Temple

Yesterday we were able to attend the temple together. It was such a wonderful experience. It had been so long since the two of us were inside together. This trip was a blessing and made me realize how important the temple really is. It was a bit of a sacrifice to get there, but I'm so glad we were able to go!

In order to go in together (Tony & I), we did a kid-swap with a family in our ward...which meant we had to be there for 3 sessions--one for them to go in, one for us to switch & one for us to go inside. We agreed to meet at 10 so we were up at 4 AM & on the road at 5 AM.

Luckily Charlie was so happy when we woke him up. I had to take a picture while Tony was filling up the car with gas.that little smile just melts my heart

I guess 5 AM is his happy time?

Charlie slept for several hours until we stopped for breakfast. Then back in the car for the remainder of the drive.


We played outside while we waited for our friends to finish and switch with us. It turned out pretty good, but it was hard having to be outside for 2 1/2 hours. Both Tony and I were dripping with sweat. Our temple shares a parking lot with a church building, but they don't open it, so we got to enjoy the WARM weather. I understand not wanting to open the church building because then a local member has to be inside supervising, but holy cow that would have been nice! We read books, ate snacks & lots of water and kicked around a soccer ball with their four boys.

Finally it was our time! Whoo hoo! Happy to be in the temple and the air conditioning :)

We had a wonderful time.

Don't worry, he's not dying of heat here. I sprayed his hair & face with water to cool him off :)

On the way home we had to make a stop at The Cheesecake Factory. Every time I go I walk away saying, "that was the BEST thing I have ever eaten." Well I'm serious. I had the best thing I have ever eaten yesterday. If you go, order the chicken bellagio....basil pasta with two deliciously breaded chicken breasts, slice of prosciutto on top, with a light arugula salad on top of that. It was so good I almost cried. Really.
Of course we HAD to get cheesecake so we finished our meal with a slice of brownie sundae cheesecake. Seriously, why isn't there one of these restaurants closer to us?!!!

It was a great trip. I'm so glad we were able to go. I imagine in the next 5 years a temple will be built near us. There are just so many members here! I wish I would have taken more opportunities to attend the temple when I lived in Utah. However, the plus side is that we had to plan in advance and were looking forward to this for many weeks. It was nice to have a whole day dedicated to going.