Last night we finished building the *new* guinea pig cage!  It's about twice as wide and twice as long as Maggie's old one.  Check out the size difference:

And this one has an upper level, with a ramp to climb up there.  In the back she even has a "kitchen" area for her food and water.

Isn't he SOO cute?

Ok.  Not really.  BUT we are building a new cage (as shown above) for Maggie, and will hopefully be getting her a playmate.  This cage looks HUGE compared to the average pet store cage, but this is the amount of space that guinea pigs truly need.

Pet store cages aren't large enough for them to run around and get the exercise and entertainment they need.  10.5 square feet is the preferred size of the cage for two guinea pigs.  If you or someone you know is getting a guinea pig or two, please DON'T buy a pet store cage.  It's like allowing your "beloved pet" to live in its bathroom.

Would you like to live in YOUR bathroom?

Michael was pretty ingenuitive and created a small top floor and ramp, too!  We still need to make the bottom tray though.  Better photos will follow at completion! =)

If you want to learn more about the space requirements of a guinea pig, or how to make your own cage, try http://www.guineapigcages.com/ .

This weekend was absolutely amazing.  On Friday night, we drove up to Michael's grandparents' house, who are temple workers and go to the DC temple once a month to serve.  We stayed there and then on Saturday morning we woke up at 6:30 am to leave for the temple!

We arrived around 10:30 am and left around 6, so we had the WHOLE day there!  I love the temple.

For anyone reading this who doesn't know about the temple, I'll tell you a little about it!  The temple is the most Holy place on earth- it truly is the House of the Lord.  To enter, you have to live the standards set by the Lord Himself.

Inside the temple, we perform ordinances necessary for our own exaltation after death.  We also perform these ordinances for people who died before they had the opportunity to receive them.  For example, if someone died and never had the chance to be baptized, we can act as proxy in the temple and be baptized for them.

Now, we know that even after we die and our bodies stop working, our spirits continue living in a "spirit world".  There, the spirits who have the Gospel of Jesus Christ teach those who never had the opportunity to learn of it on earth.  Those who never learned it then have the chance to accept it as truth, and can then accept the ordinance (i.e. baptism) performed for them in the temple.  If they don't want it, they don't have to accept it.  But we're there to give them that choice.

The temple is all about serving the Lord and serving our fellow brothers and sisters.  I absolutely know that the work performed therein is true.  When you visit the temple and see its majesty, you can feel the Spirit of the Lord and know that this is His House.