I am a little behind (ahem) but I wanted to share this little adventure we had in April before moving on to other more recent things.
Troy is the temple prep teacher in our ward. We have had some really neat blessings and experiences that have come of his calling. The DeSpain's are a fabulous couple in our ward that took the class, and it just so happens that his father is
THE guy who does the gold leafing on all of the Angel Moroni's. Who knew? Such a small world! Anyway, this last April, he invited us and few others to tour the place where the statues of Angel Moroni are made. It is right here in the valley over in the Taylorsville/Kearn's area. It a warehouse building in a back out of the way place that you would never imagine, and they have made all the statues for the temples for years.
What made this particular Angel Moroni so special is that it is going to the Philippines to be placed on the Cebu temple. I thought this was really neat since we obviously have a interest in the Philippines right now. Mom and Dad might even go back to the Philippines (after the retirement is official) to attend the Cebu temple dedication.
A few fun facts that we learned about the Angel Moroni that day: 1- There are 2 sizes of statues. They started making a smaller size to
accommodate the smaller temples that are being built.
2- All gold leaf is put on by hand with a brush.
3- There is less than 1 oz. of gold that is put on the entire Angel Moroni. It
seems like it should be a lot more doesn't it?
4- They have to repair the statues in some places where it gets blasted by sand
more frequently. Or perhaps hit by lightening. They do a lot of the repairs
also.
The room is surprisingly small and Moroni pretty much takes up the whole space. It was a little tough getting a full length photo of him. On the right you can see the tip of his horn, which they gold leaf separately and attach when he is put in his rightful place at top the temple.
The detail is amazing! It looked so real. I really loved his feet.
The hole where his mouth should be made him seem a bit surprised. Of course this is where his horn will eventually go.
This is the cute little man, Mr. DeSpain, who does the gold leaf by hand. He started doing this after he retired. Just wanted to keep busy he told us.
Troy really wanted me to take his picture "shaking" Moroni's hand. They were really patient with him there. He was in true "Troy" form and he must have asked 100 questions about everything!
Just us with Moroni.
This is the whole gang. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot also. They do not do tours for the public so we feel very lucky to have had this opportunity.
This is the whole group. Such a great experience to be the temple all together. We spent time alone in one of the sealing rooms. Can't describe how I felt. It was really amazing.
Just our beautiful little family. We are so blessed.
We can't be serious for too long. Troy just had to have this picture. Nicholas was very concerned that we were breaking the rules, and at the temple no less. He is such a good boy! 
Okay, again we didn't have apple pie. We did have some of this amazingly yummy cake made by my sis-in-law Angela.
We also had some more homemade ice cream. It was raspberry, made from the berries in Angela's garden. Yes, she is all that and a bag of chips.
Then there was the annual badminton tournament. Conner did pretty well this year. Troy of course stayed true to tradition and heckled his sister Angela something fierce. I didn't get too many pictures because my skills were needed in the game :)
Nathan is now a police cadet. For real! Isn't he handsome? He had to leave and go work the Murray fireworks directing traffic and fighting off the opposite sex. It's a tough job but he assures me that he is up to the challenge.
This is his Uncle Troy having a little "badge" envy.
We had our own little fireworks display and Nicholas loved every minute! Again Happy 4th of July!
Nicholas got thrown the highest. Although he is growing, he is still a little bit of nothin'.
Look at the line up behind Troy
Mom it's sooo bright.
Okay that's it. Photo shoot over.
This is Erik's "army talk" for let's wrap it up. Time for food!
We had a BBQ of course. What's the 4th of July without BBQ? 
We had a very intense game of Bocce ball. 
Even Grandpa and Grandma got in on the ice cream action. Because the rule is you have to help if you want to eat it later. 
Here are the boys enjoying the fruits of their labor's. I did take a picture of the whole group but it turned out dark. Darn camera. We might not have had apple pie but the ice cream was sure yummy!
We then went to the front to let the kids throw "poppers" and watch the amazing fireworks display. Troy was concerned about what the neighbor's had growing in their side yard.
This is an attempt at getting a picture of the annual "robot" fireworks. The kids and Uncle Troy get up and do the "robot" to strobe fireworks. So entertaining! Wendi said that Maura practiced so that she would be good for the event. Oh yeah, this is serious business.
We had a great day. Happy 4th of July!
The room is surprisingly small and Moroni pretty much takes up the whole space. It was a little tough getting a full length photo of him. On the right you can see the tip of his horn, which they gold leaf separately and attach when he is put in his rightful place at top the temple.
The detail is amazing! It looked so real. I really loved his feet.
Troy really wanted me to take his picture "shaking" Moroni's hand. They were really patient with him there. He was in true "Troy" form and he must have asked 100 questions about everything!
Just us with Moroni.
This is the whole gang. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot also. They do not do tours for the public so we feel very lucky to have had this opportunity.
