Star Valley Temple

 Last Thursday we went to see the Star Valley Temple open house. We went with my grandparents, and my great aunt. They had a bit of a hectic morning, so we started out a little later than planned, but we left in plenty of time for our appointment.

 The trip down was beautiful. The fall colors were really starting to come out, and I got some really nice shots through the car window.

 Kevin was a bit of a pill during the trip, but he did pretty well. Usually, he's a pretty good kid. I read to him some, and he played on the phone some, but he was excited, so he wanted to yell.

It took a couple hours, but we finally arrived at the church next to the temple. We watched a short introductory movie. Our congregation was having a movie party the next night to watch The Good Dinosaur, and so Kevin was sad when he found out that we weren't watching the dinosaur movie right then, but he perked up pretty quickly. There were two sister missionaries who were explaining the movie and the procedure for entering the temple. One of them was American, and the other was from Tonga.

Kevin loved them both, but everytime the Tongan missionary spoke, he would ask a really loud question. First, he asked, "What...what did...What is her name?"

I told him, and then he settled down and listened some more. The next time she spoke, he asked, "What did she say?" very loudly. So I told him again. The sister missionaries loved him.

After we left the church building, my grandparents and great aunt traveled over to the church in their car because my aunt has a harder time walking, so she has a handicapped sticker. Kevin and I took the horse-drawn wagon across the field instead. We had a really good time and met some other nice children and people too.

Once we arrived, we had plastic bags placed over our shoes to protect the interior of the temple from dirt and other things, and we walked through it.

It was beautiful inside! Kevin was pretty distracted by the plastic bags over his shoes, but he really enjoyed the temple. He loved the pictures of the Savior and the beatiful lights. The tour was taken mostly in silence, but I answered his questions when he asked.

Afterward, we took a few pictures.

 This is Kevin's "Thinking face." He does it when he's thinking about things. I think it's hilarious.

 The sky provided a gorgeous backdrop for the new temple

 Kevin was good at posing for me. It was a beautiful warm day.

Once we finished taking pictures, we went into a covered area in the back and stood in line for a group pictures. About this time, Kevin was getting pretty hungry and a little grumpy. He was tired of pictures. I distracted him for a little while by letting him take pictures with my camera, but then the sister missionaries from earlier entered the tent.

They told him, "I remember you! Give me high five!" However, he only hid his head. I explained that he was getting hungry, and they nodded in understanding. A few minutes later, one of them returned and gave Kevin the chocolate kisses and a piece of gum.

He brightened up immediately. After that, he made it through the final two pictures until we were able to go and get lunch.

There was a big picture of the temple against one wall and we all stood in front of it, and they took a picture. Then they e-mailed it to us. It turned out pretty nicely.

We went to eat, and my grandparents treated us to lunch. It was super nice of them to bring Kevin and me with them. We really enjoyed ourselves.

The ride back was equally beautiful, and Kevin did pretty well. He got a little guitar with his kids' meal, and he spent a lot of time plunking the button until it broke.

 That night, as we sat around with Grig and his brothers, I asked Kevin what he had liked most about the temple. He thought, but wasn't sure. An idea seized me. I knew he had been pretty focused on the bags on his feet, so I asked him, "What did they put on your shoes?"

He only hesitated for a moment, and then proudly pronounced, "Garbage."

We have a treasure.

After laughing for a while, we again explained the purpose of the plastic bags that had been placed on his shoes. I think he finally got it.

Hopefully, he won't think they always put garbage on your feet before you go into the temple.