Oh, Canada!

"I love to see the temple"

Last Tuesday, Dave took the day off of work and we ventured to the land northward to see the new Vancouver BC temple open house.

We had planned to go the first day of the open house, but Dave had a meeting with an attorney, which meant we had to delay. I'm so glad we waited and went in the middle of the week; the border wait at the Peace Arch was less than five minutes and the wait to get into the movie and temple tour was... well, there was absolutely no wait.

Of course, it helped that it was gray and raining that day. The picture below is from our second trip last week (yep, #2) up to Canada, but I'll save that for later.

We made good time on the trip up, but needed to make a detour into North Vancouver to visit Dave's favorite place, the Arc'teryx Headquarters Outlet Store. Unfortunately, while milling around the greater Vancouver/New Westminster area, a foul smell started to waft throughout the car. We both looked at each other and wrinkled our noses.

The smell dissipated, but a few minutes later, it was back. I reached back to feel the kiddos pjs... and then told Dave we couldn't wait until we got to the store. We veered into a McDonald's parking lot - and what proceeded was a HazMat situation, at best. Good thing that Dave has rubberized mats in his car... that's all I'm saying. We used the washroom (that's the proper Canadian vernacular, folks) and then decided to eat there & feed Benjamin.

After the pit stop, we began to meander again. Eventually, Dave got directions to the TransCanada #1 at a 7-11 from a shaggy dude who was missing several teeth. Fortunately, he was better with directions than with dental hygiene. We rolled into the famous outdoor outfitter's HQ a short time later and spent a while looking at various levels of high-performance gear.

Dave opted for a black jacket with an "SV" at the end of the title, which was a great deal. I consulted the glossary on the wall of the store, which explained that "SV" stands for severe weather conditions. Lovely. At least he will be prepared, right?

And then we were back onto the TC1, headed to Langley. Dave has a good friend, Mike, who lives in Langley. The exit to the temple has a huge theater called the Collosus, on the opposite side of the highway. It is an amazingly large structure, complete with an over-sized flying saucer perched atop the roof. Mike is not a fan of the great saucer eyesore... and would probably light it on fire, if given the chance.

Anyway, the temple. It was amazing and breathtaking. I'm not sure if it would be characterized as one of the mini temples, as it was a couple of stories high, but it was about 1/4 of the size of the Seattle temple. After watching a quick movie in the adjoining church building, which explained about the history of the church in the Vancouver/Langley area, we headed out with our guide under the white-covered walkway. Donning booties, we stepped inside and the guide started telling the stories of the temple and explaining the basics of temple worship.

Dave and I just stared, as we walked from room to room. The wood, the paintings, the intricate detail were all astounding. It was such a beautiful place and a house where God could dwell. Unfortunately, the funky smell returned and we had to cut the tour short, by a few minutes.

We ran back to the church, changed the kiddo again and grabbed some delicious cookies before embarking to Fort Langley, where Mike & his family live. They invited us to stay for dinner, but while it was cooking, Dave played with the kids while Mike took Benjamin and I on a tour of the rabbit quarters, as well as the chicken/turkey coop. Did you know that you can eat turkey eggs? Had not ever thought of that, but it makes sense.

Dinner was great: potato pirogies, sauerkraut, dill cucumber salad, grilled mushrooms. Shortly thereafter, we had to head for home. But before we left, they invited us to come back up that Sunday. They had just had their fourth child the previous week and would be blessing him.

Thus, trip #2. Benjamin was much less dirty-diapery and slept both ways, plus we opted for the Aldergrove border crossing which is less busy than Blaine. The day was gorgeous and I read a book out loud during the drive. We stopped by the temple before the blessing because the weather was so pretty, which provided a perfect backdrop to the majestic temple and colorful grounds.

It was such a treat to take part in our friend's baby blessing. But more than that, it was nice to see the place that makes it possible for us to be a family for a long, long time - well, forever. What a great blessing to the people of Vancouver... and all of us.