All gone

Well it's time to put away the Christmas stuff. I love this time of year and the decorations that we surround ourselves with and it makes me sad that it's time to put it away. It kind of makes me happy too, because my house seems so much more clean and roomy. :)

I think the hardest thing to put away is my village. I love my little village. When Annie was a baby, we were getting ready to move back to the valley but our house wasn't ready, so I was living with my folks and Kevin was working in Mesa and staying with family. I only got to see him on weekends when he'd drive to Show Low to see us. It was a very difficult 3 months and I was so lonely.

My dad is retired and was taking care of the house, so I didn't have any housework to do. I couldn't bake all day and all my "to do" stuff was in storage. It came down to watching TV all day and that drove me crazy. One day Annie and I were cruising the local Walmart while we waited for Troy to get out of school and I found some ceramic village pieces. They were unpainted and $4 each, so I bought a couple.

I had so much fun painting them that the next thing you know, I was hooked! My mom showed me how to "dry brush" paint them and it was so fun adding different colors, doing the fine work...everything. I kept going back and looking for new pieces and buying more and more until I had what you see below.
My favorite piece of the entire village is my temple. I had purchased two churches, and as I was painting them, I just couldn't bring myself to make this one dark like the other one, so I started painting it white. Then my mom suggested I add the gold accents which looked great. I decided that I would make it a temple, but I needed an angel Moroni. Then my dad's Angel Moroni tie tack broke and he was going to throw it away but I grabbed it up instead

and glued it to the steeple. I just love to sit and look at it every year. I love the temple. I love the peace it brings to my heart and soul. I love the stillness, the quiet, the spirit that is there. I love the beauty that surrounds me inside and out. I'm so excited that ward temple night will be on a Saturday. That means that Kevin and I can go together. I thankful for the blessings that come from attending the temple. I hope and pray that I will always be worthy to enter and enjoy the spirit there.