Furniture & Awnings

“We were like, sweet, we get to watch the process of building it,” said 12-year-old Kase.

Their unique view inspired the family to create an Instagram account in November 2019 that documented the progress of the temple. They titled their Instagram account “saratogaspringstemple_backyard” to reflect the fact that they were, literally, watching this historic undertaking from their backyard.

They took pictures, wrote captions for the pictures, shot drone videos and broadcast video live on Instagram. Underlying their work was a desire to share what they were experiencing with others.

“I think that mainly it’s just to show people that can’t see” what the family is seeing, said 17-year-old Kaylee Brothersen.

They posted as they saw things happen. Karen’s calling at the time of the temple groundbreaking was stake Young Women president, so she got to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony. A picture on the family’s Instagram account shows her with her golden shovel.

They felt the explosions set off to ready the ground for construction and caught some of the action in photos. They sat on their deck and watched the cranes lift metal beams and other items into place. Karen and 5-year-old Kenzie went for walks around the temple while the older children were at school. Karen watched as the fountains at the temple were turned on for the first time.

“I thought it was cool to see it go up piece by piece,” said 14-year-old Konnor.

Sometimes a couple of posts went up in one day; sometimes weeks went by between posts.

The Instagram account has attracted about 400 followers, but the response they’ve received seems to indicate it’s had a much larger reach. Karen said she has been approached by people she doesn’t know who say they have enjoyed viewing the family’s posts, and friends outside of the area have also commented about it.

“We’ve had a lot of traffic” on the account, Karen said. “In our stake conference, one of the stake presidency members even mentioned our Instagram account as a way of sharing the gospel, and so I thought that was really neat.”

A favorite moment was watching the Angel Moroni statue being placed on the temple. Karen heard it was going to happen and started keeping a watchful eye on the temple site.

“At first, I didn’t know exactly what time (the statue would arrive), but I saw the big trailer pull into the neighborhood, a long huge trailer that only could have encompassed Moroni. So I booked it over there,” Karen said. Other people also showed up to watch during the couple of hours she waited for the statue placement to occur.

Karen broadcast a video of the event live on Instagram.

“As soon as they pulled him out of the trailer, it was almost like both a reverence and an excitement happening together,” she said. “Some were cheering…. It was a really cool excitement and reverence all at the same time.”

Daughter Kaylee was able to watch the statue be placed during her lunch break at Westlake High School. Kenzie, Karen’s 5-year-old daughter, got to witness the event with her mother. “It’s gold and it’s shiny a little bit when the sun hits it,” Kenzie said.

Karen has had a deep love for the temple ever since joining the church at age 20. She served a church mission at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, where she was able to attend the temple every week.

“I think what I want people to get out of our Instagram is not only just the nuts and bolts of it, the construction, but also the spirit behind it,” Karen said.

The temple’s construction came at a difficult point in her life, Karen said. “To have a temple right here, I could just tell that Heavenly Father was aware of me and going through hard times and that the temple would bring peace and protection that otherwise wouldn’t have happened,” she said.

As a single mom, she draws strength and peace from the temple.

“When I lay my head down on my pillow at night, it’s perfectly framed in the window,” she said. “It’s the perfect way to fall asleep and it’s the perfect way to wake up. It’s a heavenly nightlight for me.”

Those who want to go back in time and see for themselves the process of constructing this new Utah Valley temple can visit saratogaspringstemple_backyard and view all the Brothersen family’s posts.