Today was a very long and awaited day, it was finally our ticket date to tour the new Gilbert Temple!!! The boys have been just as excited as us for the Open House to arrive. We have been driving by this temple for years now watching the building progress and every time we go by, the boys scream at the top of their lungs, "there's the temple!!!" Beau Beau especially goes crazy for it! He squeals with glee every time he can spot the steeple even way out in the distance! He has a major eagle's eye for Angel Moroni and lets every one know the second he sees it!
Just arriving and SO excited! Hugs/choke holds...so sweet;)
The crowds were unbelievable! It was like a mass of people in line at Disneyland for the latest and greatest ride! Even better, they were all in line to enter the House of the Lord.
Ben and I were both in shock at how well the boys behaved during the video presentation of the temple geared towards educating non-members about the purpose of our church's temples. It was a great learning visual for our boys as well as a perfect precursor before heading into the temple. They even handed the boys brochures which had pictures of all of the main rooms and told the boys to use them as "maps" through the tour and spot the pictures in real life. They loved this idea and had a lot of fun with it!
I am SOOOO proud of our boys! They were ANGELS in the temple and loved every second of it! They asked a lot of questions and were blown away by its beauty!
The Spirit in this temple is SO strong and gave me instant tears and chills once I entered it's doors. The Celestial room is like none other and I know that each one of my boys felt the loving Spirit in there just as strongly as I did. I loved talking to them about each room and explaining things to them. They were beyond intrigued with the whole experience!
As soon as our tour was done, Beau kept saying, "temple fun, temple fun!!!" So sweet!
The sun was blazing and the boys were a little spent at this point so you can see how hard it was to get a "decent" family pic:)
Everyone is almost looking;)
Ugh! Time to give up! I still love all of these outtakes of this special experience that we had together as a family:)
The grounds are gorgeous!
This temple is breathtaking in every way inside and out! I am so thankful to have this beautiful temple so close to us! Such a blessing to everyone!
I am SO grateful for this experience cannot wait for the day when Benny and I can stand in this temple again with all four of our boys! That will be this mother's wish and dream come true and I know that day will come before I know it:) I am so incredibly thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and for the joy and happiness it brings into my life! I am blessed beyond measure and because of HIM this family is mine for eternity!!! So thankful!
Literally about 5 seconds after we got in the car all four boys zonked out! A spiritual high can do that to ya;)
We let the boys sleep for a few minutes before we went into Tia Rosa's for dinner. This was Reidy Roo's first time sitting as a big boy in a high chair at a restaurant! He was excited about it!
He is totally making Chris Farley's, "fat guy in a little coat" face! Ha! Love this chubby bug so much! So fat and happy!
I can't get enough of his fatness and sweetness!
He loves to be nakey;)
Cutest plumber's crack ever!
Such a sweet little face:)
Love!
Super baby! I am having so much fun with this little guy! I am appreciating the "baby phase" more than I ever have because I know how quickly they grow up. All four of my babies have been angels and I adore and love each one of them immensely! How did we get so lucky? My heart is definitely full of love and gratitude for my Savior and all that He has done for me and blessed me with. Such an incredible night! One I will never forget:)
