If any family members were wondering what temple we are assigned to, yep how did you guess it... the Washington D.C. temple. I guess reading the title of the post helps. Ryan went with the youth to do baptisms and we just tagged along. We left at 9 am to drive 3 hours to get there. The Manhatten temple is closer,1 1/2 hours, but I've heard traffic could make the trip longer. Any who, we had a great time.
The kids were surprisingly good during the drive. Jonathan drew pictures for about half the time, and then just kept himself busy the rest of the time. Ella ate some snacks and was rather content sitting there, but no nap. So when we walked around the temple grounds while Ryan was inside, she had a few fits here and there. We waiting almost three hours for Ryan but Jonathan did great. I gave him my little camera and we both took pictures of the temple together while Ella looked around. Hopefully Jonathan will post his pictures on his blog. Toward the back of the temple I let the kids walk around but when I tried to put Ella back in the stroller, wow, it wasn't pleasant, but she calmed down... eventually.
We then went to the visitor's center and looked around. There was an inspriring photography viewing. I have only seen drawn artwork of the Savior and his life so it was interesting to see photographs. My favorite was a picture of John the Baptist hugging Jesus after he was baptized ( reenacted of course). We also tried to watch the video about Joseph Smith but Jonathan wanted to leave. Joseph Smith's life consisted of some hard trials and Jonathan cannot watch anything where people get hurt. The mix was not a good one.
We then went back to Jonathan's favorite area of the Visitor's Center before venturing back outside. The kids ate snacks and played outside until Ryan came. A few minutes before we saw him, Jonathan started drawing a picture of the temple. While pictures were taken of the group we came with, Jonathan worked on his picture. Afterwards, we got in our cars for the ride home.
The whole group stopped an hour out to eat dinner, which was a mistake for Ella. She fell asleep halfway through and was not pleasant after waking her up. I ended up leaving early and got her ready for bed. Just as I was finishng up, everyone was done eating so I ended up eating in the car. Oh, the life of a mom. Surpisingly. after a half an hour of "bad baby", her mood turned around and she was giggling with Jonathan!
Even though I did not go in the temple, I had a great time. I was able to teach Jonathan about what goes on inside the temple and he learned more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. One of the sweetest moments was when Ella's shoe fell off, Jonathan picked it up and then carefully put it back on her foot. He then patted her head and kissed it. There's just something about being on temple grounds that softens a person's heart.
