An Aunt, an Uncle, and the Temple ...

Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Dane called us on December 23rd to see if they could come for Christmas.  Luckily, we were wide open for visitors, so, they flew in the next day and we got to spend Christmas with them.  What a treat!  They flew in and out of Baton Rouge, which happens to be where the Temple is, so when we took them to fly home we planned a stop.  It was less than ideal as we forgot to restock the diaper bag and Addie ended up with a nasty rash and a cloth diaper made out of a really big blanket, good thing CVS was close by!  Not to mention the kids had been sleep deprived for the few days prior  and were ready for some downtime.  But all the frustrations and seemingly bad parts of the day faded quickly away when as the kids were looking at the pictures from the Temple they chatted giddily about the experience.  The highlights for them were:

First, when Zack and Jake went and knelt in front of the gate to say a prayer for Addie.  Let me explain ... she was screaming from afore mentioned rash and a bleeding cut in her gums that she got from a foreign object (we are still not quite sure where it came from!) she choked on, subsequently gagging and throwing up all in the middle of a diaper change on the cold hard road, yes you read correctly, the road.  Okay, parking lot but still! (this is the part when she got the mammoth cloth diaper) Sam took some guff for his choice in 'changing tables' but after the question of her safety and well-being was no longer an issue it was just too funny not to laugh.  You can't make this stuff up!  If you look closely at the Daddy's Bunch picture on the blog you can get a glimpse of the lovely diaper.  Oh I almost forgot!  After the diaper change with no new diaper we just put her clothes back on thinking she'd be fine for a bit.  Not so, about two minutes after, as she and I were walking on the sidewalk, a great puddle suddenly formed and that was what brought the genius of the cloth diaper!

Second, was how they went around and brushed all the dirt, dust, and debris from the benches on the Temple grounds, keeping the Lord's house clean - I believe the exact quote was, "Come on Jake and Ellie, let's get this place all cleaned up for Jesus!"  

Third, and final, blowing our horns with the Angel Moroni.  They were all standing on a bench doing the same thing and calling "look Mom, look at us."  I did but couldn't tell what they were doing.  I happened to look up and see that they were standing on the bench directly under the statue of the Angel Moroni atop the Temple.  I called back, "Are you blowing your trumpets with Moroni to sound the coming of the Lord?"  In angelic chorus they replied, "Yeah!"

It was a great day despite of, no, because of, the bumps in the road.  And especially when we hear the joy of the memories ringing in our children's voices.