "Are you related to Bea Mabey?" When the students heard that my uncles were the sons of Mrs. Mabey they would say, "She was the best teacher I ever had." As I heard these stories I thought back over the many ways in which my Grandma was my teacher. She truly was one of the best teachers I've ever had.

My mom spoke at the funeral. She talked about how my Grandma was genuinely interested in every grandchild. My mom said, "When you would visit it would seem that she would light up. She would then proceed to inquire about YOU. She wanted to know what we were involved in, what we liked, what we didn't like, our dreams, and what we were going to do next." This was one of Grandma's greatest lessons. She loved everyone and when you were with her you felt like you were the only person that mattered in all the world.

I'm so grateful for the plan of Salvation which promises we can be reunited as families someday. This remarkable woman was the matriarch of a large family (20 grandchildren, 38 great-grandchildren, and 14 great-great-grandchildren.) What a blessing to know that families are forever.

 

Jeremy and Lindsay entertaining Jackson at the viewing.

  

 There were more than 85 family members at the viewing and funeral. Funerals certainly do bring people together. I loved getting to see second cousins and great aunts and uncles.

  

 Jeremy, my cousin Bailey Barnett, and Ashley

I helped my mom gather pictures for the display table. It was set up at both the viewing and the funeral. I helped scan the originals, edit them and then order prints. It ended up being a big project, but it turned out so well. My mom and aunt Debbie arranged the tables placing the framed pictures with some of my Grandma's trinkets. Together all this memorabilia was quite representative of her life.

 

My grandma LOVED black licorice. She always had a jar of it on top of her fridge. She never failed to offer you a little treat when you stopped by to visit. For several years, me and my sister Lindsay took dinner to my Grandma every Sunday. She would always offer us some licorice, a piece of candy or even a Dove ice cream bar from her special stash in the freezer.

  

 She was also known for her magnifying glass which she tilted to just the right angle so she could read the newspaper. She only had vision in half of one eye for many years. Mentos. Grandma always had a pack of Mentos in her purse and she shared them with us whenever we went somewhere together. I especially remember them during our Stake Conference meetings at the Bountiful Regional Center.

Graveside Service

 

It was snowing during the graveside service. But, the flowers still looked beautiful. My dad dedicated the grave and he did such a nice job.

 

 

The McMillans (pictured left)came to the funeral to support us. It was so nice of them to come.

This is my cousin Jaci with the lovely umbrella my Grandpa lent her. Hmm, not much shelter from the storm :) Ha! It was pretty funny.

 

  

 My cousin Gennessee Zink, Lindsay, my Grandpa Mabey, me and Jeremy.

 

 Bailey and Ashley.

  

Lindsay and I with Allison (McMillan) Taylor. It was so fun to see her.

Funeral Luncheon

The pictures we used for the display table also doubled as decorations for the luncheon. My mom's good friend Robyn Martin created these beautiful decorations by attaching the pictures to foam board. We also used some Valentine's decorations since she passed away on February 14th. After we ate, family members could take the pictures home. Everyone was so excited about them. Here are a few of my favorites. 

  

 Grandma in costume for one of her plays. "Annabelle" was her name.

  

 Right: 1936 when Grandma graduated from the University of Utah. It's pretty impressive that she obtained a Bachelor degree back then. Education was so important to her.

 

 1932, the portrait she had taken for her high school graduation.

  

 

 Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Mabey, aren't they so cute together?

 

Gennessee, Lindsay, Grandpa, Me, Ashley

This very well may be the only time I've seen my grandfather dressed in a suit and tie. My Great Grandma left specific instructions that he wear a suit to her funeral otherwise she might come back and haunt him :) So she used to joke anyway. We had to get a picture so we could remember him dressed up. Doesn't he look so nice?

  

 Jeremy entertaining Jackson during the luncheon clean up.

  

  

 Grandpa and Grandma Mabey.

  

 Mom with my two aunts, Debbie Zink, and Valerie Barnett

  

  

My mom with her cousin Kaye Barton. I like to call her my "aunt" because it's too confusing otherwise. She lives in Peoria. It's so nice to have her close.

  

  

 

Jackson with his Grandma.

I learned a lot this week. Mostly I think we are so blessed to have family and to know that there is a purpose to our lives on earth. I know this post has been more on the spiritual side, but the last few days I've had a lot of time to ponder the things that matter most. I'm grateful for my Grandma and her example of love and faith. Hers was a life well lived and I feel privileged to have learned so much from her.

Bountiful Time... Again :)

It was sooo busy getting ready for the funeral. I had no idea funerals were nearly equivalent to weddings only on a much shorter time line. I'm glad I got to Bountiful early to help my mom with some of the chaos. Jackson was so good. He was just happy to be along for the ride. Here are a few of the pictures we took of him terrorizing his Grandma Barneck's house.

 

 The bowl cupboard was his favorite. They made such fun sounds when he banged them on the floor. Luckily our little explorer didn't break anything. ;)

 

 

Jackson and Jeremy, the best of pals.

 

 Jackson and I playing with the lovely doll my mom got from Great Grandma's house. It is pretty ugly and sort of resembles a chucky doll... but Jackson liked the squeaking sound it made. Funny.

 

 Jackson was in LOVE with this truck. Jer and Ash put him in it and gave him rides around the house. Jackson was living the life of leisure here and he knew it. He looked so relaxed lounging in the truck bed. It was hilarious.

 

Even though we were just in Bountiful in January, it was nice to be able to visit and spend some family time together again. Jackson of course loves all the attention, and I love all the help. Thanks everyone for a wonderful trip. We love, love, love you!

Weekend of Love

 

I must say our Valentine's weekend was wonderful. Our official date was on Friday. The night was planned by Troy but made possible by Matt and Stacy Serafine who were our devoted babysitters. Thanks you two! :) We decided to splurge on a nice dinner since we hardly ever do. We went to P.F. Chang's it was delicious. You just can't beat those lettuce wraps.

 

These were our fortunes. The top one is maybe a little mysterious... but I'm a fan of the bottom one. Hopefully they'll both come true. :)

After dinner Troy planned for us to go to a park with blankets and watch a movie on his laptop. It was chilly (for Arizona) and we enjoyed ourselves on the lawn. The park was really nice, but the fountain in the pond made it hard to hear our movie, so we played games instead.

 

I thought this was hilarious. Urban fishing program? Really? This pond did not seem like something you should be fishing out of. It was tiny. Tiny, but pretty, see below.

  

Our camera couldn't really capture the sunset, but you can sort of tell how scenic it was.

  

Setting up. It felt like we were going camping, we had so much stuff. We got to use the camping lantern we got for our wedding. It works great Steve & Christy Maxwell, we love it :)

  

  When you live in Arizona, you look forward to wearing a sweatshirt. At least I do. It was fun to have a nip in the air and be wrapped up in a blanket.

  

It was such a fun night. Troy did a good job planning an exciting activity for us.

On Saturday we ate our leftovers and exchanged gifts. Jackson went to bed at 6:45 pm. That is incredibly early for him, but we didn't mind. We had a stay at home date. It was great! We ate, watched the Olympics and just hung out. Nothing too exciting, but I was in heaven because I felt like we got two dates in one weekend, a rare treat!

  

Here's our valentine table. Yes, I made candles out of baby food jars :) I had to think fast to try and make it look romantic. Troy gave me flowers and a box of chocolates, so yummy.

 

For Troy's gift I decided to make a "Love Book." I compiled all our notes to each other into a scrapbook with pictures and even some narration from my journal back when we were dating. It turned out pretty well. I plan to keep adding pages over the years so we'll have a full book someday. I think Troy liked it.

Jackson seemed to like his first Valentine's day. I asked him if he wanted to be my Valentine along with Troy. He didn't seem to interested. ;) We were lucky enough to get not one but TWO Valentine packages. One from each set of grandparents. We were delighted. Packages are SO much fun.

  

Here is Jackson opening his package from Grandma and Grandpa Bushman. He is in love with the Valentine magnets we got. He's been carrying them around everywhere he goes.

  

We had mashed potatoes for dinner last night. Jackson must have thought they were delicious because he smeared them everywhere.

  

 

They ended up in his eyelashes and everything. It was an extra fun job cleaning up, ask Troy :)

The weekend ended with the bittersweet. Last night my Great Grandma of 95 years passed away. She had been struggling this week and we knew it was coming. I'm glad her passing wasn't drawn out any longer. She has been a widow for the last 38 years or so, so I imagine her reunion in heaven was joyous. I'm happy for her, but I miss her already. We were really close and it will be strange for things to move on without her. I fly to Utah tomorrow so I can be there for the funeral.

Beatrice Call Mabey, abt. 1932.

I think she looks like a movie star in this picture. I love it.

 

And here she is in 2009 when she and Jackson first met. Love you Grandma! I'm glad we had so many years together.