Tour of Temples

On our way to Salt Lake City, we stopped in Brigham City for the open house of the new temple there.  We were worried that we wouldn't get a chance to go through the temple because when we called for tickets a week earlier, we were told that they had all been distributed and that we wouldn't be admitted without them.  So, we thought....at least we can stop by and visit the grounds.  When we got there, we pulled into the parking lot and asked the usher there if we could possibly get a tour.  He told us that we could park in the lot (that was specifically reserved for handicapped visitors) and two missionaries guided us to the underground parking lot where we were able to join a tour.  Julia commented that we got special privileges because the ushers and missionaries probably thought we were not members because we were not dressed in Sunday attire.  She's probably right.  We felt under-dressed because we were on our road trip, but the tour was wonderful.  The kids (well, Julia) had never been inside a temple...and there were a lot of rooms that Jourdan had never been able to see during his trips to do baptisms. 

 

The decor was beautiful and there was a recurring theme of peach blossoms because Brigham City is famous for its' peaches.

 One of the many peach blossom stained glass windows in the Brigham City Temple.

 

On Wednesday morning, Jourdan and his dad woke up at 5am and began a "tour of temples".  They went first to the Salt Lake City Temple to do baptisms: 

They got done so quickly that they decided to stop at the Jordan River Temple too:

 

Then, they decided to stop by the Oquirrh Mountain Temple (since it's literally only 5 minutes down the road from Jordan River:

When they came home to pick Julia and I up (and we weren't completely packed and ready) they decided to drive over to the Draper Temple for more baptisms:

Then, they dropped Julia and I off to visit my sister JoAnna and her three kids while they finished visiting the temples south of the point of the mountain (Utah County).  Their next stop was the Mount Timpanogos Temple:

After a nice lunch with nephew Derek Garfield, and his new bride Sophia, the boys finished up their "tour" at the Provo Temple:

* Just as a side note for those of you who notice things....yes, these pictures are borrowed from the internet (thus the difference is seasons and cloud cover).  When MOM doesn't go on adventures, photos don't get taken.  I'm sure you moms will find that the same thing happens in your families as well.  It's usually the furthest thing from my husband's mind to stop and take pictures of things.  Thank goodness for the internet.