As a young girl, Amber Tilley loved walking around Temple Square at Christmas time with her family. For Amber and her family, it wasn't just a short car trip downtown with a couple of drives around the block to find a parking spot. Every year her parents would fill their car with their nine children and travel from Burlington, Wyo., to Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City to see the lights on Temple Square.
"It became a tradition for our family every year," she said. "I even remember one year we left Salt Lake around midnight and didn't get home until early in the morning and we went to school and my dad went to work that day."
Just as it became a tradition in her home growing up, visiting Temple Square has become something Sister Tilley now likes to do with her husband and children every year — and they still have to drive to get there.
"It's a special thing for our family to do," said Derek Tilley, of the Aberdeen 2nd Ward, American Falls Idaho Stake. "Until our children are 12, this is one of their temple experiences. I want the kids to see visiting the temple is a habit, something that we do regularly. Seeing the lights at Christmas time makes it even more special for them."
Although the Tilley family lives closer to Temple Square than Sister Tilley's family did when she was a child, it is still a three-hour drive from their home in Idaho. But, for them, it is always worth the drive to enjoy the spirit on Temple Square.
"It refocuses our thoughts and takes the focus of Christmas off of Santa Claus," Sister Tilley said. "It becomes a special experience for our children, helping them want to come to the temple and see the Nativity scene."
Visitors from in and out of town enjoy the lights and events at Temple Square every year, bringing thousands of visitors to Church Headquarters during the month of December.
"There are not any words to describe the beauty of Temple Square at Christmas time," said Jeanne Shirley from the Orange Park 1st Ward, Jacksonville Florida West Stake. "Every little twig, everything you see has taken hours to look like that."
Sister Shirley, a piano teacher, and her husband, Harry, traveled to Utah to attend the First Presidency devotional on Dec. 5. They enjoy coming to Temple Square — especially at Christmas time — for more than just the lights. For them, it is the music that makes it special.
"The choir starts singing the prelude and I'm happy," Sister Shirley said. "And being here walking on the grounds around the temple, makes everything I have been taught as a child come full circle and puts everything into perspective."
The Dixon family from Bountiful, Utah, say visiting Temple Square starts the Christmas season and helps them remember what is most important.
"The Nativities around Temple Square welcome you into the Christmas season," said Julie Dixon of the Bountiful 20th Ward, Bountiful Utah South Stake. "They also help us focus on the true meaning of Christmas — the true focus of the Savior."
