Gilbert Temple Open House

When we heard that tickets were available for the Gilbert Temple Open House, Corey was on it, and went online the day they were available.  Once we had the tickets, we planned our little road trip.   The spring-y weather was a welcome change compared with the still wintery weather we left behind in NM!

Beckett's 5th birthday happened during our trip, so we let him open up a bigger present (a Ziggle bike) before we left. He was excited!  

On our first day there, we hiked A Mountain.  I'd never done it before, and Corey only had memories of running up the crazy steep hill when he did track in high school, yikes! It was a nice, quick hike, and the kids did great. Mostly.  At least until Beckett said he needed to go to the bathroom' really bad' just about the time we reached the top.  Corey and Beck went down ahead of us to try to get him to a bathroom quick while Asher sidled along the steep mountain to the 'A'. On our way back down, we came across a distraught looking Corey and a Beckett who was still awkwardly squatting to the side of the trail doing his best to avoid all the cacti. Uh-oh.  Corey was horrified.  Apparently, Beck just couldn't make it in time, and it wasn't just a quick pee behind a bush situation.  Oh, and there were no trees to speak of nearby, so there were no leaves to use for an emergency clean up.  No worry though, Corey had gotten creative with a 3x5 card with a little water poured over it to soften it up.  I was laughing SO hard.  Usually I am the one faced with all the awkward and weird scenarios, so this was just funny to come across after the fact.  The cherry on top was the posted sign at the bottom of the hill with some plastic bags for 'doggie' clean up.  The guilt nagged at Cor, so back he went with his little piece of plastic bag to remove the evidence of Beck's emergency.  I was laughing so hard, I had to get a picture of Corey delivering the package to a nice, neat garbage can nearby.  I'm not sure I would have gone back up.  Ugh, how bad is that?

The boys love miniature golf, so on one of the days we went to Golf Land, also one of Corey's old haunts as a high schooler.   It was one of the best mini golf courses I've seen...everything was working, and well maintained.  Things were all fine and dandy until Asher's ball went in a little river.  He crouched down and leaned over to grab it, but lost his balance and went head first into the water!  This picture is the after shot.  It was pretty funny:)

The morning of our tour was beautiful, as was the amazing temple.  Seriously, what a gorgeous building!  The kids really enjoyed it too, despite the line we had to wait in outside.  Once we were inside, it was all worth it though.  First we went into a church building on the temple site to watch a movie about temples, which was awesome.  Next was the Temple, and it was so amazing...the boys' favorite (and maybe mine) was the baptismal font, but the most awe inspiring site for our boys were the HUGE and sparkling chandeliers.  Beck, who is inclined to love anything gold or sparkly was amazed.  There was a nice spirit about the place and the Temple just felt special.  I know the boys could feel it too, and they really enjoyed the tour and being able to go inside.  I hope they remember the day and the feelings they had. Corey's parents were able to meet up with us for the temple tour, which was a fun bonus, and the boys were also excited about. Oddly enough, we even bumped into several families we know from NM while waiting in line.  Small world! After the Temple, we all headed over for some yumminess at Nelson's Frozen Custard (a place we never miss on our AZ trips). It was delish.

 We spent the afternoon of Beckett's birthday at Freestone Park with Corey's parents - a place we had visited a few years back, but Beck was just a baby in arms, so this time both boys were able to get in on the fun.  They played hard and rode all of the little old rides a bunch, but especially liked the little train.
Sadly, that night, poor Beck wasn't feeling well at all, and spent his birthday feeling sick.  All of us went to the Old Spaghetti Factory to celebrate, but he really didn't eat a thing, poor kid.  I was glad that he had at least had a fun day.  Happy Birthday to our littlest man!

 

Aside from Beckett feeling sick, the trip was so much fun, and I can't wait to visit again soon.  The Gilbert Temple Open House was a great first chance for our boys to to inside a temple, and I am so thankful we were able to go.