Gilbert Temple Open House

 We had the privilege of going to the Gilbert Temple open house tonight!  I had originally asked my mom to babysit Sara and James, but at the end of the day, I couldn't leave any of them home...when will we be able to go into the temple as a whole family again?  Not until the kids are grown, and I couldn't pass up that opportunity.  We had 3 of Jared's co-workers with us, and thankfully they didn't mind the kids at all!

 We had 8:00 reservations, and even though we got there at 7:30, we didn't get into the stake center for the short video until 8:35, and we didn't get into the temple until past 9.  It was a longer wait than I was anticipating for the kids, but they handled it relatively well given that they were standing in line, in the cold, without much wiggle room.  Plus they were excited!

 The temple was, of course, amazing.  The rooms were beyond opulent, especially the beautiful chandelier in the Celestial room.  The sealing rooms were similarly beautiful-just an amazing spirit.  Most of the kids said their favorite room was the baptistry, which really was magnificent.  Sara said her favorite part was the stairs...though I am not sure why!  Jackson did fairly well in my moby wrap until 5 minutes into the actual temple tour-he woke up at that point screaming his head off because he was due to eat! Thankfully I had the foresight to pack a bottle, which I quickly fed him before taking him out of the moby to calm him further.  I wasn't very prepared to have him out of the moby as I wasn't expecting to be there so long-he was sockless and blanket-less, so I had to wrap him in the moby like a blanket just to keep him warm!

 It was certainly a fantastic experience and I love being there with my whole family!  We know families are forever, and that spirit was certainly felt in the temple today!