In April, Brandon, Laura and their kids met us in Safford, Arizona to attend the Open House of the Gila Valley Temple! We spent a fun evening with them going out to eat and then relaxing in the hot tub at the hotel!
The next morning, I was visiting with Cam while his parents and sisters were getting ready for the Open House... (it doesn't take a little boy very long to get all spiffed up!) I told him about when he was taken to the temple to be sealed to his parents! I told him how cute he looked in his little white shirt & pants, with a little white vest. I described to him how he was brought into the sealing room and sat upon the altar between his parents and about the special sealing ordinance that was performed through the Priesthood power by his great grandfather, Bampa Jones..... sealing him to his family for all eternity!
I also shared with him how beautiful his big sister, Kayla looked in her gorgeous white dress as she sat and watched him be sealed to their family! I expressed to him how much our whole family loves him and how he has a very special place in our eternal family and that I hoped he would always make good choices so that we can be together forever! He watched me intently, with a huge grin on his face, as I told him about the events of that day! I know he was feeling "The Spirit" and recognized the sacredness of that occasion!
When everyone was ready, we went to the Stake Center right next to the temple. After watching a short video about the historic background of the building of the Gila Valley Temple we were off on our tour! I could tell that Brandon and Laura had talked to their kids about how special the temple is and about how to act inside the temple! Little 2 year old Katelyn kept putting her finger to her lips and whispering ...."Shhhh! The temple.... quiet!" It was so cute. She never made a peep above a whisper the whole time! The Gila Valley Temple is even more beautiful on the inside than the outside. The color scheme inside is gray and blue, and of course, lots of white! The thing that really makes the Gila Valley Temple unique is that it has some "one of a kind" paintings that can only be seen inside this temple! It was a very special experience and we are so glad that Brandon and his family made the effort to share this experience with us!
The Arizona sun was so bright and hot that day that we weren't successful in getting a picture of everyone with their eyes open! We'll just have to save the beauty of this special occasion in our memories!
I remember that day too! In the picture it looks as though Kayla might be taller than her mom. I suspect this might be the case. Of course, that's not hard to do!
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