Calgary Temple Preview!

It was an exciting day after a phone call from Shawn's sister, Vickie.

Vickie has been doing the gold-leafing at the Calgary temple. Today she called one and all to invite us to the construction-worker-family-pre-Open-House-viewing! So, amongst the other construction workers and their families, we got to be one of the first groups through the new temple! It was a fabulously memorable experience!

It started pouring rain between the Stake Center and the temple. Most of it was covered but for part of it, volunteers handed out white umbrellas! There were lots of volunteers! They've been calling for them for months and it is unfortunate that our current situation (Shawn in school) renders us unable to participate. :(

The temple was, of course, beautiful! Stained glass sheaths of wheat seemed to be the theme. I had to ask what the symbolism was and was informed that it represents Alberta's wheat crops. Duh! Didn't think of that, though, as I don't associate Alberta with wheat so much as beef. Better sheaths of wheat than shanks of meat!

The baptismal font was stunning! A glass room with benches overlooks the scene which seems a much better way to go about baptisms for the dead than a long line of youth waiting their turn...

Ella was very vocal for the entire tour (of course). When she saw the baptismal font she exclaimed, "Toilet!!" and then "Bathtub!!" We were, thankfully, able to keep her from christening the font!

The gold-leafing was terrific! ;) The ceiling in the Bride's Room was stunning with Alberta's flower, Wild Rose, trimming the ceiling.

The terrestrial room had the most stunning artwork! Believe it or not, they brought in an artist from Rexburg, Idaho to tour Alberta and transfer his vision onto the walls. I laughed out loud during the tour when they mentioned that: a bit of Rexburg here in Calgary!  ;)

The telestial room was very neutral but the celestial room was indescribable! The main chandelier was enormous!! Averi was quite impressed with the rainbow-producing crystals and I indicated that we could eventually get a chandelier for her room, albeit on a much less magnificent (and child-friendly) scale.

The view from the temple and the temple grounds are incomparable! You can see downtown Calgary and, though the clouds prevented us from seeing this evening, the Rocky Mountains!

The temple is situated very subtly within a NW community called Royal Oak. Since it isn't lit up yet, it seems to suddenly appear from nowhere. Access is from behind the temple and seemed quite oblique.

We brought the camera for (exterior family) pictures but with the weather and the exasperation factor (3 kids + temple tour = tired parents), we will have to wait until a future opportunity presents itself. Sorry!! Do recall that we have pictures of its construction here.